This weekend!

Saving Face

Dir. alice wu (2004); Us; English, mandarin, shanghainese; 91 min; DCP

Programmed by Naomi

Friday, January 9 at 6:00 PM & 8:30 PM
Saturday, January 10 at 6:00 PM & 8:30 PM
Sunday, January 11 at 3:00 PM

Alice Wu’s debut film is a hilarious, tender, and deeply affecting rom-com that broke barriers for Asian American and queer cinema in the early 2000s. Closeted surgeon Wil (Michelle Krusiec) navigates a secret romance with ballerina Vivian (Lynn Chen) all the while contending with her 48-year-old widowed and pregnant mother, played by Joan Chen, whose public missteps and family gossip turn Wil’s Manhattan apartment into a theater of chaos.

The film’s title references a Chinese idiom: to “lose face” is to endure public shame or the perception of dishonoring one’s family, while to “save face” is to patch together reputation and social standing. Mother and daughter embark on parallel quests, negotiating family duties, cultural expectations, and personal desires, all while Wu, who wrote the script while still working as a software engineer in the late 90s, critiques generational misogyny, hypocrisy, and the notion of upholding tradition as a dictator for truth.

Saving Face

Week 1: January 9, 10, 11

Dir. Alice Wu (2004); US; English, Mandarin, Shanghainese; 91 min; DCP

Programmed by Naomi

The People’s Joker on 35mm

Week 2: January 16, 17, 18

Dir. Vera Drew (2022); US; English; 92 min; 35mm

Programmed by Julie

I Have Electric Dreams

Week 3: January 23, 24, 25

Dir. Valentina Maurel (2022); Costa Rica; Spanish; 101 min; DCP

Programmed by Clara

We Grown Now

Week 4: January 30, 31, February 1

Dir. Minhal Baig (2023); US; English; 95 min; DCP

Programmed by Alyssa

I Am Not a Witch

Week 5: February 6, 7, 8

Dir. Rungano Nyoni (2017); UK, France, Germany, Zambia; English, Bemba, Chewa, Tonga; 93 min; DCP

Programmed by Clara

Compensation

Week 6: February 13, 14, 15

Dir. Zeinabu irene Davis (1999); US; English, ASL; 92 min; DCP

Programmed by Sarah

La Ciénaga

Week 7: February 20, 21, 22

Dir. Lucrecia Martel (2001); Argentina; Spanish; 101 min; DCP

Programmed by Alyssa

Seven Beauties

Week 8: February 27, 28, March 1

Dir. Lina Wertmüller (1975); Italy; Italian; 116 min; DCP

Programmed by Sarah

An Angel at My Table

Week 9: March 6, 7 ,8

Dir. Jane Campion (1990); New Zealand, Australia, UK; English; 158 min; DVD

Programmed by Naomi

Born in Flames

Week 10: March 13, 14, 15

Dir. Lizzie Borden (1983); US; English; 90 min; DCP

Programmed by Julie

Please note that these are our standard showtimes unless stated otherwise. Our doors open 30 minutes prior to each screening and close 10 minutes after each screening begins.