DOES IT TAKE A VILLAGE?
This eight-week series explores the tensions between shaping individual identity and creating communal values. In connection with the Queens Museum exhibition by Polit Sheer form, we move from the American Western narrative to recent films from China. Mark Ethan Toporek introduces each screening and leads discussion afterwards. He is a member of the Actors Studio, and has appeared in films including “The Secret Lives of Dentists,” “The Confession” and “Lesser Prophets.” He has been presenting the Film Series at the Queens Museum since 1998, and a variety of cinema classes for 92Y since 2003.
Today’s Film Screening and Discussion
THE ROAD HOME (1999, China, subtitled), directed by Zhang Yimou, 89 min. A city businessman returns to his home village in North China and finds a way to honor his father, the village teacher. Starring Zhang Ziyi.
This film series takes place in the second-floor theater and is FREE with museum admission and open to the general public (with a special invitation to seniors).
FULL SCHEDULE
All times are 2PM to 5PM
Fractured Unions
Wednesday October 15, 2014
1- NORMA RAE (1979), directed by Martin Ritt, 113 min. Sally Field shines in an Oscar-winning portrayal of a poor Southern textile worker who becomes involved in Union activities. Also starring Ron Leibman and Beau Bridges.
Wednesday October 22, 2014
2 – MATEWAN (1987), directed by John Sayles, 130 min. Set in West Virginia during the 1920’s, various racial, religious and ethnic groups seek common ground against the exploitation policy of their coal-mining employer. With Chris Cooper and James Earl Jones.
The Western Narrative
Thursday October 30, 2014 (please note this week’s film is on Thursday)
3 – HIGH NOON (1952), directed by Fred Zinnemann, 84 min. Gary Cooper won an Oscar as the marshal who tries to enlist the support of the townspeople against gunmen seeking revenge. Also starring Grace Kelly.
Wednesday November 5, 2014
4 – THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962), directed by John Ford, 123 min. John Wayne and James Stewart bring opposite philosophies to the taming of a wild Western town being terrorized by Lee Marvin’s outlaw gang.
The “We’ of “Me‘
Wednesday November 12, 2014
5 – THE ROAD HOME (1999, China, subtitled), directed by Zhang Yimou, 89 min. A city businessman returns to his home village in North China and finds a way to honor his father, the village teacher. Starring Zhang Ziyi.
Wednesday November 19, 2014
6 – NOT ONE LESS (1999, China, subtitled), directed by Zhang Yimou, 106 min. In a remote mountain village, when the teacher must leave for a month, a 13-year-old girl substitutes.
This Land Was Made For You And Me
Wednesday November 26, 2014
7 – BOY’Z IN THE HOOD (1991), directed by John Singleton, 107 min. Against the backdrop of a high-crime neighborhood in South Central L.A., a divorced father strives to raise his son with code-of-honor values. With Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett and Cuba Gooding Jr.
Wednesday December 3, 2014
8 – TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (1936), directed by Henry Hathaway, 99 min. An early Henry Fonda classic about two feuding mountain families whose vendetta is ignited by the arrival of the railroad. With Sylvia Sidney and Fred MacMurray, it was the first outdoor film in full Technicolor.
The Senior Film Series is supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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