Theater Temporarily Closed —
Virtual Screening Rooms Open
On Friday, March 13, 2020, the Film Society of Summit closed its doors due to Covid-19
Until we can be together again, we have opened a virtual cinema for you, accessible through this website.
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Sip and Cinema: Art Edition
Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint
by Halina Dyrschka
Watch the film at your leisure and join our Virtual Discussion with Special guest Director Halina Dryschka and Mary Birmingham, curator of the Visual Arts Center of NJ
May 29 at 5 pm Via ZooM
Hilma af Klint was an abstract artist before the term existed, a visionary, trailblazing figure who, inspired by spiritualism, modern science, and the riches of the natural world around her, began in 1906 to reel out a series of huge, colorful, sensual, strange works without precedent in painting. The subject of a recent smash retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, af Klint was for years an all-but-forgotten figure in art historical discourse, before her long-delayed rediscovery. Director Halina Dryschka’s dazzling, course correcting documentary describes not only the life and craft of af Klint, but also the process of her mischaracterization and erasure by both a patriarchal narrative of artistic progress and capitalistic determination of artistic value.
Called "one of the best films I've seen about fine art" by RogerEbert.com's Matt Fagerholm.
Your rental helps support the Film Society of Summit. Watch the film at your leisure and join us May 29 at 5 pm to discuss Hilma Af Klint.
A portion of all ticket sales will be donated to FLAG - Summit 'Front Line Appreciation Group.'
$12 per household
The Booksellers
179 Maplewood Ave, Maplewood, NJ 07040
Watch the film at your leisure and join our
Virtual Cinema & Conversation with Jonah Zimeles of Words bookstore in Maplewood, NJ
Thursday, June 4 at 7 pm
Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as the material they handle. They also play an under-appreciated yet essential role in preserving history. THE BOOKSELLERS takes viewers inside their small but fascinating world, populated by an assortment of obsessives, intellects, eccentrics and dreamers.
Directed by D.W. YOUNG
Register here to join our conversation with Jonah Zimiles on Zoom (no cost)
$10 per household
Join us for a virtual discussion between Academy-Award Winning Filmmaker Marshall Curry and Reverend Charles Rush of Christ Church, Summit.
Wednesday, June 3 at 7 pm
Prior to this discussion, please watch "The Neighbor's Window" 2020 Oscar winner for best short film and "Night at the Garden"
nominated for an Oscar in 2019.
Register here to join our conversation between Marshall Curry and Reverend Charles Rush on Zoom (no cost)
New To Our Virtual Cinema
Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy
Cookbook author and environmental activist Diana Kennedy reflects on an unconventional life spent mastering Mexican cuisine.
Diana has always been a rogue pioneer, and at 95, she’s a living legend. A master cook, a sustainability advocate, and, at her core, an Englishwoman, Diana embodies many different elements at once. Armed with an unstoppable drive, Diana is well-accustomed to defying conventional stereotypes, having found both love and her life’s work along a deliberately divergent path.
$12 per household
Playing in Our Virtual Cinema
UP FROM THE STREETS
NEW ORLEANS: THE CITY OF MUSIC
This award-winning documentary looks at the culture of New Orleans through the lens of music. New Orleans has a distinct history as a result of its political and social history. There is a thread that runs through the city that can be heard from the drumming at Congo Square in the 1700’s through to today’s vibrant music scene. The music of this city is a powerful form of expression. It was a vehicle to communicate a desire for freedom, express frustration of the injustices of segregation and Jim Crow laws, a healing force that helped bring the city back from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and is still a vital form of expression against ongoing cultural & racial biases. Executive Producer Terence Blanchard and Director Michael Murphy, show how the culture of the city is reflected in its music, how music impacts culture; and how even in the darkest of times, music lifts and unites.
$12 per household
Click here to RSVP for the Q&A with Daniel Rufolo - Thurs, June 11 at 7 pm
CRESCENDO
When a world famous conductor tries to create an Israeli-Palestinian orchestra, it takes all his skill and resources to overcome the discord and get them to play in harmony, rising to a tense and emotional finale.
