Rooftop Cinema opens June 3 with Russian animator Yuri Norstein's Hedgehog in the Fog.
It is finally warm out, Wisconsin, and with any luck it will stay that way for a while. That's good news for fans of avant-garde film, because this Friday, June 3, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art kicks off its outdoor Rooftop Cinema series, which presents experimental works old and new. All the programs begin at about 9:30 p.m. in the MMoCA roof garden.
Friday's program features Hedgehog in the Fog and Tale of Tales by the Russian animator Yuri Norstein. Upcoming presentations include 1940s and 1950s shorts by Canadian Norman McClaren (June 10), Travis Wilkerson's labor documentary An Injury to One (June 17) and a collection of abstract films (June 24).
And, film lovers, the summer has much more in store than the multiplex superheroes. On Monday evenings through August, check out crowd-pleasing fare on the Memorial Union Terrace as the Wisconsin Union Directorate Film Committee hosts outdoor screenings of flicks like Super Troopers (Monday, June 6, 9 p.m.), Independence Day (Monday, July 4, 9 p.m.) and Raising Arizona (Monday, Aug. 22, 9 p.m.). Also coming soon is the touring show Clips of Faith (Olin Park, Friday, June 10, 7:30 p.m.). Part of Bike to Work Week, the program, presented by New Belgium Brewery, gathers amateur short films.
On Friday, July 1 (7 p.m.), UW Cinematheque launches its summer program with a screening of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960), which is required viewing for anyone interested in film and, well, everyone else. It stars Jean-Paul Belmondo, who is the subject of one of Cinematheque's three series this summer, Mondo Belmondo! Other upcoming films with the French actor include Le Magnifique (Friday, July 15, 7 p.m.) and The Burglars (Saturday, July 29, 7 p.m.). The series Movietime!: Cinematheque for the Whole Family features kid-friendly fare like The Cameraman (1928, with Buster Keaton) and -- I shed a nostalgic tear to report this -- The Muppet Movie (Saturday, July 30, 4 & 7 p.m.). The third Cinematheque series, Premiere Showcase: Inside Jokes, presents Wisconsin premieres of new films, including Greece's Attenberg (Thursday, July 7, 7 p.m.) and Marimbas from Hell, from Guatemala (Thursday, July 21, 7 p.m.).
Meanwhile, Sundance Cinemas' summer Screening Room series of foreign and indie films continues. And for sheer outdoor film fun, you can't beat the Hi-Way 18 Outdoor Theare, where you can watch a movie in your car, just like Mom and Dad did.
