SEASON XI

HELVETICA
September 20, 2023  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Gary Hustwit
2007, USA, 80 Minutes
PREVIEW

Helvetica, Gary Hustwit’s iconic documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture, looks at the proliferation of one typeface and the way type affects our lives. It is a cinematic exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type. Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day.

MARY CASSATT: PAINTING THE MODERN WOMAN
October 18, 2023 | Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Ali Ray
2023, Great Britain, 93 Minutes
PREVIEW

*Guest Speaker (Burlington Venue): Carolyn Bauer, Curator at Shelburne Museum, will introduce the film with an exploration into the multifaceted relationships between artist Mary Cassatt and art collectors Louisine Havemeyer and Electra Havemeyer Webb. Illustrated with artworks from the Museum’s permanent collection, uncover the intertwined lives and various passions of these remarkable and trailblazing women.

Mary Cassatt was a classically trained artist who chose to join a group of Parisian radicals – the Impressionists – a movement that transformed the language of art. She made a career painting the lives of the women around her. Her radical images showed them as intellectual, feminine and real, which was a major shift in the way women appeared in art. Presenting her astonishing prints, pastels and paintings, the world’s most eminent Cassatt curators and scholars help tell this riveting tale of great social and cultural change; a time when women were fighting for their rights and the language of art was completely re-written. Mary Cassatt and her modern women were at the heart of it all.

LEVITATED MASS
November 15, 2023 | Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Doug Pray
2013, USA, 89 Minutes
PREVIEW

Levitated Mass is a two-story tall, 340-ton, granite boulder that was moved from a quarry in Riverside, CA to the LA County Museum of Art and mounted atop the walls of a gigantic slot in the earth. The massive ‘land sculpture’ by one of America’s most misunderstood artists, Michael Heizer, references the expanse of art history – from ancient traditions of megalithic stones to modern forms of abstract geometries and cutting-edge feats of engineering. The boulder’s 105-mile journey attracted international attention and challenged the imagination of thousands of Southern Californians as it crawled through 22 cities on a football-field length, 206-wheeled trailer. The film weaves together the story of the reclusive Heizer, the ambitions of a major metropolitan museum, and the public’s reactions to this massive display of modern yet eerily timeless conceptual art.

AALTO
December 13, 2023 | Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Virpi Suutari
2020, Finland, 99 Minutes
PREVIEW

This exploration of Alvar Aalto, the defining figure in Scandic design and one of Europe’s greatest modern architects, focuses on his remarkable partnership with wife, Aino. Theirs was a humanist vision that put people at the center of design and ranged from work in furniture design to huge architectural projects. They mixed with, and influenced, major figures of modernist design including Le Corbusier, Gropius, Moholy-Nagy, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Come on a cinematic tour of their iconic buildings, from a library in Russia, a student dormitory at MIT, an art collector’s private house near Paris, to a pavilion in Venice. Featuring never before seen archive footage, Aalto tells the love story of an extraordinary couple with a great passion for human scale architecture.

ALICE STREET
January 17, 2024 | Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Spencer Wilkinson
2020, USA, 69 Minutes
PREVIEW

*Guest Speaker Will Kasso Condry (Burlington Venue): Renowned visual artist and co-founder of Juniper Creative Arts will give opening remarks and facilitate a post-screening Q&A with Desi Mundo, co-designer and Artist of the Alice Street mural.

Two artists form an unlikely partnership to paint their most ambitious mural to date in Oakland’s downtown, ground zero for gentrification. Their site is situated at a unique intersection where Chinese and Afro-Diasporic communities face the imminent threat of displacement and gentrification. Fraught with challenges, the mural is finally completed to great fanfare and a vibrant celebration. Soon after the mural paint dries, a luxury condo is planned that will obstruct the art and cultural history. The community decides to fight back.

