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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New To Our Virtual Cinema
LEONA
Directed by Isaac Cherem
MINARI
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung
Screenings Finish February 25th
Still Life in Lodz
Directed by Slawomir Grunberg
The lure of family mysteries lies at the heart of “Still Life in Lodz”, an emotionally riveting documentary that journeys to the historically tumultuous city of Lodz, Poland. Here, a surprise reunion with a painting that hung in the same apartment for 75 world-altering years becomes a probing investigation into the power of memory, art, time and resilience.
Join us online for an intimate, festival-style panel discussion of Still Life in Lodz with Director Slawomir Grünberg and subjects of the film Lilka Elbaum, Roni Ben-Ari and Paul Cellar. Our conversation will be moderated by Dr. Joanna Sliwa.
Register here for our Zoom discussion, March 21 at 11 am. (No cost)
Opens March 12 / Tickets: $12
FOOD CLUB
Directed by Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg
Danish Comedy/Drama featuring three life-long girlfriends decide to travel to Italy together to attend a cooking course in Puglia. Here they each find the opportunity to redefine themselves and acknowledge that the most important thing in life is their friendship and that it’s never too late to live a more fulfilling life.
Some Kind of Heaven, by Lance Oppenheim
With SOME KIND OF HEAVEN, first-time feature director Lance Oppenheim cracks the manicured facade of The Villages, America’s largest retirement community – a massive, self-contained utopia located in Central Florida. Behind the gates of this palm tree-lined fantasyland, SOME KIND OF HEAVEN invests in the dreams and desires of a small group of Villages residents – and one interloper – who are unable to find happiness within the community’s pre-packaged paradise. With strikingly composed cinematography, this candy-colored documentary offers a tender and surreal look at the never-ending quest for finding meaning and love in life’s final act.
The Two of Us, by Filippo Meneghetti
Two retired women, Nina and Madeleine, have been secretly in love for decades. Everybody, including Madeleine’s family, thinks they are simply neighbors, sharing the top floor of their building. They come and go between their two apartments, enjoying the affection and pleasures of daily life together, until an unforeseen event turns their relationship upside down and leads Madeleine’s daughter to gradually unravel the truth about them.
GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS NOMINEE
BEST MOTION PICTURE, FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Playing In Our Virtual Cinema
76 Days
Directed by Hao Wu and Weixi Chen
A raw, fly-on-the-wall recounting of hospital life in Wuhan in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 76 Days is an engrossing and potent documentary - and a surprisingly comforting portrait of humanity.
The film includes a pre-recorded Q&A with director Hao Wu available for all ticket buyers. Watch trailer:
TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL by Alex Gibney,
Ophelia Harutyunyun & Suzanne Hillinger
TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL chronicles Donald Trump and the White House’s failed response to the coronavirus pandemic. Filmed in secrecy over five months, this documentary examines how thousands of American lives and jobs could have been saved with better leadership.
Acasa, My Home by Radu Ciorniciuc
In the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, an abandoned water reservoir just outside the bustling metropolis, the Enache family lived in perfect harmony with nature for two decades, sleeping in a hut on the lakeshore, catching fish barehanded, and following the rhythm of the seasons. When this area is transformed into a public national park, they are forced to leave behind their unconventional life and move to the city, where fishing rods are replaced by smartphones and idle afternoons are now spent in classrooms. As the family struggles to conform to modern civilization and maintain their connection to each other and themselves, they each begin to question their place in the world and what their future might be. With their roots in the wilderness, the nine children and their parents struggle to find a way to keep their family united in the concrete jungle. With an empathetic and cinematic eye, filmmaker Radu Ciorniciuc offers viewers, in his feature debut, a compelling tale of an impoverished family living on the fringes of society in Romania, fighting for acceptance and their own version of freedom.
THE REASON I JUMP by Jerry Rothwell
Based on the groundbreaking memoir by 13-year-old author Naoki Higashida, this fascinating documentary uses an immersive, impressionistic approach to chronicle the rich inner lives of five non-speaking autistic people around the world.
Moments in the lives of each of the characters are linked by the journey of a young Japanese boy through an epic landscape; narrated passages from Naoki’s writing reflect on what his autism means to him and others, how his perception of the world differs, and why he acts in the way he does: the reason he jumps. The film distills these elements into a sensually rich tapestry that leads us to Naoki’s core message: not being able to speak does not mean there is nothing to say.
