A desperate mother. A transvestite. A swindler. HISTORIAS DE LA URBE is a controversial, dramatic feature film that follows several characters as they struggle to survive in Miami – a place that from the outside looking in, appears to be filled with glamour and glitz. HISTORIAS DE LA URBE brings you deep into the heart of a city pulsating with the harsh reality of a world rarely witnessed by most. The stories unfold through stylistic camerawork that weaves together eight vignettes, pushing the boundaries of independent cinema.
Following the screening will be a Q+A session with the directors and cast. This special one-time screening is open and free to the public.
Directed by Carla Forte and Vicente Forte. Unrated.
USA/Venezuela/Spain, 2011, Digital Projection, 80 minutes, Color, Spanish with English Subtitles.
The Cosford Classic series continues with a new pristine print of Charlie Chaplin's masterpiece THE GOLD RUSH. Chaplin's first feature film - and his personal favorite - delighted audiences in 1925 and continues to be a crowd-pleaser by blending comedy and pathos. For the Miami Premiere of THE GOLD RUSH - Thursday April 19 at 7PM - join us for a special presentation accompanied by live musical accompaniment with an original score commissioned for this one-time screening. The presentation will commence with silent shorts created by film students at the University.
"Here is a comedy with streaks of poetry, pathos, tenderness, linked with brusqueness and boisterousness."
-Mordaunt Hall, NEW YORK TIMES (1925)
"Perhaps the defining Chaplin film, and certainly his funniest."
-Richard Luck, FILM4
"The blend of slapstick and pathos is seamless ... this is quintessential Charlie, and unmissable."
-Dave Kehr, CHICAGO READER
THE GOLD RUSH has the beloved Tramp traveling north in search of riches. He encounters bad weather and is forced into a remote cabin with a prospector who has struck gold (Mack Swain) and an escaped fugitive (Tom Murrary). THE GOLD RUSH features many of Chaplin's most iconic sequences as he eats his own shoe and conducts a beautiful ballet using his dinner rolls. The film moves from comedy to bittersweet love when he falls for a lonely saloon girl (Georgia Hale) who he mistakenly believes reciprocates his feelings. Will the Tramp find gold and love?
The Cosford Classics Series brings classic films back to the big screen on 35mm Film. It is an opportunity to see these films the way they were first intended to be seen.
Don't miss THE SALT OF LIFE, the follow-up to MID-AUGUST LUNCH, from director Gianni Di Gregorio. Perfecting a balance between the deeply personal and the universal with stupendous wit and joy, Di Gregorio is one of the shining beacons of Italian cinema. THE SALT OF LIFE gives a hilariously honest portrayal of men and aging that is rarely seen on screen with such thought and intelligence. This has been a crowd-pleaser all over the world!
"Aided by fluid handheld camerawork from cinematographer Gogo Bianchi, Di Gregorio conjures a Rome that's homey and literally warm - it seems to be August again - with just a hint of Fellini-like frenzy."
-Mark Jenkins, NPR
"Rueful, funny and wise, THE SALT OF LIFE is a comedy not of errors but of the tiniest of missteps."
-Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"The movie's sensuous appreciation of ripeness and abundance extends to food, clothing and foliage; the lushness of a city in bloom virtually bursts from the screen."
-Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES
In THE SALT OF LIFE, Gianni (Gianni Di Gregorio) plays a middle-aged retiree who has become invisible to all distaff Romans, regardless of age or relation. He contends with an aristocratic, spendthrift mother (Valeria de Franciscis); a wife who is more patronizing friend than romantic partner; a daughter (played by Di Gregorio's daughter Teresa) with a slacker boyfriend whom Gianni unwillingly befriends; and a wild young neighbor who sees him merely as her dog walker. Watching his "codger" friends snare beautiful younger women on the sun-kissed cobblestones of Trastevere, Gianni tries his polite, utterly gracious best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life-with both hilarious and poignant results.
Directed by Gianni Di Gregorio. Unrated.
Italy, 2011, Digital Projection, 90 minutes, Color, Italian with English Subtitles.