VANISH: DISAPPEARING ICONS OF A RURAL AMERICA
February 21, 2024 | Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
***No Virtual Screening Available***
Directed by Jim Westphalen
2023, USA, 80 Minutes
PREVIEW

*Guest Speaker (Burlington Venue): Jim Westphalen, Director

A compelling story of past and present, Vanish chronicles the “visual preservation” adventures of photographer, Jim Westphalen, as he travels across the country seeking out and creating stunning imagery of America’s disappearing rural structures. Equal parts art, history and seat of the pants storm chasing, road-trip with Westphalen as he races against time and the unrelenting elements to capture the extraordinary beauty of aging barns, one room schoolhouses, grain elevators, prairie churches and all the classic structures that our country’s rural heritage was built upon. Though many of these evocative relics will eventually surrender to the elements, this film captures the passionate people who strive and struggle to save these gems, revealing stories of dreams, loss and hope.

NEW ENGLAND MODERNISM: REVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE IN THE 20TH CENTURY
March 20, 2024 | Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Jake Gorst
2024, USA, Time 107 Minutes
PREVIEW

*Guest Speakers (Burlington Venue):

INTRODUCTION by Devin Colman, Vermont State Architectural Historian

Q&A to follow the screening with Jake Gorst, Director and Producer; Susan Leigh Babcock, Associate Producer; Devin Colman, Vermont State Architectural Historian.

(2) AIA LUs (in-person only)

*Guest Speaker (Brattleboro Venue):

Mara Williams, Curator Emerita at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center and student of New England Modernism, will introduce and lead a discussion following the screening.

Between the 1930s and 1970s, American Modernism established an exciting and provocative footing in New England. By the 1940s the work of American master Frank Lloyd Wright and European newcomers such as Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius influenced generations of young architects and inspired a surprisingly large catalog of important buildings throughout the region. Architects Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen, Philip Johnson, Eliot Noyes and many others led the charge. Dive deeply into this rich pool of talent whose buildings still hold international influence, despite the constant threat of redevelopment. These works tell the story of New England Modernism, a story rich with beauty, imagination, creativity and industriousness.

 

THE COLOUR OF INK
April 17, 2024 | Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Brian D. Johnson
2022, Canada, 105 Minutes
PREVIEW

Ink is our primal medium. It has always been with us, inscribing the evolution of humanity. The Colour of Ink uncovers the medium’s mystery and power through the eyes of Jason Logan, a visionary Toronto ink maker. Working with ingredients foraged in the wild – weeds, berries, bark, flowers, rocks, rust – he makes ink from just about anything. Jason sends custom-made inks to an eclectic range of artists around the world, from a New Yorker cartoonist, a local Vermont artist to a Japanese calligrapher. As the inks take on a life of their own, his playful alchemy paints a story of colour that reconnects us to the earth and can return us to a childlike sense of wonder.

SEASON X

M.C. ESCHER: JOURNEY TO INFINITY
September 21, 2022  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Robin Lutz
2019, Netherlands, 81 Minutes
PREVIEW

An eye-opening portrait of the world famous Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, this film presents Escher through his own words and images: diary musings, lecture excerpts, correspondence, woodcuts, and lithographs. Equal parts history, psychology, and psychedelia, this film examines Escher’s legacy as presented in movies, posters, tattoos, and elsewhere throughout today’s culture. Escher’s work, a remarkable marriage of mathematics and artistry, continues to engage, inspire, and delight ongoing generations.

OLMSTED AND AMERICA’S URBAN PARKS
October 19, 2022  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Rebecca Messner
2011, USA, 60 Minutes
ABOUT

*Guest Speaker (Burlington Venue): Greg De Vries, ASLA of Heritage Landscapes, LLC will provide an introduction highlighting the breadth of the Olmsted Firm’s work in Vermont.*

Frederick Law Olmsted designed New York City’s Central Park with Calvert Vaux over 150 years ago and it remains an undisputed haven of tranquility amidst one of the most unnatural places on earth. With incredible foresight that spanned centuries, Olmsted brought nourishing green spaces to New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Louisville, and dozens of other US cities. The parks were to be vital democratic spaces where citizens from all walks of life could intermingle and be refreshed. Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks weaves together Olmsted’s engaging and poignant personal story with those of the lasting masterpieces he left for us today.

