Blue Sky Icon TikTok Icon

Tag Archives | Featured

Beat the Heat: NOCTURNA

Watch Trailer Director: Adrià García and Víctor Maldonado
Writer(s): Adrià García, Víctor Maldonado and Teresa Vilardell
Cast: Imanol Arias, Joe Lewis and Molly Malcolm
Awards: Won Best Animated Feature Film at the Barcelona Film Awards, 2007
Language: Dubbed in English

Visually stunning and wildly inventive, this film explores the mystery of the night in a sweeping nocturnal adventure full of Alice in Wonderland-like characters and moody, dream-inspired landscapes. Have you ever wondered why your hair looks funny in the morning or where the sounds outside your window come from at night? A young boy named Tim finds out after an unusual discovery on the rooftop of his orphanage plunges him into the secret world of Nocturna, inhabited by curious creatures who control the night.

There are hairdressers who specialize in bed-heads, dream writers, and a vast herd of guardian cats led by the gigantic Cat Shepherd. Yet this world is in danger: the stars in the sky are disappearing, kids are becoming restless at night, and a mysterious shadow creature is haunting the empty streets, extinguishing anything that gives off light. If Tim and the Cat Shepherd can’t set things right, nighttime will never be the same! Bold anime-influenced character design and beautiful, fluid 2D animation help to create a fantastic dream world that balances the magical with a touch of menace. Tim and the audience ultimately learn that the night doesn’t have to be so scary after all.

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 80 minutes80 MIN
Not Rated

Graceful! Entertaining! Handsomely drawn!

Hollywood Reporter
Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Beat the Heat: THE SECRET OF KELLS

Watch Trailer Director: Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey
Writer(s): Tomm Moore and Fabrice Ziolkowski
Cast: Evan McGuire, Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally
Awards: Academy Award Nominee, Best Animated Feature
Language: Dubbed in English

Magic, fantasy and Celtic mythology come together in a riot of color and detail that dazzle the eyes in this sweeping story about the power of imagination and faith to carry humanity through dark times. Features the voices of Brendan Gleeson (HARRY POTTER, IN BRUGES), Mick Lally, Evan McGuire and Christen Mooney.

Young Brendan lives in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids. But a new life of adventure beckons when a celebrated master illuminator arrives from foreign lands carrying an ancient but unfinished book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers. To help complete the magical book, Brendan has to overcome his deepest fears on a dangerous quest that takes him into the enchanted forest where mythical creatures hide. It is here that he meets the fairy Aisling, a mysterious young wolf-girl, who helps him along the way. But with the barbarians closing in, will Brendan’s determination and artistic vision illuminate the darkness and show that enlightenment is the best fortification against evil?

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 75 minutes75 MIN
Not Rated

'The Secret of Kells' discloses strange new vistas that nonetheless seem to have existed since ancient times.

New York Times
Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Beat the Heat: MIA AND THE MIGOO

Watch Trailer Director: Jacques-Rémy Girerd
Writer(s): Benoît Chieux, Jacques-Rémy Girerd, Antoine Lanciaux, Stephanie Sheh and Iouri Tcherenkov
Cast: Featuring the voices of: John DiMaggio, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Modine, Wallace Shawn, James Woods
Awards: Won Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards, 2009

One night Mia has a premonition. So after saying a few words of parting at her mother’s grave, she sets out on a cross continent journey, though mountains and jungles in search of her father, who has been trapped in a landslide at a construction site on a remote tropical lake. In the middle of the lake stands the ancient Tree of Life, watched over by innocent, bumbling forest spirits called the Migoo, who grow and change shape as they please, morphing from small childlike beings to petulant giants. The Migoo have been disrupting the construction to protect this sacred site – and now together with Mia they join in a fight to find Mia’s father and save the Tree, with the future of life on Earth hanging in the balance.

From the distributors of the Academy Award nominated THE SECRET OF KELLS comes the gorgeous second feature from renowned French animator Jacques-Rémy Girerd. Created from an astounding 500,000 hand-painted frames of animation, MIA AND THE MIGOO is a work of art, breathtaking to behold, with backgrounds that invoke Van Gogh, Monet, and Cezanne. Figures are outlined in pastel and bathed in rustic watercolors for a handcrafted look that bursts at the seams with painterly detail. The film is a fable-like journey of a young girl who must overcome her fears on a quest to find her father and save the world from destruction.

