A FISTFUL OF FILM
The 11th Houston Cinema Arts Festival unspools through Monday. |
This year’s Houston Cinema Arts Festival, which began Thursday night with the film “Waves” and runs through Monday, is a bit like starting over.
There’s a new artistic director, Jessica Green, and an expansion of its mission. In addition to films about making art or the lives of artists, the festival’s original theme, the 2019 edition is also devoted to films about the moon landing and what’s been termed the Yeehaw Agenda, a contemporary take on western and rodeo culture. Unchanged from previous years is a jampacked schedule that can be overwhelming. So, here are some recommendations. For the full list of programming, go to cinemahtx.org.
‘A Hidden Life’
Austin director Terrence Malick’s last film, “Song to Song” from 2017, was such a complete artistic collapse that it’s tempting to look at his latest with a jaundiced eye. But “A Hidden
Life,” based on the true story of Austrian WWII conscientious objector Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to fight for the Third Reich, has a solid story for a spine and a strong European cast, including Bruno Ganz (“The Reader”), Michael Nyqvist (“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”), Matthias Schoenaerts (“The Danish Girl”) and August Diehl (“Inglorious Basterds”) as Jägerstätter. 7 p.m. Friday, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet.
‘For All Mankind’
The late director Al Reinart crafted one of the best documentaries dealing with getting
humanity into space with this 1989 documentary about the Apollo program. Not only was it an Oscar nominee in the documentary category, it also won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and proved to be hugely influential. Artist/curator Peter Lucas and the film’s producer, Betsy Broyles Breier, will be in attendance. 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Rice Cinema, 6100 Main. ‘Sugar Cane Alley’
Euzhan Palcy is the first black woman director to have a film produced by a major Hollywood studio, the 1989 film “A Dry White Season.” She is also the the first black director to win a César Award (France’s version of the Academy Awards) and the first black director to win a Venice Film Festival Award. She is going to be feted at Cinema Arts with a showing of this 1983 film (which won a best foreignlanguage film honor at Houston’s WorldFest in 1984). The film, set on the French island of Martinique in the 1930s, is a portrait of colonial life and how it affects a young boy named José. Palcy will be in attendance for a postscreening Q&A. 7 p.m. Saturday, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
‘When I Get Home’
Solange’s performance-art film/visual album was released earlier this year, but the version screening at Cinema Arts is a director’s cut showcasing new scenes and musical arrangements. It’s also longer than the original, running 41 minutes as opposed to 33. Even better is that this is a free event and takes place at the historic DeLuxe Theater in Fifth Ward, a building many festivalgoers probably have never entered. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, The DeLuxe Theater, 3303 Lyons.
‘Marriage Story’
Noah Baumbach has made a career’s worth of likable dramedies about stressed New Yorkers — “Frances Ha” and “While We’re Young” among them — but this is arguably his most affecting work. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, a husband and wife going through a divorce, turn in two of their best performances in what is, despite the occasional humorous moment, Baumbach’s most serious work. This is the only scheduled Houston big-screen showing before it begins streaming through Amazon Prime Nov. 29. 10 p.m. Saturday, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
‘Varda by Agnès’
French new-wave pioneer Agnès Varda, who died earlier this year, is the subject of this documentary in which she talks about her life and work. 1 p.m. Sunday, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
‘Nailed It’
This documentary, about the Vietnamese entrepreneurs who have dominated the nail-salon industry, originally aired on PBS in May. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Adele Pham. 2 p.m. Sunday at the Asia Society Texas
Center, 1370 Southmore.
‘Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes’
Blue Note Records is one of jazz music’s most beloved labels. This cinematic toast from documentarian Sophie Huber features archival footage of Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Miles Davis and John Coltrane and appearances from Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones and
Houstonian Robert Glasper. The film will be preceded by an 80th anniversary tribute concert to the label. 3:45 p.m. Sunday, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
‘Bacurau’
Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonca Filho’s lauded film, about a Brazilian village under attack and how the villagers resist, has been a film-festival favorite, nabbing a jury prize at Cannes as well as a Palme d’Or nomination. 4 p.m. Sunday, Rice Cinema.
‘Black Rodeo’
It’s not well-known that a significant number of cowboys in the Old West were black and that rodeo culture reflects this. The rarely seen 1972 documentary “Black Rodeo,” set at a Harlem rodeo, captures this aspect. It will be followed by a panel featuring director Jeff Kanew, internet archivist Bri Malando and rodeo riders. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’
The closing-night film, from French director Celine Sciamma (“Tomboy,” “Girlhood”), won two awards at Cannes and was a nominee for the Palme d’Or. It tells the story of two 18th-century women who meet on an isolated island in Brittany. 7 p.m. Monday, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.