THE LAST ARTISANS OF VENICE
November 16, 2022  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Simona Risi
2021, Germany, 52 Minutes
PREVIEW

*Guest Speaker (Burlington Venue): Local glass artists Ethan Bond-Watts, Rich Arentzen, & Eli Applebaum will display their work and share experiences with Venetian masters. Q&A to follow.*

Venice has always been a place for encounters, socializing, and personal exchanges. In some respects, it still has something of a village flair with its small stores, narrow alleyways, and hidden courtyards. These days the tourist industry dominates much of Venice and little interest is shown in the city’s hidden gems. We look behind the scenes and discover parts of the lagoon city that have nothing to do with tourism and clichés, as seen through the eyes of “the last Venetians”. Craftspeople and long-time residents who fill the city with passion, culture, and memories. They connect the past with the present and keep alive centuries-old crafts. We discover the passion for their tools and materials, and for the beauty, history, and cultural life of Venice.

ALBERT FREY: THE ARCHITECTURAL ENVOY – PART I
December 14, 2022  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Jake Gorst & Tracey Rennie Gorst
2018, USA, 63 Minutes
PREVIEW

Albert Frey, Swiss-born mid-20th century architect, was a significant force in the development of Modernism in the US. Through his innate curiosity about the American landscape, he developed an extraordinary design style, blending industrial techniques with a love of nature. First in a two-part series, this film explores Frey’s formative years while working with Le Corbusier in Europe and his important transition to America, where 11 of his buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Aluminaire House, the Canvas Weekend House, the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Kocher-Samson Building in Palm Springs. This film features Frey’s early life up until 1939 and reveals why Frey stands as a powerful force in the development of modernism in the United States.

ALBERT FREY: THE ARCHITECTURAL INTERPRETER – PART II
January 18, 2023  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Jake Gorst
2020, USA, 87 Minutes
PREVIEW

In 1939, Swiss-born Corbusian architectural envoy Albert Frey embarked on a decades-long journey of discovery in this second film of a two-part series. His world travels and love of nature would lead him to carve out a new style of modernism, leaving its indelible mark on the desert community of Palm Springs, California. Often set in wild, savage, natural settings, his buildings have a sense of peace and become places where it is possible to genuinely live a perfectly balanced life reconnected with nature. With never-before-seen archival films, photographs and interviews, this film reveals the mystique of an influential architectural master.

DAVID HOCKNEY AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS
February 15, 2023  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Phil Grabsky
2017, United Kingdom, 85 Minutes
PREVIEW

David Hockney, now entering his 9th decade and recipient of Britain’s Order of Merit, shows absolutely no evidence of slowing down or losing his trademark boldness. This film features intimate interviews with Hockney and focuses on two remarkable exhibitions held at the Royal Academy of Art in London. The first, “A Bigger Picture,” spans a 50-year period and demonstrates Hockney’s long exploration with the depiction of landscape. This series, often created en plein air at an easel, then refined through memory and imagination, results in thrilling forms, scale, and colors. The second exhibition is an intriguing exploration of the nature of portraiture, in which 82 different people all pose in the same elegant chair, perching, sprawling, accepting the scrutiny of Hockney’s pencil and paintbrush. The results are chromatically superheated, personal portraits that are vibrant and alive. Hockney just keeps working.

LOUIS SULLIVAN: THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE
March 15, 2023  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Mark Richard Smith
2010, USA, 97 Minutes
PREVIEW

*Guest Speaker (Burlington Venue): Film Director and Writer Mark Richard Smith*
*(2) AIA LUs approved (in-person only)*

A special thank you to Hotel Vermont for hosting our guest during his stay in Burlington.