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 92 minutes92 MIN
PG Rated
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

A hand-painted film that draws inspiration from Van Gogh and Cezanne, MIA AND THE MIGOO is genuinely beautiful, with eye-popping color and motion and dreamscapes; really inspired stuff.

The Oregonian
Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Blue Ruin

Watch Trailer Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Writer(s): Jeremy Saulnier
Cast: Amy Hargreaves, Devin Ratray, Kevin Kolack, and Macon Blair
Awards: FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival

A beach bum finds his quiet life upended by dreadful news and sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of revenge. Proving an inept assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.

“It’s a brilliant, slow-burning American revenge thriller that hardly puts a foot wrong, a work of startling violence and profound conscience that announces the arrival of an exciting young director.” – Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com

“A feral and staggeringly well-conceived revenge saga.” – David Ehrlich, Film.com

“terrifically ominous and full of low-key, high-quality performances” – Sara Stewart, New York Post

 

Coming May 2nd

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 90 Minutes 90 MIN
R Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

The Lunchbox

Watch Trailer Director: Ritesh Batra
Writer(s): Ritesh Batra
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Lillete Dubey, and Nimrat Kaur

Middle class housewife Ila is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that this new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day’s lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship. Gradually, their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears, and even small joys. They each discover a new sense of self and find an anchor to hold on to in the big city of Mumbai that so often crushes hopes and dreams. Still strangers physically, Ila and Saajan become lost in a virtual relationship that could jeopardize both their realities.

“a feast of delights” – Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

“a sumptuous treat” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“A touching and credible story that easily draws the viewer into the lives of its characters.” – Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times

 

Coming May 2

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 104 Minutes104 MIN
PG Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Le Week-End

Watch Trailer Director: Roger Michell
Writer(s): Hanif Kureishi
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Jim Broadbent, and Lindsay Duncan

Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan), a long-married British couple, revisit Paris for the first time since their honeymoon in an attempt to rekindle their relationship. During a two-day escapade, diffident, wistful Nick and demanding, take-charge Meg careen from harmony to disharmony to resignation and back again as they take stock of half a lifetime of deep tenderness—and even deeper regret. A surprise invitation from Nick’s old friend Morgan (Jeff Goldblum), an amusingly boorish American academic with a fancy Parisian address, soon leads them to an unexpectedly hopeful vision of what their love and marriage might still become.

“Captures Paris in all its sensuous delight…a truly romantic film.” – Harper’s Bazaar

“Smart, substantial and enchanting.” – Rex Reed, New York Observer

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 93 Minutes93 MIN
R Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Free Universal Premiere: NEIGHBORS

Watch Trailer Director: Nicholas Stoller
Writer(s): Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien
Cast: Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Lisa Kudrow, and Jake Johnson

Seth Rogen, Zac Efron and Rose Byrne lead the cast of Neighbors, a comedy about a young couple suffering from arrested development who are forced to live next to a fraternity house after the birth of their newborn baby. Neighbors is directed by Nick Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek).

“Zac Efron gives one of his most credible and intriguing performances” – Andrew Barker, Variety

“Neighbors is one of the funniest, most visually inventive studio comedies in recent memory.” – Drew Taylor, The Playlist

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 96 Minutes96 MIN
R Rated
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Finding Vivian Maier: Last Night, May 29th

Watch Trailer Director: John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Writer(s): John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Cast: John Maloof, Mary Ellen Mark, Phil Donahue
Awards: Won the Grand Jury Prize at the Miami Film Festival 2014

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER is the critically acclaimed documentary about a mysterious nanny, who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that were hidden in storage lockers and, discovered decades later, is now among the 20th century’s greatest photographers. Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, Maier’s strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never before seen photographs, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her.

Maier’s massive body of work would come to light when in 2007 her work was discovered at a local thrift auction house on Chicago’s Northwest Side. From there, it would eventually impact the world over and change the life of the man who championed her work and brought it to the public eye, John Maloof.

Currently, Vivian Maier’s body of work is being archived and cataloged for the enjoyment of others and for future generations. John Maloof is at the core of this project after reconstructing most of the archive, having been previously dispersed to the various buyers attending that auction. Now, with roughly 90% of her archive reconstructed, Vivian’s work is part of a renaissance in interest in the art of Street Photography.

