Hirokazu Kore-eda's I Wish
This fall, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) will debut five critically acclaimed films during its Spotlight Cinema series. Though these movies are new to Madison, each will be shown the good, old-fashioned way: on 35mm film, which Hollywood is phasing out in favor of cheaper -- and less beautiful -- digital technology. Films will be screened in the museum's lecture hall on Thursdays at 7 p.m.
The series begins Thursday, September 20 with I Wish, the newest movie by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. In this film, two brothers dream that their divorced parents will reunite when a new bullet train links their towns together.
Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen star in Take This Waltz (Oct. 4), the tale of a married woman who falls in love with the artist who lives across the street. Written and directed by Canadian actress-turned-filmmaker Sarah Polley, this film has drawn comparisons to the emotionally rich short stories of Alice Munro.
Other movies on deck include the French festival hits 17 Girls (Oct. 18) and Holy Motors (Nov. 1) and the child-custody drama In the Family (Nov. 29).
This year's films were selected by Mike King, an academic curator for UW-Madison's communication arts department, and Tom Yoshikami, a doctoral candidate in the university's film-studies program. Spotlight Cinema is one of several film series at MMoCA.