The Cinema Lounge meets Monday, May 21, 2018 at 7:00pm. Our topic is Science Fiction. In 1968, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey redefined science fiction on film through its visuals, themes, scope and artistry. Fifty years later, sci-fi has become a movie staple. What do we expect from these films? How have they evolved and what does the future hold? How does it compare to the current renaissance of sci-fi on television?

The Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, meets the third Monday of every month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:00pm at Teaism in Penn Quarter, 400 8th St., NW in Washington, DC (closest Metro stop is Archives, also near Metro Center and Gallery Place). NOTE: We will meet in the downstairs area. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend. Cinema Lounge is moderated by Adam Spector, author of the DC Film Society's Adam's Rib column.

By Adam Spector, DC Film Society Member

On the surface, the Cannes-Netflix battle is about what will or won't be shown at a festival in Europe that most of us will never attend. But a deeper dive raises questions about Netflix's distribution strategy and how it can limit the theatergoing options we have at home. Check it out in my new Adam's Rib column.

The 28th Washington Jewish Film Festival, (May 2-13) includes 57 feature-length and 23 short films from 27 countries, and showcases the diversity of Jewish life around the world. The Opening Night film will be the DC premiere of Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me (Sam Pollard, 2017), a biographical documentary on the famed entertainer featuring never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection. The Closing Night film is The Invisibles (Claus Räfle, 2017), about four young Jews who lived in hiding after the Nazis declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943.

“With each Festival, we aim to celebrate, explore and deepen our understanding of the international Jewish experience,” said Ilya Tovbis, Director of the Washington Jewish Film Festival. “The 2018 program also responds to the urgent call to action around issues of gender equality in the film industry and beyond. In the wake of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, the Washington Jewish Film Festival presents a slate of powerful films that champion female pioneers who broke through systemic and societal barriers. From a Supreme Court justice before the camera, to a legendary documentarian behind it, we are excited to showcase women paving the way to a more equitable society and more just future.”

Touching on an array of Jewish perspectives from multiple countries and cultures, this year’s Festival includes the thematic strand "Starring Wonder Women," which showcases trailblazing women who smashed through glass ceilings. Returning from prior festival editions are the queer cinema program Rated LGBTQ and WJFF Classics, a presentation of repertory Jewish cinema featuring select new digital restorations.

This year, documentarian Roberta Grossman will be honored with the WJFF Visionary Award; clips from her upcoming film Who Will Write Our History will be previewed as part of the award ceremony. While at the festival, Grossman will give an extended discussion on the #MeToo movement following a screening of her 2018 film Seeing Allred; in addition, she will introduce a special 10th anniversary screening of her 2008 film Hannah Senesh: Blessed is the Match.

"Spotlight Films" include An Act of Defiance (Netherlands), The Cakemaker (Germany/Israel), Driver (Israel), Longing (Israel), A Memoir of War (Belgium/France), Shelter (Israel), and The Testament (Austria/Israel).

Locations include the AFI Silver Theater, Landmark's Bethesda Row Cinema, the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater at the DCJCC and Landmark's E Street Cinema.

See a full schedule, film titles, events and ticket information on the website.

We are always looking for film-related material for the Storyboard. Our enthusiastic and well-traveled members have written about their trips to the Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary Film Festival, London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Palm Springs Film Festival, the Reykjavik Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, and the Locarno Film Festival. We also heard about what it's like being an extra in the movies. Have you gone to an interesting film festival? Have a favorite place to see movies that we aren't covering in the Calendar of Events? Seen a movie that blew you away? Read a film-related book? Gone to a film seminar? Interviewed a director? Taken notes at a Q&A? Read an article about something that didn't make our local news media? Send your contributions to Storyboard and share your stories with the membership. And we sincerely thank all our contributors for this issue of Storyboard.

FILMS

American Film Institute Silver Theater
The "DC Labor Film Festival" (May 1-30) shows films about work and workers' lives. Titles include The Young Karl Marx; I, Daniel Blake; Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach; Western; On the Seventh Day; Swing Shift; The Workers Cup, three short films by Madeline Anderson: I Am Someone, Tribute to Malcolm X, and Integration Report I. The Alloy Orchestra will accompany Sergei Eisenstein's great silent classic Strike (1925).

