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Japan, 1999, Hirokazu Kore-eda
If you could choose only one memory to hold on to for eternity, what would it be? That’s the question at the heart of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s revelatory international breakthrough AFTER LIFE, a bittersweet fantasia in which the recently deceased find themselves in a limbo realm where they must select a single cherished moment from their life to be recreated on film for them to take into the next world. A panoramic vision of the human experience—its ephemeral joys and lingering regrets—and a quietly profound meditation on memory, our interconnectedness, and the amberlike power of cinema to freeze time. 118 min.
Introduction by outgoing Cinematheque Director Bilgesu Sisman as her last "Programmer's Pick."
Friday 6:30 pm
Watch the trailer below:
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Italy, 1949, Giuseppe De Santis
BITTER RICE takes place during planting season in Northern Italy’s Po Valley, where an earthy rice-field worker (Silvana Mangano) falls in with a small-time criminal (Vittorio Gassman) who is planning a daring heist of the crop, along with his femme-fatale-ish girlfriend, played by the Hollywood star Doris Dowling. Both a socially conscious look at the hardships endured by underpaid field workers and a melodrama tinged with sex and violence, this early smash for producer extraordinaire Dino De Laurentiis and director Giuseppe De Santis is neorealism with a heaping dose of pulp. 109 min.
New 4K Restoration.
Saturday 4:30 pm & Sunday 4:55 pm
Watch the trailer below:
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Canada/USA, 2025, Grace Glowicki
A lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap scientific experiments, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love. Warning: We will show DEAD LOVER in Stink-o-Vision! The filmmakers are working with a team of MIT scientists to perfect the smells for the most pungent theatrical experience. 86 min.
Cleveland premiere. Pre-recorded introduction from the Gravedigger. Special Stink-o-Vision admission $14/$11.
Friday 9:00 pm
Watch the trailer below:
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France/Israel/Cyprus/Germany, 2025, Nadav Lapid
One of international cinema’s most fearless and provocative filmmakers, Nadav Lapid has long been an outspoken critic of his birth country’s government policies, channeling a lifetime of fury and frustration into vital films like Synonyms and Ahed’s Knee that brim with righteous anger, spite, and shame. In YES, Lapid once again takes vigorous critical aim at the Israeli government with a new approach: submission. In the days following October 7, Y., a jazz musician, and his wife Yasmine, a dancer, resolve to say yes to everything. Y. and Yasmine sell their bodies and souls to the highest bidder, surrendering themselves and their art to Israel’s social, political and military elite. Soon, Y. is entrusted with a mission of the utmost importance: to compose the music for a rousing, ruthless new national anthem. Feverishly whirling between moments of satire, sincerity, and complete submission, Yes is a visceral, blistering indictment of modern Israel, and an essential addition to post-October 7 cinema. 152 min.
Watch the trailer below:
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| | THE SHORT FILMS OF DAVID LYNCH: EXPANDED
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USA, 1967-2002, David Lynch
THE SHORT FILMS OF DAVID LYNCH: EXPANDED is a collection of visionary director David Lynch's short films from the first 29 years of his career. Including Six Men Getting Sick, The Alphabet, The Grandmother, The Amputee (V. 1 and V. 2) and Premonitions Following an Evil Deed (1995). This program has been expanded to include The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988) and Dumbland (2002). 112 min.
New Digital Restorations.
Thursday 6:45 pm & Sunday 7:15 pm
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USA, 1995, Abel Ferrara
Christopher Walken, Lili Taylor, and Abel Ferrara (Ms. 45) come together in THE ADDICTION, a stylized triumph of 1990s indie horror that mashes up Godard, Bram Stoker, and East Coast hip-hop. As the "Disneyfication" of New York City takes root, a morbid grad student is bitten by a vampire seductress (Annabella Sciorra) and must navigate the shadows while tempering her growing addiction to blood. In the midst of his most prolific, hard-hitting burst of filmmaking, Ferrara crafted this loving portrait of New York and a hellish portrait of heroin filtered through the darkest poetic lens. Filmed beautifully in black and white, it is a distinctly personal take on creatures of the night. "A quivering nexus of AIDS allegory, identity crisis, historical unease, and socio-economic panic" (Slant Magazine). 82 min.
Old Blood, New Blood.
Thursday 9:00 pm & Saturday 9:35 pm
Watch the trailer below:
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| | Bilgesu Sisman's Top 10 at the 50th Cleveland International Film Festival
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The Cinematheque will be a community partner for two acclaimed new films showing in this year’s 50th Cleveland International Film Festival, which takes place April 9-18 at Playhouse Square and The Cedar Lee Theatre.
For what it's worth, these are the ten films that Cinematheque Director Bilgesu Sisman is most interested in catching at the festival: BARBARA FOREVER; BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY; BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD; IF I GO WILL THEY MISS ME; HAPPY BIRTHDAY; HEN; POETIC LICENSE; ROSE OF NEVADA; THE CHRISTOPHERS; and THE LAST VIKING.
Advance tickets are now on sale at clevelandfilm.org. Use the code “CINE” and receive $1 off the ticket price—not only to our partnered film but to any regular CIFF screening.
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Engage with the Cinematheque beyond attending screenings.
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(Above photo: Bilgesu Sisman with her first Cinematheque schedule.)
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| This Week
Thu., Apr. 9, 6:45 pm
Sun., Apr. 12, 7:15 pm
THE SHORT FILMS OF DAVID LYNCH: EXPANDED
$12/$9
Thu., Apr. 9, 9:00 pm
Sat., Apr. 11, 9:35 pm
Old Blood, New Blood
THE ADDICTION
$12/$9
Fri., Apr. 10, 6:30 pm
AFTER LIFE
Introduced by by outgoing Cinematheque Director Bilgesu Sisman
$12/$9
Fri., Apr. 10, 9:00 pm
In Stink-o-Vision!
DEAD LOVER
$14/$11
Sat., Apr. 11, 4:30 pm
Sun., Apr. 12, 4:55 pm
BITTER RICE
New 4K Restoration
$12/$9
Sat., Apr. 11, 6:40 pm
Sun., Apr. 12, 2:00 pm
YES
$12/$9
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Next Week
RENDER ME SOFTLY: EXPERIMENTAL ANIMATION IN LATIN AMERICA
HABIT
PALESTINE 36
KONTINENTAL '25
LUMIÈRE, LE CINÉMA!
THE BEIRUT TRILOGY
The Cinematheque at the 50th Cleveland International Film Festival!
Films show 4/16-18 at Playhouse Square and the Cedar Lee Theatre
IF I GO WILL THEY MISS ME
&
BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD
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