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Author Archive | Alex Kamody

Oscar Nominated Shorts: LIVE ACTION

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Screening Only on Friday, February 28th & Saturday, March 1st

Oscar season is just around the corner! So, we’re excited to announce that we’ll be screening some of the short films that have been nominated for cinema’s most prestigious award. We’ll be showing films, presented by SHORTS, from both the Animated Shorts category and the Live Action Shorts category on February 28th and March 1st. We’ll also have ballots available for attendees, so you can cast your vote for the films you think are most deserving of the handsome golden statue.

It’s a great honor to offer our community the chance to see these amazing and creative films before the official Academy Awards broadcast taking place on March 2nd, 2025!

Some films may feature content not suitable for children.

Featured Live Action Shorts

A Lien – Directed by David and Sam Cutler-Kreutz. USA, 14 min, 2023.

Synopsis: On the day of their green card interview, a couple confronts a dangerous immigration process.

Anuja – Directed by Adam J. Graves. India/USA, 22 min, 2024.

Synopsis: ANUJA tells the story of a gifted nine-year-old girl who, alongside her sister Palak, faces a life-changing opportunity that tests their bond and mirrors the struggles of girls worldwide.

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I’m Not A Robot (Ik ben geen robot) – Directed by Victoria Warmerdam. Netherlands/Belgium, 22 min, 2023.

Synopsis: After repeatedly failing CAPTCHA tests, music producer Lara becomes obsessed with a disturbing question: could sh be a robot..?

 

The Last Ranger – Directed by Cindy Lee. South Africa, 28 min, 2024.

Synopsis: When young Litha is introduced to the magic of a game reserve by the last remaining ranger, they are ambushed by poachers. In the ensuing battle to save the rhinos, Litha discovers a terrible secret.

 

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent – Directed by Nebojša Slijepčević. Croatia/Bulgaria/France/Slovenia, 13 min, 2024.

Synopsis: In the middle of winter, a passenger train is stopped by paramilitary forces. As they arrest innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 dares to stand up to them. This is the true story of a man who could not remain silent.

 

 

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Let’s Do Lynch: MULHOLLAND DRIVE

Watch Trailer Cast: Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux, Laura Harring, Robert Forster
Awards: Best Director (nom) - Academy Awards

Join us Tuesday, March 4th at 7:00 p.m. for another fantastic installment of Let’s Do Lynch: A David Lynch Retrospective — a brilliant film that peers into the shadows cast by the spotlights in Hollywood!

Admission $8

About the film

An attempted murder on Hollywood’s famed Mulholland Drive goes awry when a car crash kills the assailant and leaves the victim, a beautiful dark-haired woman, with amnesia. She wanders the streets of Los Angeles, unable to remember her own identity. She eventually finds her way into an apartment occupied by aspiring actress Betty Wells. The woman, after being discovered by Betty, claims falsely that her name is “Rita” – taking the name from a movie poster for the film Gilda, starring Rita Hayworth – and explains to Betty that she has amnesia and is in danger. From there, the two women embark on a journey to try and learn Rita’s true identity. As it turns out, Rita is actually an actress named Camilla Rhodes whose career trajectory has some very dark forces guiding it.

Considered one of David Lynch’s best films, Mulholland Drive earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Director, as well as a win for the Best Director award at Cannes the year of the film’s release.

 

Check out the rest of our exciting line-up of Let’s Do Lynch films

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Running Time: 147 MIN147 MIN
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From the Hills and Hollers: HEROIN(E) with Rebecca Robison-Miller

Watch Trailer Director: Elaine McMillion Sheldon

Appalachia has been hit incredibly hard by the terrible opioid epidemic that has ravaged America from coast to coast and from the urban heart of cities to the smallest of rural communities. Some even go so far as to say that an entire generation (maybe two) have been lost to death, incarceration, and traumas of various kinds.

In 2016 and 2017, filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon spent time in and around Huntington, West Virginia – where the effects of the opioid crisis are 10-times more impactful than the national average – and followed a host of community people who are engaged in the fight against the destructive power of heroin, prescription pills, and fentanyl; particularly, Huntington Fire Chief Jan Rader who walks the frontlines with first-responders dealing with an unprecedented number of daily overdose crises.

Like Heroin(e), McMillion-Sheldon’s films (Recovery Boys, King Coal) are critically-acclaimed for their unflinching, yet compassionate, portraits of the real issues that define the Appalachia as told directly by the people at the heart of it all. As a native of the region, she is specially adept at telling the stories that need to be told, and proving that, no matter how dire things get, there is always hope for a better future.