"Robert Mitchum Retrospective" (April 27-July 5) is a selection of films from Mitchum's 50 year movie career. Titles in May are Angel Face, The Big Steal, Blood on the Moon, Crossfire, His Kind of Woman, The Lusty Men, Macao, Night of the Hunter, Out of the Past, Pursued, River of No Return, The Story of G.I. Joe, Track of the Cat and Where Danger Lives. More in June and July.

"Jean-Pierre Melville" (April 28-July 5) looks at some of the French director's films. Titles in May are Bob Le Flambeur, Le Doulos, Le Silence de la Mer, Leon Mortin Priest and Two Men in Manhattan. More in June and July.

"Jazz on Film" (May 1-June 7) is a tribute to jazz legends John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Nina Simone and Duke Ellington. The series begins with a screening and lecture by Harvey G. Cohen, author of Duke Ellington's America. "Duke Ellington on Film," is a program of rare movie clips featuring Ellington from the pre-WWII portion of his career. Other titles are Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, I Called Him Morgan, and Miles Ahead. One more in June.

"Rock Docs" (April 28-July 4) is a 20-part series of rockumentaries, concert films, artist portraits and fly-on-the-wall chronicles. Titles are Afro-Punk; Amy; A Band Called Death; The Decline of Western Civilization, Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Something From Nothing: The Story of Rap, Trouble No More and Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. Two have Q&As: Don't Break Down: A Film About Jawbreaker features a post-screening panel discussion with co-producer Dan Didier, Washington Post pop music critic Chris Richards, New Yorker cartoonist Emily Flake and Jawbox frontman J. Boggins, moderated by John Davis, UMD Performing Arts Metadata Archivist; and Here to Be Heard: The Story of the Slits will feature a Q&A with director William E. Badgley. More in June and July.

"Oscilloscope at 10" (April 30-June 23) is a series of films from the independent film company and distributor. Titles in May are Kedi, The Love Witch, The Messenger, Polytechnique and Samsara. More in June.

"Latin Classics" (May 4-June 26) is a series of 7 recent restorations of classic films from Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico. Titles in May are Canoa: A Shameful Memory; The Official Story, Santo vs. the Evil Brain and a double feature of Dos Monjes and Salon Mexico. More in June.

"The 48 Hour Film Project" is a competition for do-it-yourself filmmakers who make a film with a given genre, prop, character and a line of dialogue. The films will be screened on May 18 and 19 with a "best of" the screenings on June 22.

The AFI takes part in the Washington Jewish Film Festival, see above.

Special events in May include a double feature of The Mummy (1932) starring Boris Karloff and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002). A screening of In the Last Days of the City will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Tamer El Said.

Freer Gallery of Art
A new series of Japanese classic films is beginning at the Freer. On May 2 at 2:00pm is the "ramen Western" Tampopo (Juzo Itami, 1985).

To complement its exhibit Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice across Asia is the film series "Screening the Buddha." On May 4 at 7:00pm is Golden Kingdom (2015), shot on location in Myanmar, with film director Brian Perkins in person. On May 6 at 1:00pm is My Son Tenzin (Tsultrim Dorjee and Tashi Wangchuk, 2017), about Tibetan exiles with director Tashi Wangchuk in person, preceded by Tibetan songs by Tsering Bawa. On May 6 at 3:00pm is The Three Marks of Existence (Gunparwitt Phuwadolwisid, 2012), about a classic Buddhist pilgrimage and photographed in Thailand and India. On May 11 at 7:00pm is Zen for Nothing (2016), set in a Japanese Zen monastery, with filmmaker Werner Penzel in person. On May 13 at 2:00pm is Honeygiver among the Dogs (Dechen Roder, 2016), a film noir set in Bhutan. On May 19 at 1:00pm are two short documentaries about local Buddhist temples, followed by a reception and conversation with the filmmakers and temple representatives.

National Gallery of Art
"Avant-Garde to Underground: Outliers and Film, Part II" (April 7-May 13) features documentary portraits of outlier artists and works by experimental filmmakers. On May 5 at 2:00pm is "Anne Charlotte Robertson: Selections from Five Year Diary" with an introduction by Haden Guest. On May 13 at 4:00pm is Lonnie Holley: The Truth of the Dirt (2017), followed by Crafting an Echo (2016) with Marco Williams in person.