When world-famous conductor Eduard Sporck accepts the job to create an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra, he is quickly drawn into a tempest of sheer unsolvable problems. Having grown up in a state of war, suppression or constant risk of terrorist attacks, the young musicians from both sides are far from able to form a team. Lined up behind the two best violinists – the emancipated Palestinian Layla and the handsome Israeli Ron – they form two parties who deeply mistrust each other, on and off-stage alike. Will Sporck succeed and make the young people forget their hatred, at least for the three weeks until the concert? With the first glimmer of hope, however, the political opponents of the orchestra show them how strong they are…
Loosely inspired by Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
$12 per household
The Infiltrators
The Sundance award-winning The Infiltrators blends traditional documentary and narrative recreation to tell the thrilling true story of young immigration activists who get arrested by Border Patrol – on purpose – in order to provide legal help to immigrants at a shadowy for-profit detention center.
Marco and Viri are members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, a group of radical DREAMers who are on a mission to stop unjust deportations. And the best place to stop deportations, they believe, is in detention. However, when Marco and Viri attempt a daring reverse ‘prison break,’ things don’t go according to plan. By weaving together documentary footage of the real infiltrators with re-enactments of the events inside the detention center, THE INFILTRATORS tells an incredible and thrilling true story in a genre-defying new cinematic language.A rag-tag group of undocumented youth - Dreamers - deliberately get detained by Border Patrol in order to infiltrate a shadowy, for-profit detention center.
Directed by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera
$12 per household
BOTERO by Don Miller
BOTERO is a poetic documentary of one of the world's most prolific living artists, Fernando Botero. Born in Medellin, Colombia in 1932, the worldly Botero had experienced a violent and tumultuous political landscape in his youth during the Colombian civil war which had a profound impact on his art and humanitarianism. This film is a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the life of the 86-year-old master artist.
“Through a series of interviews this documentary beautifully tells the story of an intensely private man whose paintings and sculptures blend his observations of everyday people, his reverence for the art of centuries past, his political leanings, and his sense of humor.” –Chicago Reader
$12 per household
INCITEMENT
Acclaimed writer-director Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet) chronicles the disturbing descent of a promising law student to an intransigent ultranationalist obsessed with murdering his country's leader, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Incitement is a gripping and unnerving look through the eyes of a murderer who silenced a powerful voice for peace.
Your rental helps support the Film Society of Summit
($12 per household. Available for 48 hours from time of purchase)
Saint Frances
Alex Thompson's sneakily poignant and instantly loveable indie comedy, starring and written by Kelly O’Sullivan.
Flailing thirty-four-year-old Bridget (Kelly O'Sullivan) finally catches a break when she meets a nice guy and lands a much-needed job nannying six-year-old Frances (played by a scene-stealing Ramona Edith-Williams). But an unwanted pregnancy introduces an unexpected complication. To make matters worse, she clashes with the obstinate Frances and struggles to navigate a growing tension between Frances's moms. Amidst her tempestuous personal relationships, a reluctant friendship with Frances emerges, and Bridget contends with the inevitable joys and shit-shows of becoming a part of someone else's family.
Rated NR, 1 hour 40 minutes
($12 per household. Available for 48 hours from time of purchase)
The Times of Bill Cunningham
Told in Bill Cunningham’s own words from a recently unearthed six-hour 1994 interview, the iconic street photographer and fashion historian chronicles, in his customarily cheerful and plainspoken manner, moonlighting as a milliner in France during the Korean War, his unique relationship with First Lady Jackie Kennedy, his four decades at The New York Times and his democratic view of fashion and society. Narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker, The Times of Bill Cunningham features incredible photographs chosen from over 3 million previously unpublicized images and documents from Cunningham.
Your rental helps support the Film Society of Summit.
($5 per household. Available for 48 hours from time of purchase)
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Repertory
In a small city of Brazil, a woman named Flor marries a man named Vadinho, but once married she finds that he is a good-for-nothing. She works teaching cooking and he takes all of her money to gamble. After Vadinho dies, Flor marries Tedoror, the owner of a drugstore. Flor is happy with her new husband but misses the love life with her previous husband. When one day the ghost of Vadhino comes back to peruse her.