Martin Eden
Directed by Pietro Marcello
“One of the year’s best films.”
– IndieWire
In this adaptation of a Jack London novel from Italian filmmaker Pietro Marcello, Martin Eden is a dissatisfied prole with artistic aspirations who hopes that his dreams of becoming a writer will help him rise above his station and marry a wealthy young university student. Martin Eden is an enveloping, superbly mounted bildungsroman.
MAYOR
Directed by David Osit
Filmmaker David Osit subtly – and with a keen eye for black humor – explores the absurdities of a worldly politician trying to turn his city into a Middle Eastern Amsterdam while in the midst of a geopolitical storm. Follow the mayor of Ramallah – de facto capital of the Palestinian people – you’ll see him greeting grateful constituents on the street, planning the town’s neon-bright Christmas celebrations, mulling “city branding” slogans with his aides in an effort to boost tourism…or dodging gunfire from an Israeli army fracas. It’s all in a day’s work for Mayor Musa Hadid, a liberal Christian and civil engineer by training, whose charming public persona is balanced by a self-effacing, realist streak. “I feel jealous when I visit other cities,” he laments. “They can do so much that we cannot.” “Thoughtful and gripping. There are whiffs of Veep-like humor throughout MAYOR. It’s also a sincere tale of a public servant who’s seeking to lead in a world that’s stacked against him.” WINNER – Grand Jury Prize, 2020 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
A Chef's Voyage
Directed by Rémi Anfosso
A Chef's Voyage follows the celebrated American Chef David Kinch and his team from Manresa, their 3 Star Michelin restaurant in California, for a one-of-a-kind collaboration with three legendary French chefs at their iconic restaurants in Paris, Provence, and Marseille.
To mark the 15th anniversary of Manresa, Kinch decides to close shop for a month so he and his staff can embark on their France voyage. Planning the trip takes months and the logistics are tricky: how to sneak the food on flights; unfamiliar host kitchens; a language barrier and more.
The Salt of Tears, by Philippe Garel
Veteran filmmaker Philippe Garrel once again fashions a pinpoint-precise and economical study of young love and its prevarications, which ever so gradually blossoms into an emotionally resonant moral tale. Handsome Luc (Logann Antuofermo), following in his aging father’s footsteps to study the craft of furniture joining, doesn’t appear to have any trouble meeting and dating women; as the film opens he’s aggressively courting Djemila (Oulaya Amamra) at a Paris bus stop. Skeptical yet ultimately trusting, Djemila will not be Luc’s one and only. Constructed and composed with crystalline austerity, and co-written with Jean-Claude Carrière and Arlette Langmann—who collaborated on Garrel’s last two films, In the Shadow of Women and Lover for a Day —The Salt of Tears is a pocket portrait that demonstrates the persistent vitality of one of French cinema’s great observers of the callowness of youth.
The Gates
Directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Antonio Ferrera, Matthew Prinzing
The Gates chronicles the 25-year battle by Christo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) to get a public showcase for their work. In February 2005, New York City's Central Park was adorned with 7,503 gates made from steel frames and a saffron-colored nylon fabric. This documentary chronicles the work that went into the controversial, once-in-a-lifetime installation by world-renowned artist Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude. The pair must overcome various municipal and political hurdles. Once completed, the installation elicits a full range of reactions from the city's celebrities and non-famous residents.
Watch the film at your leisure prior to our virtual discussion of The Gates on Oct. 16 at 1 pm.
AGGIE by Catherine Gund
An exploration of the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund who sold Roy Lichtenstein’s painting “Masterpiece” in 2017 for $165 million to start the Art for Justice Fund to end mass incarceration. This is untapped terrain, and we see Aggie leading the way. Official Selection: 2020 Sundance FF
Salutogenic Series: Film, Food and Nutrition
To advance the health and well-being of our patrons, the Film Society of Summit is launching a Salutogenic Series that combines a featured film in our Virtual Screening Room with presentations about food and nutrition. Nutrition offers benefits to health and well-being including support for the immune system. Participants will acquire the knowledge to select health-promoting foods while experiencing the cuisine of various cultures.
Each discussion is $10, $5 for Starter Members and Free for Single and Dual Members.
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.
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