"Ernie Gehr: Recent Work" (May 5-6) is a two-part program of short films with filmmaker Ernie Gehr in person. On May 5 at 4:30pm is "Transport and Other Shorts (2016-2017) and on May 6 at 4:00pm is "New Work: A Talk by Ernie Gehr."

"Paris, May '68: Zanzibar and Philippe Garrel" (May 12-27) is a collection of films from the film collective "Zanzibar," featuring its most successful member Philippe Garrel. On May 12 at 2:30pm is Detruisez-vous (Serge Bard, 1968) with an introduction by Sally Shafto; on May 12 at 4:30pm is Le Revelateur (Philippe Garrel, 1968) preceded by Les enfants desaccordes (Philippe Garrel, 1964), introduced by Sally Shafto; on May 19 at 2:30pm is Les amants reguliers (Philippe Garrel, 2005) preceded by Actua 1 (Philippe Garrel, 1968); on May 20 at 4:30pm is La cicatrice interieure (Philippe Garrel, 1972); on May 26 at 2:00pm is Le Lit de la Vierge (Philippe Garrel, 1969) followed by On the Set of Le Lit de la Vierge (Frederic Pardo, 1968); on May 26 at 4:30pm is Acephale (Patric Deval, 1968); on May 27 at 4:00pm is Deux fois (Jackie Raynal, 1968); and on May 27 at 5:30pm is Vite (Daniel Pommereulle, 1969) followed by The Revolution Is Only a Beginning: Le's Continue (Pierre Clementi, 1968.

A special event in May is Beuys (Andres Veiel, 2017), a documentary about the German cultural figure Joseph Beuys, shown on May 11 at 1:00pm, May 12 at 12:00 noon and May 26 at 12:00 noon.

National Museum of African Art
On May 27 at 1:30pm is Mekonen: The Journey of an African Jew (Rebecca Shore, 2016), a documentary about Ethiopian Jews who emigrated to Israel, part of the "African Diaspora Heritage" series. A discussion and musical performance follows the screening.

National Museum of the American Indian
On May 4 at 2:00pm is Mixed Match (Jeff Chiba Stearns, 2017), about mixed-race patients with blood cancer and their difficulties finding a bone marrow match for transplant. The film's director will be present for discussion.

National Museum of African American History and Culture
On May 1 at 7:00pm is Notes from the Field, an HBO film adapted from Anna Deavere Smith's award-winning play. Anna Deveare Smith and NMAAHC Director Lonnie G. Bunch will discuss the film after the screening.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
On May 19 at 3:00pm is Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978). GWU film studies professors Michael Shull and David E. Wilt will discuss the film.

National Museum of Women in the Arts
On May 6 at 2:15pm is Womanhouse (Johanna Demetrakas, 1974), a documentary about "Womanhouse," a place for women's art in an old Hollywood mansion.

Goethe Institute
"Cinemarx" (April 26-May 17) is a series of films about Karl Marx from the GDR to the present, held at various locations. On May 1 at 7:15pm is the historical drama The Young Karl Marx (Raoul Peck, 2017), shown at the AFI. On May 3 at 6:30pm is the documentary Comrade, Where Are You Today? (Kirsi Marie Liimatainen, 2008) in which the filmmaker searches for her fellow Marxist-studies students more than 20 years later, followed by a presentation by Professor Sven-Eric Liedman of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden who will give a presentation on his book A World to Win: The Life and Thought of Karl Marx. On May 10 at 6:30pm is Free Lunch Society (Christian Tod, 2017), a documentary about the Universal Basic Income project. On May 17 at 6:30pm is "Short Films from East Germany," including Marx Family (1988), Dear Mohr-Personal Memories of Karl Marx from Paul Lafargue (1972), Love Letters (1982) and A Young Man Named Engel-A Portrait in Letters (1970).

On May 19 at 9:00am is the "Alexander Kluge Marathon" News from Ideological Antiquity (2008).

On May 25 at 6:30pm is Color of the Ocean (Maggie Peren, 2010), about a German tourist who witnesses a tragedy involving African refugees.