Washed up child star Gloria Green thinks her life can't any worse when she finds herself kidnapped by a deranged stalker and held captive with her biggest fan, Dawnee, who seems intent on making Gloria relive the past she's tried to forget. As the two hostages butt heads, Gloria's hapless assistant, Cheryl, tries to track down her missing boss, enlisting the help of the incompetent and dismissive police force. When Cheryl discovers that Gloria has been kidnapped, she alerts Gloria's manager, Al, who rather than save Gloria decides to sensationalize the event in order to reignite Gloria's acting career. As Al and the studios work on a deal, Cheryl tries to save Gloria, and the police... milk the limelight of the press. Gloria and Dawnee have started to bond in the confines of the basement, all that stands in the way of their budding friendship and Gloria's comeback is the deranged stalker who has a plan of his own...
Help us welcome UM Alumnus Nick Scown back for a screening of his first feature film. This event is free and open to the public.
Considered one of Giuseppe Verdi's greatest accomplishments, and certainly his most touching portrayal of a father-daughter relationship, RIGOLETTO continues to enthrall audiences worldwide with its tragic plot and trademark arias. One of the most popular arias of all time, LA DONNA E'MOBILE is so catchy that Verdi swore the tenor to secrecy, forbidding him to sing, hum, or whistle it anywhere except in his private rehearsals. Don't miss the Royal Opera House's interpretation of this classic.
From the Royal Opera House, London, England.
Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. Directed by David McVicar. Starring Dimitri Platanias, Ekaterina Siurina, VIttorio Grigolo, Pablo Bemsch and Christine Rice.
2hours and 9minutes.
Nanni Moretti joins forces with the great French actor Michel Piccoli to tell the story of Melville, a cardinal who suddenly finds himself elected as the next Pope. Never the front runner and completely caught off guard, he panics as he's presented to the faithful in St. Peter's Square. To prevent a world wide crisis, the Vatican's spokesman calls in an unlikely psychiatrist who is neither religious or all that committed, played by Moretti, to find out what is wrong with the new Pope. As the world nervously waits outside, inside the therapist tries to find a solution. But Cardinal Melville is adamant: he does not want the job, or at least needs time to think it over. What follows is a marvelous insight into the concept of a human being existing behind the title of God's representative on Earth.
"A gentle fable whose humanist heart beats in Michel Piccoli's nuanced performance."
-Sheri Linden, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"What grips the movie, for all its amused glances at Swiss Guards and ceremonial pomp, is the prospect of a single soul in crisis."
-Anthony Lane, NEW YORKER
"It's a half-sweet, half-rueful existential drama in which the satire comes secondary."
-Mark Jenkins, NPR
Moretti and Piccoli craft a film that questions faith without losing faith. The film offers a fresh perspective on one of the world's most popular figures. It is a comedy of great gravity and great seriousness. WE HAVE A POPE manages to strike a unique balance between humor and humanism. The film also offers further proof that Michel Piccoli remains one of cinema's greatest treasures.
Directed by Nanni Moretti. Unrated.
Italy, 2011, Digital Projection, 104 minutes, Color, Italian, French, German, Latin with English Subtitles.
In German-occupied Paris, a young unemployed Algerian named Younes (played by break-out star, Tahar Rahim) earns his living as a black marketeer. Arrested by the French police but given a chance to avoid jail, Younes agrees to spy on the Paris Mosque. The police suspect the Mosque authorities, including its rector Ben Ghabrit, of aiding Muslim Resistance agents and helping North African Jews by giving them false certificates. At the Mosque, Younes meets the Algerian singer Salim Halali, and is moved by Salim's beautiful voice and strong personality. When Younes discovers that Salim is Jewish, he stops collaborating with the police and gradually transforms from a politically ignorant immigrant into a fully-fledged freedom fighter
"A satisfying wartime espionage drama focused on little-noted intersections between Arabic emigres and the French Resistance... Inspired by actual events, this [is a] well-crafted sophomore feature from director-coscenarist Ismael Ferroukhi"
-Dennis Harvey, VARIETY
"Mr. Rahim, one of France's finest young actors... is both subtle and magnetic. A worthy and interesting chapter to the tradition of World War II dramas of conscience."
-A.O. Scott, NEW YORK TIMES
FREE MEN provides a glimpse into a dark part of history. Just as the film looks to the past to tell untold stories, it manages to be pertinent to the present by showing disparate groups working together against evil. The film explores the transcendence of differences and focuses on unity, commonality, and justice. Starring Tahar Rahim, the star of A PROPHET, FREE MEN is a thrilling addition to the historical genre exploring the French Resistance.
Directed by Ismael Ferroukhi. Unrated.
France, 2011, 99 minutes, Color, French with English Subtitles.