About the Speaker

Rebecca Robison-Miller serves as the Senior Director of Community Relations for the Ohio University College of Health Sciences & Professions where she is also an instructor in the Department of Social & Public Health. Rebecca currently leads several initiatives around substance abuse disorder and health disparity for the college in partnership with a wide variety of community partners. Before coming to the university, Rebecca worked in social services and as the director of two local child advocacy non-profit organizations. She is a two-time graduate of Ohio University and involved with a number of local and statewide initiatives, boards and commissions. Rebecca is proud to have grown up in Athens and lives in the community with her husband and daughters.

Check out the rest of our films for the Appalachian Stories series

This series is sponsored by the Ohio Honors Program, University Libraries, College of Health Sciences and Professions, The Department of Social and Public Health, GO Local, University College, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Multicultural Center and The Black Student Cultural Programming Board, Center for Campus and Community Engagement, and The Women’s Center.

 

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Running Time: 39 MIN39 MIN
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Classics & Cocktails: THE BIG LEBOWSKI – One Night Only!

Watch Trailer Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, John Turturro

Come abide with us Friday, March 7th (the day after the international celebration of “The Day of The Dude”) at 7:00 p.m. for the kick-off to the latest round of our Classics & Cocktails Series with the Coen Brother’s The Big Lebowski!

The featured cocktail: “The Dude’s Caucasian” (a.k.a. White Russian) = West End Distillery Coffee Liqueur, Eleven Square Vodka, Vanilla, Simple Syrup, Snowville Creamery 1/2 & 1/2

Plus, we’ll have a great selection of Jackie O’s beer, West End CiderHouse ciders, wine, and more! We’ll also have trivia and prizes. If you’re feeling groovy, why not dress up like your favorite character from the film while you’re at it..?

Admission $8

About the film

The Dude abides! That’s right, Mr. Jeffrey Lebowski, aka “The Dude”, has found contentment living the LA slacker lifestyle…he’s a sort of bodhisattva of bowling alleys, booze, and bong rips. One night, however, The Dude is attacked in his apartment by a couple of thugs who steal his rug…a rug that really ties his living room together. Enlisting the help of his bowling buddies Walter and Donny to investigate, The Dude soon learns that the crime was the result of mistaken identity…there’s actually another Jeffrey Lebowski!

This classic Coen Brothers film has all the hallmarks of their best work – a wild story, unforgettable characters, and an endless list of quotable one-liners. There’s no question why it is recognized the world over as one of the greatest cult films of all time!

Check out the rest of our line-up of Classics & Cocktails films

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Running Time: 117 MIN117 MIN
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Classics & Cocktails: VERTIGO – One Night Only!

Watch Trailer Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak,

Join us (and try to keep your feet beneath you) on Friday, March 14th at 7:00 p.m. as our Classics & Cocktails Series continues with Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo – a masterpiece from the Master of Suspense himself!

The featured cocktail: “Vertigo” = Averna amaro, fresh squeezed lemon juice, chilled ginger ale

Plus, we’ll have a great selection of Jackie O’s beer, West End CiderHouse ciders, wine, and more! We’ll also have trivia and prizes.

Admission $8

About the film

Jimmy Stewart stars as San Francisco police detective “Scottie” Ferguson who leaves the force after witnessing a fellow officer fall to his death and thereafter suffers from acrophobia – an unsettling fear of heights, accompanied by the dizzying sensation of vertigo. When an old friend asks Ferguson to do him a favor and follow his strangely-behaving wife Madeleine, he does so and becomes embroiled in a complex murder scheme that forces him to confront his deepest fears.

Considered by many to be Hitchcock’s magnum opus, Vertigo has everything you could want from a psychological thriller. The beautiful on-location cinematography by Robert Burks also gives audiences exquisite views of San Francisco in its late-1950s heyday. Garnering mixed reviews at the time of its release, this film has since gone on to be considered one of the greatest films in cinema history.

Check out the rest of our line-up of Classics & Cocktails films

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Running Time: 128 MIN128 MIN
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The Met: Live in HD: Beethoven’s FIDELIO

Following a string of awe-inspiring Live in HD performances, Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Leonore, the faithful wife who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny in Beethoven’s Fidelio. Completing the distinguished cast is British tenor David Butt Philip as the political prisoner Florestan, Polish bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny as the villainous Don Pizarro, veteran German bass René Pape as the jailer Rocco, Chinese soprano Ying Fang and German tenor Magnus Dietrich as the young Marzelline and Jaquino, and Danish bass Stephen Milling as the principled Don Fernando. Susanna Mälkki conducts.

The screening will begin at 12:55 p.m. and will conclude at approximately 4:00 p.m.

Admission $20 (Senior $18, Children $8)

OHIO Students Free with valid ID*

*Thanks to support from Arts for OHIO, we are able to offer a limited number of FREE student tickets available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Must have valid student I.D.

Click here to view the rest of the Met: Live in HD schedule

Special thanks to George Weckman and the following supporters:

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Running Time: 185 MIN185 MIN
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Let’s Do Lynch: ERASERHEAD

Watch Trailer Cast: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart

Join us Tuesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. as we finish off Let’s Do Lynch: A David Lynch Retrospective with the film that started it all!

