Here's one more reason to celebrate this holiday season: UW Cinematheque has released an impressive screening calendar for spring 2014.
The upcoming season's programming includes double features of seldom-screened noirs, new films from Chile and visits from filmmakers Guy Madden (Feb. 20-21) and Eliza Hittman (May 9) and Academy Film Archive film preservationist Mark Toscano (Jan. 31). There will also be tributes to "open cinema" pioneer Claire Denis, crime-drama specialist Richard Fleischer, French New Wave director Jacques Demy and suspense master Alfred Hitchcock.
As in seasons past, UW Cinematheque will host the Madison premiere of several films as well. All UW Cinematheque programs are free and take place at one of three UW venues: 4070 Vilas Hall (Friday and Saturday), the Chazen Museum of Art (Sunday) or the Union South Marquee Theater (Monday).
Here are four highlights from the Cinemathque's spring calendar.
Cutie and the Boxer
Friday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m., 4070 Vilas Hall
This documentary by Zachary Heinzerling examines the relationship between octogenarian painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko, an illustrator, which becomes competitive when the two artists exhibit their work in a joint exhibition. Watching Ushio apply paint to giant canvases with boxing gloves is an added bonus.
Camille Claudel 1915
Friday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m., 4070 Vilas Hall
French auteur Bruno Dumont teases a breathtaking performance out of Juliette Binoche, who portrays sculptor Camille Claudel, a former student of Auguste Rodin who lived out her final years in an asylum run by the Catholic church. Based on Claudel's writings, this work was filmed in a mental hospital filled with real patients and nurses.
At Berkeley
Saturday, March 1, 1 p.m., 4070 Vilas Hall
Documentarian Frederick Wiseman (High School) lets his camera roll in classrooms, boardrooms and even a huge student demonstration in this portrait of the University of California at Berkeley. In the process, he zeroes in on the challenges keeping a state-run research university afloat when public funds are dwindling.
It Felt Like Love
Friday, May 9, 7 p.m., 4070 Vilas Hall
Writer-director Eliza Hittman visits the UW to discuss her feature debut, in which a shy, inexperienced teen named Lila comes to terms her sexuality and sense of marginalization. Feeling like she's the only person in school who's not coupled up, Lila sets her sights on an older guy and awkwardly tries to forge a relationship.
More details about each film is provided in UW Cinematheque's full spring 2014 schedule.