Sullivan was one of the most celebrated architects to come out of the Chicago School of architecture in the late 1800s. Often called the “father of the skyscraper” and the “prophet of modern architecture” Sullivan also coined the iconic phrase, “form follows function.” At a pivotal period in American cultural history when agrarian society was receding in the face of the rising industrial city, Sullivan tried to preserve that historic connection with nature in buildings that also looked to the future. The result was an ingenious combination of geometric, undisguised massing that predicted the coming age of modernism. Opposed to the imitation of European architecture that was fashionable between 1890 and 1930, Sullivan’s persistent belief in the power of his ideas created some of America’s most beautiful buildings and inspired his protégé, Frank Lloyd Wright, to fulfill his own dream of a truly American style of architecture.

MAU: DESIGN THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE
April 19, 2023  |  Doors 6pm, Screening 6:30pm
Live at Contois Auditorium, Burlington & 118 Elliot, Brattleboro 
Screen from Home, Same Day Only
Directed by Jono Bergmann and Benjamin Bergmann 
2021, USA/Austria, 77 Minutes
PREVIEW

This playful portrait explores the life of design visionary Bruce Mau, revealing his unlikely creative journey and ever-optimistic push to tackle the world’s biggest problems with design. Over the span of his career, this creative dark horse has completed the transformation from world-class graphic designer to designer of the world. From advising global brands like Coca Cola and Disney, to rethinking a 1000-year plan for Mecca, Islam’s holiest site. From working with the greatest living architects (Rem Koolhaas & Frank Gehry) on books and museums to rebranding nations such as Guatemala and Denmark. Bruce Mau is a pioneer of transformation design and the belief that design can be used to create positive change in our world.

SEASON IX

AILEY
Screen from Home | September 29 – October 1, 2021
Directed by Jamila Wignot
2021, USA, 82 Minutes
PREVIEW

Director Jamila Wignot layers images, video, and important voice-overs from Alvin Ailey to create a portrait of the man that is as poetic, powerful, and nuanced as his choreography. Black-and-white footage of crowds filing into church, children playing, dance parties, and the dusty landscape of his birthplace, Texas, build an atmosphere. Ailey’s 1960 exploration of the Black experience, “Revelations”, remains a masterpiece. He spoke of how his dances were full of “dark deep things, beautiful things inside me that I’d always been trying to get out.” Like Ailey’s dances, this documentary leaves one swimming in sensation as it searches to reveal the man behind the legacy whose spirit lives on in his dancers, often bringing one to tears.

RICHARD LEPLASTRIER: FRAMING THE VIEW
Screen from Home | October 27-29, 2021
Directed by Anna Cater
2020, Australia, 80 Minutes
PREVIEW

Richard Leplastrier, one of Australia’s finest architects, shunned the limelight as he tucked himself away in his one-room home in a remote estuary north of Sydney — reachable only by boat. This film follows the very private, yet charismatic, Leplastrier as he designs a home that epitomizes what he has learned over 50 years and the influence of his mentors, namely the Danish architect Jorn Utzon (Sydney Opera House), Australian artist Lloyd Rees, and Japanese professor Masuda Tomoya. Leplastrier is an architect’s architect, refusing to become a ‘starchitect’. He designs beautifully crafted houses for his clients, while his own lifestyle is closer to joyously camping.

BEYOND THE VISUAL – HILMA AF KLINT
Screen from Home | November 17-19, 2021
Directed by Halina Dyrschka
2019, USA, 94 Minutes
PREVIEW

Hilma af Klint was an abstract artist before the term existed. A visionary trailblazing figure who in 1906, inspired by spiritualism, science, and the riches of the natural world around her, began to reel out a series of huge, colorful, sensual 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. 

RUNNING FENCE
Screen from Home | December 8-10, 2021
Directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin
1977, USA, 58 Minutes
PREVIEW

Running Fence 1976, a 24 1/2-mile-long, 18-foot-high fence of white fabric across the hills of northern California, is considered one of the most important early and ambitious public art projects undertaken by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Navigating technical, bureaucratic, and environmental challenges, negotiating land rights with fifty-nine ranchers, the artists grappled with countless hurdles, engaged disparate communities and convinced ordinary Americans of the transformative power of art. The sheer luminescence of the light and weather playing across the fabric of the fence as it unfurled, reunited the community in a celebration of beauty.

