As the new year begins, and audiences are coming off the jolt of holiday season blockbusters and prestige middlebrow offerings, the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look Series (January 8-24, 2016) has become a very welcome palate cleanser, as it takes a look at cinema beyond Hollywood and the mainstream. With films that often defy classification - they range from ultra experimental indies to genre-defying European entries, and Latin American nonfiction - the series, celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2016, is a must for devoted cinephiles. The 2016 selection, curated by David Schwartz and Eric Hynes (with contributions from Aliza Ma and Mónica Savirón) not only includes newer titles, but will also feature screenings of Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar and Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control. Here are five other must-see titles:
Esto es lo que hay
The year after the United States normalized relations with Cuba seems to be the perfect time to watch Léa Rinaldi’s insightful documentary This Is What It Is, an eye-opening, but never sensational, account of life among Los Aldeanos, Cuba’s most popular hip-hop band. Outspoken and fearless, the band members openly criticize the system, blame reggaeton for cultural collapse, and create astonishing art in front of our eyes. Rinaldi’s camera follows them, and one can almost feel her smile as captures the complexities of a country that the rest of the world has been neglecting for far too long.
I Am the People
Anna Roussillon’s thought provoking film takes place in an Egyptian village far away from Cairo, where the inhabitants are aware of the events going on in Tahrir Square, but examine them almost “out of time”. A touching film about people living on the margins of a society that already marginalizes a large part of its population, I Am the People, ought to spark conversation about what should be the absolute reach of social change.
Maestà
Andy Guerif’s majestic feature length debut is an adaptation of 13th century Italian master Duccio di Buoninsegna’s painting of “The Passion of the Christ”. Not an adaptation of the making-of, or the history behind, but of the painting itself, which we see come to life with actors posing as the characters in Buoninsegna’s elaborate panels. A fascinating metaphor for the history of film itself, Guerif understands that in order for cinema to evolve, it has to understand that it’s not there to replace other forms, but to interact with them. Its heightened self-awareness is truly worthy of worship.
João Bénard da Costa–Others Will Love the Things I Have Loved
We might just be the things we love, as proved by Manuel Mozos in his lovely portrait of former Portuguese Film Museum director João Bénard da Costa, who left behind artifacts that make one want to go back in time just to meet him and talk about them. Obsessed with cinema, Proust and painting, da Costa left behind a mark that made Mozos feel the need to unravel his mystery. Surprisingly Mozos discovers new aspects of himself in the process. This is personal cinema of the highest order.
Traveling at Night with Jim Jarmusch
Léa Rinaldi made two films during the shooting of Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control and Only Lovers Left Alive, while both will be shown during the series, Traveling at Night features priceless moments with Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton and the brilliant director himself is making its New York debut. Rinaldi proves once more to be keenly observant, capturing elements that don’t take away from the “magic” of the films, but actually enrich them.
For tickets and more to First Look click here.