Newly restored, the “marvelously funny” (Time Magazine) DONA FLOR AND HER TWO HUSBANDS was an instant international hit, launching the career of the “bewitchingly beautiful” (People) Sonia Braga and becoming (at the time) Brazil's highest grossing box office feature.
L'INNOCENTE
Repertory
Gabriele d'Annunzio’s passionate novel is brought to life in the final masterpiece from acclaimed director Luchino Visconti. In late-nineteenth century Italy, Tullio (Giancarlo Giannini), an insatiable aristocrat, grows bored with his timid wife Giuliana (Laura Antonelli) and neglects her for his mistress, the wealthy widow Countess Teresa Raffo (Jennifer O'Neill).
Newly restored, L'INNOCENTE is a “luscious stab to the heart of the aristocracy” (Los Angeles Times) that is “among the most beautiful [and] disciplined films” Visconti ever made and a “fitting coda to [his] career” (The New York Times).
DIRECTED BY LUCHINO VISCONTI
ITALY, FRANCE | 2019 | ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
Fantastic Fungi
Fantastic Fungi is all about our interconnectedness and the common issues that we face as a species. We know that our biggest defense from these viruses is our own sense of wellbeing, our own immunity and the ability to live from a place of health and wellness both individually and collectively.
Directed by Louie Schwartzberg, this is a consciousness-shifting film that takes us on an immersive journey through time and scale into the magical earth beneath our feet, an underground network that can heal and save our planet’s most pressing environmental and global challenges.
Your rental helps support the Film Society of Summit.
$4.99 per household
Corpus Christi
2020 Oscar Nominee. After spending years in a Warsaw prison for a violent crime, 20-year-old Daniel is released and sent to a remote village to work as a manual laborer. The job is designed to keep the ex-con busy, but Daniel has a higher calling. Over the course of his incarceration he has found Christ, and aspires to join the clergy - but his criminal record means no seminary will accept him. When Daniel arrives in town, one quick lie allows him to be mistaken for the town’s new priest, and he sets about leading his newfound flock. Though he has no training, his passion and charisma inspire the community. At the same time, his unconventional sermons and unpriestly behavior raise suspicions among some of the townsfolk - even more so as he edges towards a dark secret that the community hasn't revealed in the confessional booth.
Rated NR, 1 hour 55 minutes, Poland, Subtitles.
And Then We Danced
Directed by Levan Akin. World Premiere: 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
A gifted dancer named Merab moves beautifully, but his mannerisms enrage his coach, who finds them too effeminate. Merab, however, quietly defies not only his coach but his community’s hyperconservative constraints. An aura of danger emerges when he meets a handsome new dancer named Irakli, whose gifted technique becomes a source of attraction and competition for Merab. As the two fall into a secretive affair, whispers of their newfound romance threaten their respective careers.
Far from fitting into the traditional coming-out narrative, And Then We Danced represents something especially joyful, romantic, and transgressive. It stands confidently as one of the most important films—gay or otherwise—of the year.
Sweden, Georgia, France, 2019
In Georgian with English subtitles.
113 minutes
($12 per household. Available for 48 hours from time of purchase)
The Wild Goose Lake
A gangster on the run sacrifices everything for his family and a woman he meets while on the lam.
From acclaimed director Diao Yinan.
When small-time mob leader Zhou Zenong (Chinese superstar Hu Ge) accidentally kills a cop, a dead-or-alive bounty is placed on his head, forcing him on the lam from both the police as well as dangerous gangsters out for the reward. Hiding out in China’s densely populated (and deeply divided) Wuhan province, Zhou becomes entangled with a beautiful, enigmatic woman, who has mysterious intentions of her own. Featuring gorgeous, neon-drenched cinematography and bursts of shocking, expertly choreographed action, THE WILD GOOSE LAKE is “spellbinding” (Rolling Stone), “brilliant" (Indiewire) and “downright Hitchcockian” (AV Club).
Rated NR, 1 hour 57 minutes, China, Subtitles.
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