Admission $8

About the film

Unquestionably one of the strangest feature films of all time, Eraserhead follows main character Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) through a hellish industrial landscape to tell the surreal story of how he ends up having to care for the grotesque child given birth to by his girlfriend Mary.

The film’s luscious black-and-white cinematography, its unsettling sound design (created by Lynch), and its incredibly unforgettable imagery make it one of the most unique films of all time…It is PURE David Lynch! Gravely misunderstood at the time of its release in 1977, Eraserhead has since become a highly regarded touchstone in cinema history — supposedly, Stanley Kubrick told Lynch it was his favorite movie.  In 2004, it was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for its cultural significance and artistic impact.

 

Check out the rest of our exciting line-up of Let’s Do Lynch films

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Running Time: 89 MIN89 MIN
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Patton College of Education Presents: COUNTED OUT

Watch Trailer Director: Vicki Abeles

Join us Wednesday, March 19th at 7:00 for a special event screening of the documentary Counted Out – a film that shows us the power of math in our society, our economy, and our democracy.

FREE Admission – A ticket is required

Tickets can be picked up in-person in the Athena Cinema lobby prior to the event during our normal hours of operation, as well as at the event

About the film

In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get — all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.

But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy — whether we can speak the language of math — is a critical determinant of social and economic power.

With one of the most impactful elections of our generation already behind us, it’s critical to understand how the impact of math runs throughout our electoral process in ways most of us never notice — from gerrymandered voting districts and AI-created political ads to ballot measures and candidate choices.

Counted Out shows us the power of math that undergirds our democracy. Who holds that power? Who doesn’t? And how can we all speak the language of math to fully participate in a world that belongs to everyone?

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Running Time: 89 MIN89 MIN
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Classics & Cocktails: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND – One Night Only!

Watch Trailer Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, François Truffaut
Awards: Osacr - Best Cinematography, Best Director (nom), Best Visual Effects (nom)

Join us Friday, March 21st at 7:00 p.m. for an out-of-this-world addition to our Classics & Cocktails series as we present a screening of Steven Spielberg’s magnificent sci-fi film Close Encounters of the Third Kind!

The featured cocktail: “Ecto Sour” = Seven Brothers Gin, Midori, simple syrup, lemon, and pineapple

Plus, we’ll have a great selection of Jackie O’s beer, West End CiderHouse ciders, wine, and more! We’ll also have trivia and prizes.

Admission $8

About the film

The year is 1977, and French scientists are investigating the strange reappearance of aircraft and ships that had vanished in previous decades. Meanwhile, blue-collar utility work Roy Neary is sent out on an emergency call to restore power to his rural Indiana territory and has a life-changing encounter with a UFO that leaves a mark both on his psyche and half his face. Afterwards, Roy’s behavior grows more erratic, with an increasing obsession with UFO-logy and unshakable visions of a mysterious shape, until his wife leaves with the kids in exasperation. Eventually, Roy discovers that the shape is actually a terrestrial object – The Devil’s Tower in Wyoming – and he becomes convinced that this geographical location holds the key to the bizarre events that he has been witness to. Joining up with a mother whose child has vanished, the two travel to the natural monument and have a once-in-a-lifetime encounter in one of the most spectacular moments in cinema history.

Check out the rest of our line-up of Classics & Cocktails films

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Running Time: 135 MIN135 MIN
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Let’s Do Lynch: INLAND EMPIRE – Just Added to the Series!

Watch Trailer Cast: Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton, Diane Ladd, Grace Zabriskie, William H Macy

Join us Tuesday, March 25th at 7:00 p.m. for this last-minute addition to our Let’s Do Lynch: A David Lynch Retrospective!

Admission $8

About the film

Laura Dern reunites with Lynch to star as Nikki Grace, an actress who has been cast as “Sue Blue” in a modern adaptation of an old German film that was never finished. Her character and that of her co-star (played by Justin Theroux) will be tasked with having an affair in the film, and the two are warned that they should keep their relationship on solid professional footing. As the production continues, however, reality and surrealism start to blend as Nikki starts to transform into the character she has been hired to play…taking her to the edge of madness.

Certainly one of Lynch’s most-bizarre and un-linear films, Inland Empire blends back-stage Hollywood intrigue, Polish folktales, a sitcom with bunny-people, and nightmarish hallucinations into a film that encompasses all the great things about Lynch as a filmmaker. The movie was shot by Lynch himself using a standard-definition digital video camera, giving the film a visual immediacy that makes it stand out from his other work and adding a visceral quality to the largely-improvised performances of the cast.

 

Check out the rest of our exciting line-up of Let’s Do Lynch films

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Running Time: 180 MIN180 MIN
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