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
SLALOM
Directed by Charlène Favier
This riveting, Cannes-selected #MeToo drama from debut filmmaker Charlène Favier follows the relationship between a teenage ski prodigy and her predatory instructor, played by frequent Dardenne brothers collaborator Jérémie Renier. In a breakthrough role, Noée Abita plays 15-year-old Lyz, a high school student in the French Alps who has been accepted to an elite ski club known for producing some of the country’s top professional athletes. Taking a chance on his new recruit, ex-champion turned coach Fred decides to mold Lyz into his shining star despite her lack of experience. Under his influence, she will have to endure more than the physical and emotional pressure of the training. Will Lyz’s determination help her escape Fred’s exploitative grip?
FRIDA KAHLO - Documentary
Directed by Ali Ray
Take a journey through the life of a true icon, discover her art, and uncover the truth behind her often turbulent life. Making use of the latest technology to deliver previously unimaginable quality, we take an in-depth look at key works throughout her career. Discover the real Frida Kahlo. This film delves deeper than any film has done before, engaging with world-renowned Kahlo experts, exploring how great an artist she was.
Virtual Discussion of FRIDA KAHLO Tuesday, June 1 at 1 pm with special guest art historian Gannit Ankori who's featured in the film. Discussion moderated by Mary Birmingham, curator of the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey.
OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORTS
This year for the first time, the Film Society of Summit offering online screenings of the Live-Action, Animated, and Documentary Shorts Nominees. Individual programs are available for $12 each, or purchase a bundle to watch all three Animated, Live-Action and Documentary Shorts programs online for $30. (The option to purchase the bundle is available through any of the three programs’ ticketing links.)
FRANCESCO - A Pope Francis Documentary Film
Directed by Evgeny Afineevsky
FRANCESCO is the headline-making Pope Francis documentary from Oscar® nominated director and producer, Evgeny Afineevksy. This groundbreaking film features unprecedented access to His Holiness Pope Francis, providing an intimate look at a global leader who approaches challenging and complex issues with tremendous humility, wisdom and generosity towards all.
FRANCESCO is not a biographical film about Pope Francis in the traditional sense. This film provides a glimpse into his work addressing climate change, immigration, peace and religious tolerance, the LGBTQ+ community, gender and identity justice, health, and economic equality. We are given an example of leadership that provides hope and inspiration during one of the most unprecedented moments in our lives.
Playing In Our Virtual Cinema
The People Vs. Agent Orange - Environmental Documentary
Directed by Alan Adelson and Kate Taverna
The Agent Orange catastrophedid not end with the Vietnam War. Today, the world over, a primary chemical of the toxic defoliant controls weeds in farming, forestry, parks, playgrounds, it wreaks havoc on the human genome, causing deformities and deadly cancers. After decades of struggle and tragic personal losses, two heroic women are leading a worldwide movement to end the plague and hold the manufacturers accountable. In France Tran To Nga is suing the American chemical industry for poisoning her in Vietnam. In America, Carol Van Strum exposes the continuing use of toxic herbicides, many still containing dioxin. Incriminating documents disappear. Activists are threatened. A helicopter technician secretly films the contamination of reservoirs while a massive industrial cover-up continues.
STRAY
Directed by ELIZABETH LO
STRAY explores what it means to live as a being without status or security, following three strays as they embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on adventures through the city at night; Nazar, nurturing and protective, easily befriends the humans around her; while Kartal, a shy puppy living on the outskirts of a construction site, finds companions in the security guards who care for her. The strays’ disparate lives intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians with whom they share the streets. Director Elizabeth Lo’s award-winning film is a critical observation of human civilization through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing.
Til Kingdom Come
Directed by Maya Zinschtein
Millions of American Evangelicals are praying for the State of Israel. Among them are the Binghams, a dynasty of Kentucky pastors, and their Evangelical congregants in an impoverished coal mining town. They donate sacrificially to Israel’s foremost philanthropic organization, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, because they fervently believe the Jews are crucial to Jesus’s return. This film traces this unusual relationship, from rural Kentucky to the halls of government in Washington, through the moving of the American Embassy in Jerusalem and to the annexation plan of the West-Bank. With unparalleled access, the film exposes a stunning backstory of the Trump and Netanyahu administrations, where financial, political and messianic motivations intersect with the apocalyptic worldview that is insistently reshaping American foreign policy toward Israel and the Middle-East. Watch trailer:
Still Life in Lodz
Directed by Slawomir Grunberg
Tickets: $12
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.
LEONA
Directed by Isaac Cherem
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.
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
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 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.
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