Synopsis

Budapest, 1957. In the aftermath of a quelled uprising against the ruling Communist party, a young Jewish boy named Andor and his mother are struggling to make ends meet. Both work at a local general store, living in fear of the regime’s violent reprisals against friends and coworkers involved in the failed revolution. When a menacing, brutish man appears in town, claiming to be Andor’s father, the boy is plunged into personal crisis as he’s forced to come to grips with a new and unwelcome family history.

Director László Nemes (Son of Saul) sets this tender, heartbreaking coming-of-age tale amid a violent historical backdrop, balancing the intimate and internal against the grand sweep of history. The struggles of Andor and his family mirror the tumultuous reckoning of the post-WWII world, as Orphan bears witness to the tyrannies of the period through the eyes of a child.

Screening in 35mm.

Synopsis

On what begins as an ordinary day, two brothers wait—restless, suspended—for the return of their estranged father, journalist and activist Folarin. He suddenly appears and takes his sons on a thrilling, unexpected trip into Lagos to collect his long-overdue unpaid salary. Set against the backdrop of Nigeria’s pivotal 1993 presidential election, one that offers a choice between military rule and democracy, the city is bracing for backlash. Together, the three must navigate the commotion as the nation breathlessly awaits the results.

Based on director Akinola Davies Jr.’s personal experiences, My Father’s Shadow is a poetic and moving meditation on love, legacy, and the human cost of political conviction. The film delicately traces the intersections of social resistance and private reckoning, tenderly contrasting a complex portrait of fatherhood against his sons’ coming-of-age. Beautifully textured 16mm images lend authenticity and nostalgia to this snapshot of history.

Synopsis

After iconoclastic artist Leonora Carrington trades English life for 1930s Paris, she falls in with giants of the Surrealist movement, including Salvador Dalí and André Breton. But it’s her passionate love affair with German painter Max Ernst that affects her life and work in the most profound manner. Their turbulent relationship sends her on a journey of self-discovery that will eventually take her to Mexico, where she finds a true sense of freedom—and her own unique artistic voice.

Working from the novel by Mexican author and artist Elena Poniatowska, directors Lena Vurma and Thor Klein chronicle key chapters in Carrington’s singular life, depicting the evolution of an artist with nuance and subtlety. Actress Olivia Vinall delivers a perfectly pitched performance as the story’s central figure, portraying Carrington both in her youth and as a more mature woman working in Mexico, where she emerged alongside Frida Kahlo as one of the country’s preeminent creative figures. With its insightful observations of a multifaceted talent whose distaste for the conventional enabled her to live as a true original, Leonora in the Morning Light gives Carrington her due.

Synopsis

Jay Kelly, the new film from Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach, follows famous movie actor Jay Kelly (George Clooney) as he embarks on a journey of self discovery confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager Ron (Adam Sandler). Poignant and humor filled, epic and intimate, Jay Kelly is pitched at the intersection of life’s regrets and notable glories.

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old best friends Ish and Maram spend their days cruising around on their bikes, building makeshift forts in the nearby woods, and hanging out with their mates at the pool. Ish, who has recently lost his mother, is younger, smaller, and less assertive, while Maram, who is under his father’s thumb at home, has a bit more swagger. As they lean into the end of boyhood, the pair can rely on each other—until a police stop-and-search deeply shakes their bond.

With fine nuance and a lived-in sense of place, musician and artist Imran Perretta paints a deeply felt portrait that explores young male friendship at a precarious moment. The boys’ slang-heavy conversations are affectionately peppered with teasing insults and terms of endearment. News reports of the war in Gaza and of crackdowns on protests are ever present, providing an unsettling backdrop to the daily lives of the Muslim and South Asian communities the boys call home. As an increasingly ubiquitous police presence—in the form of street patrols and the deployment of facial recognition technology—ratchets up tensions, Ish breathes empathy and understanding into its depiction of the uneasy path to manhood.