In Tommy Haines’ and Andrew Sherburne’s 2017 documentary Saving Brinton, Iowa history teach Mike Zahs discovers a treasure trove of old film reels in a farm basement, including rare footage of Teddy Roosevelt and a never-before-seen film by Georges Méliès (A Trip to the Moon, The Impossible Voyage). Zahs then embarks on an international odyssey […]
Hannah Bonner
Posted inArts & Entertainment
CR designer’s work in ‘Totally Under Control’ clarifies its uncompromising look at our government’s COVID failures
Watching a contemporary documentary about events unfolding in real time is a surreal exercise that elicits both despair and incredulity. Directors Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan, and Suzanne Hillinger’s film Totally Under Control (2020), available on Hulu, explores the (mis)management of COVID-19 in the United States and deftly investigates the way American politicians and public health […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Big pictures, smaller screens: Gearing up for the 17th Annual ICDOCS online
From Thursday, April 30 to Saturday, May 2, the 17th Annual ICDOCS film festival will be presented as a free live-streamed event due to health concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Q&As with the filmmakers following the film screenings will still take place, albeit entirely online. Jurors will also still review programmed films in competition. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Tristen Ives’s new film is an exercise in vulnerability and the inexpressible
On Sunday, March 1, at 6 p.m., Public Space One will screen PS1 Free Studio Resident Tristen Ives’ diaristic film take a pic of me and leave me here, a screening and installation that is the culmination of their four-month residency. The screening is free, and patrons should note that 225 and 229 N. Gilbert […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘The Assistant’: A snapshot of our current conversation around sexual misconduct (the image isn’t pretty)
Kitty Green’s The Assistant is currently playing at FilmScene on the Ped Mall for the next two weeks. Papercuts are not the only wounds that sear in Green’s masterful and mesmerizing feature film The Assistant (2020). Some hurts are untraceable, undetectable on the surface of one’s skin. While the industrial revolution altered the domestic sphere’s […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Only connect: FilmScene’s Filmmaker Spotlight showcases ‘Last Chance Tango’
On Monday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m., FilmScene at the Ped Mall will screen Sonja Strathearn’s feature film Last Chance Tango (2019) as part of their Filmmaker Spotlight series. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Strathearn. More information about the film and her work can be found at her website. A photograph. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Color Out of Space’ is a psychedelic horror trip you won’t want to end
Nathan rushes Theresa to the hospital, leaving their children at home to fend for themselves. But the television is all static. The cell phone signals are scrambled. Time is incongruous, no longer adhering to linearity or logic. Something sinister is brewing …
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Acclaimed filmmaker Charles Burnett to receive Cinema Savant award
On Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Chauncey, FilmScene will award renowned director and screenwriter Charles Burnett with the prestigious Iowa City 2019 Cinema Savant award. The event will be followed by a reception honoring Burnett and his oeuvre.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
FilmScene organizers are ‘kids in the candy store’ ahead of The Chauncey’s debut
On Sept. 20-22, Iowa City residents will have the opportunity to attend the grand opening weekend of FilmScene’s new location in the recently raised Chauncey building. The Chauncey is FilmScene’s second space, located off of Gilbert Street in downtown Iowa City; FilmScene will keep their original Ped Mall cinema open as well. The Chauncey
Posted inOpinion
The evils of white supremacy are on stark display in ‘The Nightingale,’ a grim rape-revenge drama set in colonial Tasmania
On Friday, Aug. 23, FilmScene opened Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale for a limited run. Art house audiences know Kent from her critically lauded horror film The Babadook (2014), which chronicles the mental deterioration of single mother, Amelia, reeling from her husband’s death and desperately struggling to parent her young son. The Nightingale also features a […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
It’s a great day to be a Hawkeye: ‘Ironmen’ local casting call at FilmScene
On Saturday, June 22 from 9-11 a.m., FilmScene will be hosting open casting calls for the roles of Elizabeth Catlett and Grant Wood for the upcoming Hollywood production of Ironmen, an adaptation of the book Nile by Tom Lidd produced by Iowa City native Joseph Grandy Heath.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
I learned it at the movies: Scenesters Selects Series kicks off at FilmScene
“Media arts education is a vital part of what FilmScene does year-round,” says FilmScene’s programming director Rebecca Fons. “Our inaugural year of Scenesters has been an important addition to our education initiatives — and so much fun.”