Strathmore
On May 10 at 8:00pm is Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performing John Williams' score, conducted by Jack Everly.

French Embassy
A new film series "Revolution in the Air" commemorates the events of 1968. On May 8 at 7:00pm is Godard Mon Amour (Michel Hazanavicius, 2017) with Louis Garrel playing Godard. On May 22 at 7:00pm is Something in the Air (Olivier Assayas, 2012).

The Japan Information and Culture Center
On May 11 at 6:30pm is the anime film Ocean Waves (Tomomi Mochizuki, 1993), based on a best-selling novel by Saeko Himuro.

On May 16 at 6:30pm is After the Storm (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2016).

The Textile Museum at GWU
On May 10 at noon is China’s Guizhou Ethnic Groups, Part I: Preface, Miao, Bouyei, Dong (2005), a documentary about the origins, rituals and dress of three minority cultures in Southwest China. On May 31 at noon is China’s Guizhou Ethnic Groups, Part II: Tujia, Yi, Shui, Gelao (2005), about four other minority cultures. Complements the exhibit "Vanishing Traditions: Textiles and Treasures from Southwest China."

National Archives
On May 24 at noon is Black Jack Pershing: Love and War (2017), a documentary about WWI General John J. Pershing. The film's producer Bernard R. McCoy will introduce the film.

Bethesda Row
"Cinema Arts Bethesda" is a monthly Sunday morning film discussion series. On May 20 is The Midwife (Martin Provost, 2017) from France, starring Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot. Breakfast is at 9:30am, the film is at 10:00am and discussion follows, moderated by Adam Spector, host of the DC Film Society's Cinema Lounge and author of the column "Adam's Rib." A season pass is available.

The Avalon
On May 2 at 8:00pm is the documentary The Heart of Nuba (Kenneth A. Carlson, 2016), the "Programmer's Choice" film pick for May, about Dr. Tom Catena's work in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan.

On May 9 at 8:00pm is New Chefs on the Block (Dustin Harrison-Atlas, 2017), the "Films in Focus" pick for May, with a director Q&A after the documentary which follows two local chefs opening their first restaurant.

On May 16 at 8:00pm is Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (Bruno Dumont, 2017), part of the "French Cinematheque" series.

On May 30 at 8:00pm is Breaking the Limits (Lukasz Palkowski, 2017), a biopic about Polish triathlon athlete Jerzy Gorski.

On May 20 and 22 at 10:30am is the documentary Cezanne: Portraits of a Life (Phil Grabsky, 2018), part of the "Exhibition on Screen" series.

Italian Cultural Institute
On May 2 at 6:00pm is the great classic Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmüller, 1975) starring Giancarlo Giannini.

Library of Congress
A Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration at the Library of Congress includes a concert, display of manuscripts and scores, and films. On May 17 at 7:00pm is On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954); and on May 12 at noon is the film "Bernstein Conducts Mahler and Liszt."

The Mary Pickford Theater at the Library of Congress starts a new series of films showcasing the Library's collection and including newly preserved films. On May 10 at 7:00pm is 711 Ocean Drive (Joseph M. Newman, 1950) starring Edmond O'Brien and Otto Kruger.

Anacostia Community Museum
On May 23 at 11:30am is Served Like a Girl (Lysa Heslov), a documentary about women who were wounded in action and in transition from soldier to civilian.

"Capital Classics" at Landmark's West End Cinema
Classic films are shown at the West End Cinema on Wednesdays at 1:30pm, 4:30pm and 7:30pm. On May 2 is Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972); on May 9 is Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955); on May 16 is Bullitt (Peter Yates, 1968); on May 23 is On the Town (Stanley Donen, 1949); and on May 30 is Lust for Life (Vincente Minnelli, 1956).

Kennedy Center
On May 30 at 8:00pm is Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow, 2015) accompanied by the NSO Pops conducted by Emil de Cou on a giant screen in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall.

Reel Affirmations XTra
On May 11 at 7:00pm is Water in a Broken Glass (Jamelle Williams-Thomas)

Busboys and Poets
On May 13 at 5:00pm is Served Like a Girl, a documentary about women veterans. Special guests include Major Jaspen Boothe and MSgt Denyse Gordon.

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