Coming May 2.

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 83 minutes83 MIN
Not Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

41st Athens International Film + Video Festival

History

The Athens International Film and Video Festival was founded in 1974, and since then has presented independent films from around the world. The Festival is sponsored by the Athens Center for Film and Video, a project of the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University.

The Competition Process

Each year, a Prescreening Committee comprised of artists, students, and community activists watch all the films and videos entered in the competition. After all entries have been watched, the prescreeners evaluate all entries to determine films to include in public screenings.

Cash prizes are awarded by guest jurors, in four categories: documentary, experimental, narrative, and animation. Festival Jurors will be announced just prior to the Festival. Awards will be announced on the final day of the Festival.

Competition films are then programmed around various themes that emerge from the films selected; our intention is to group films into shows that reflect a common thematic thread.

Festival Staff

Director: Ruth Bradley

Technical Direction: Dan Bruell, Dan Moray
Athena Cinema, Head Projectionist: Hsin-ning Chang
Graphic Designer: David Colagiovanni

Athena Cinema Staff

Operations Director: Alexandra Kamody
Head Projectionist: Hsin-ning Chang
Assistant Managers: Jordan Froomkin, Julie Vinson, Sean Rickey & Connor Baker
Design: Kathryn Potraz & Stanislav Semukhin
Office Assistant: Ashley Thomas
Concessions and Projection: Corinne Barnhart, Jake Caputo, Taylor Clark, Jacob Core, Derek Cravens, Julianne Davis, Josh Edwards, Zach Godwin, David Gundling, Shawn Hughes, Nils Illokken, Joe Lyon, Dillon Olmedo, Megan Popke, Nicaylen Rayasa, Quintin Schomaker, Brittany Seals, Joe Skyrm, Joe Votaw and Jackque Wong

Festival Workers: The students of Film Festival Practicum and Media Arts Management.

Contact us:

Mailing Address:
Athens Int’l Film and Video Festival
P.O. Box 388, Athens, OH 45701
Phone: 740-593-1330
Fax: 740-597-2560 fax
Email: filmfestival@ohio.edu
Social: Facebook, Twitter

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Science on Screen®: PARTICLE FEVER

Watch Trailer

Return

The Science of the Smallest Particle

A discussion about the basic science of the “smallest” particles, as well as the scales by which energy and matter are studied at many levels by physicists, led by OU’s Dr. David Ingram.

About the film

Imagine being able to watch as Edison turned on the first light bulb, or as Franklin received his first jolt of electricity. For the first time, a film gives audiences a front row seat to a significant and inspiring scientific breakthrough as it happens. Particle Fever follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start-up of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet, pushing the edge of human innovation. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the universe, 10,000 scientists from over 100 countries joined forces in pursuit of a single goal: to recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang and find the Higgs boson, potentially explaining the origin of all matter. But our heroes confront an even bigger challenge: have we reached our limit in understanding why we exist? Directed by Mark Levinson, a physicist turned filmmaker, from the inspiration and initiative of producer David Kaplan and masterfully edited by Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient), Particle Fever is a celebration of discovery, revealing the very human stories behind this epic machine.

About the speaker

David Ingram has been curious about electronic materials and devices ever since he was 9 years old, when his uncle took him and his family to an open house at the Royal Radar Establishment, Malvern, England, where his uncle had worked since the start of World War II. As an experimentalist, he works on growing new materials and studying their properties. A classic method of making semiconducting devices is to use ion implantation. With this method, one can take any isotope of any element in the periodic table and implant it in a substrate. This led him into the study of the interaction of energetic particles with matter and now into areas of applied nuclear science where low energy nuclear physics and materials science intersect.

 

Return

Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Science on Screen program pairs films with a short talk with a scientist or technology expert. The free Science on Screen events are fun and engaging, offering dynamic speakers an unexpected jumping point to teach their field of expertise in a way that is accessible to a diverse audience.

 

Free admission to this event is provided by Arts for OHIO.

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 99 Minutes99 MIN
Not Rated
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Watching a film won't make you smarter, but if there ever was one that could, it would be "Particle Fever," a movie so mind-bending you can almost feel your brain cells growing as you're watching it.

Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Read full story · Comments { 0 }