Since AMC Madison 6’s closing last year, University of Wisconsin students have been searching for other affordable options for movies nearby. UW Cinematheque, made up of UW academic departments and student film groups, presents free film screenings on campus.
Cinematheque is showing niche and mainstream films of every genre throughout the remainder of the fall semester, from sports drama to psychological horror. Here are some highlights.
Fremont (2023)
Thursday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in 4070 Vilas Hall
Filmed entirely in black and white, “Fremont” offers a poignant glimpse into the immigrant experience in a way that hasn’t been done before. Former U.S. Army translator and Afghan refugee Donya spends her days working at a Bay Area fortune cookie factory, sending other people hopes and dreams while feeling unable to reach her own. With a strong supporting cast including Jeremy Allen White of “The Bear,” this throwback-inspired new film is both amusing and devastating.
Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut (1986)
Saturday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in 4070 Vilas Hall
The real star of the American horror comedy musical film is not actors Rick Moranis or Ellen Greene, but a carnivorous plant that feeds on human blood. An adaptation of the musical of the same name, director Frank Oz’s “Little Shop of Horrors” brings a low-budget cult classic to the screen. The Director’s Cut version of the film includes a longer, more theatrical conclusion to the film that Oz cut from the original due to mixed reactions from test audiences.
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Apolonia, Apolonia (2022)
Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in 4070 Vilas Hall
Filmmaker Lea Glob’s documentary on French artist Apolonia Sokol took over 13 years to film. When the portrait of a young woman attempting to find her artistic identity was finally released last year, it won the grand prize at the IDFA in Amsterdam, the world’s most important documentary film festival. Tying together feminism, capitalism and creativity, this true story captures the underrepresented experience of a woman trying to survive in a male-dominated art world.
The Sweet East (2023)
Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in 4070 Vilas Hall
Premiering earlier this year at the Cannes film festival in May, this new American drama features Talia Ryder, Rish Shah, Ayo Edebiri and Jacob Elordi of “Euphoria.” Ryder plays high school senior Lillian, who gets lost on her class trip to Washington D.C., making friends with a group of misfits along the way. The playfulness and immaturity in “The Sweet East” are infectious, according to The Film Stage.
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Hatching (2022)
Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. in 4070 Vilas Hall
“Hatching,” also known by its Finnish name “Pahanhauotja,” refuses to let audiences define it as simply a horror film. Falling under the genre of psychological or body horror, “Hatching” is the story of a 12-year-old Tinja, who takes care of a strange egg until it hatches to reveal a surprise, shocking Tijna and her family. The film is disturbing in both the physical and the mental sense — it’s gory and perplexing. The screening will be in Finnish with English subtitles.
In the Line of Fire (1993)
Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. in The Chazen Museum of Art
Director Wolfgang Petersen reimagines America in recovery from the John F. Kennedy assassination. Frank Horrigan, played by Clint Eastwood, is inspired by the real-life JFK’s Secret Service agent Clint Hill, who attempted to save the former president when he was assassinated in 1964, covering Kennedy with his body after he was shot. “In the Line of Fire” features Horrigan attempting to protect a different president from the same fate.
Louie Blouie (1985)
Saturday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. in 4070 Vilas Hall
Spotlighting musician and artist Howard “Louie Blouie” Armstrong, this moving documentary was director Terry Zwigoff’s first film. It’s shorter than most of Cinemathqeue’s other screenings — exactly an hour — but captures a vivid image of one of the most notable 20th century American lives.
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Raging Bull (1980)
Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in 4070 Vilas Hall
If you can only make it to one of Cinemathqeue’s screenings this semester, make it “Raging Bull,” which is an adaptation of boxer Jake LaMotta’s memoir of the same name. The 80s sports drama film paints a portrait of LaMotta, whose hot temper leads him to success in the ring and struggles within his personal life. Often painful to watch but impossible to look away from, “Raging Bull” is electric.
Communication Arts Showcase
Saturday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. in The Marquee Cinema
Instructors of documentary and narrative production courses curate this final screening, which highlights works students produce in Communication Arts Media Production courses at UW. The showcase gives student filmmakers a chance to publicly present their work.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to the start of each screening and close 15 minutes after each program starts. Seating is open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis, according to the Cinematheque website.