MAKING SPACE: 5 WOMEN CHANGING THE FACE OF ARCHITECTURE
Screen from Home | January 19-21, 2022
Directed by Ultan Guilfoyle
2014, USA, 50 Minutes
PREVIEW

Architecture affects all of our lives. It alters our skylines, creates our sense of place, connects us with the past, and leads us into the future. And for the first time in history, women are designing our world. They are the rising stars in architecture, previously an all-male galaxy, and they are literally and figuratively changing the landscape. MAKING SPACE captures the compelling stories and outstanding designs of Annabelle Selldorf, NY; Farshid Moussavi, London; Odile Decq, Paris; Marianne McKenna, Toronto; and Kathryn Gustafson, Seattle & London. Each woman tells her own story, enhanced by the insights of commentators including Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger; MoMA’s Peter Reed, Paola Antonelli, and others.

GEORGE NAKASHIMA: WOODWORKER
Screen from Home | February 16-18, 2022
Directed by John Nakashima
2020, USA, 115 Minutes
PREVIEW

George Nakashima (1905-1990) is one of the best known and influential woodworkers ever. His works were always finely crafted from solid hardwoods.  His work fell into two categories – his perfected but simple nuanced forms, or his explorations of the endless complexities found inside centuries-old trees.  He did not come to woodworking until his mid-thirties after a worldwide search for meaning for several years during the Great Depression.  During his seeker’s journey, he found important answers that brought him to evolve this new approach to woodworking. It is a timeless story for anyone who has a fascination with the creative process. 

ALEXANDER CALDER
Screen from Home | March 16-18, 2022
Directed by Roger Sherman
2014, USA, 60 Minutes
PREVIEW

Alexander Calder is a definitive portrait of one of the pre-eminent artists of the 20th century, who invented the art form of the mobile. This acclaimed film shows Calder at work in his studio and conveys the ingenuity and boundless inventiveness evident in his more than 16,000 pieces. Featuring interviews with Arthur Miller, Ellsworth Kelly, I.M. Pei, Brendan Gill, Marla Prather, David Ross, Calder’s daughters and grandson, Calder Foundation President Sandy Rower and others, this documentary makes clear that Calder’s universe was a distinctive one of play, joy, and fun.

ALUMINATION
Screen from Home | April 13-15, 2022
Directed by Eric Bricker
2021, USA, 77 Minutes
PREVIEW

In 1929 entrepreneur, traveler, and visionary Wally Byam built the first Airstream travel trailer in the backyard of his California home. For many the word “Airstream” signifies more than just the image of an aerodynamic silver bullet gliding down the highway; it also evokes the spirit of innovation, adventure, resilience, and dynamism. Bambi, Caravel, Flying Cloud—just as these trailers have evolved over the years, so too has their use. In addition to camping trips and long summer vacations, they are now used as full-time residences, guest homes, food trucks, recording studios and more. Wally Byam didn’t just create a tool for travel; he created a blueprint for modern nomadic living.  ALUMINATION will undoubtedly stir the age-old desire to pack up and discover what lies beyond the next range of hills.

SEASON VIII

THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS: YO-YO MA AND THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE | September 23-27, 2020
Directed by Morgan Neville
2015, USA, 96 Minutes
PREVIEW

There were two screenings offered:

1. LIVE Thank you to everyone who attended the performance by A2VT and the screening at Water Works Park, the kickoff was a great success!

2. VIRTUAL online in the comfort and safety of your own home.

This film follows the Silk Road Ensemble, a musical collective of diverse instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, visual artists and storytellers, created by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma as they explore the power of music to preserve tradition, shape cultural evolution and inspire hope. Musicians gather from across the world, exploring ways art can both preserve traditions and shape cultural evolution. Through moving individual stories, a vivid portrait is painted of a bold musical experiment revealing the musicians’ mutual desire to forge meaningful connections across cultures, and search for the ties that connect, a sense that music can truly serve as a “universal language.”

JORN UTZON: THE MAN & THE ARCHITECT | October 14-28, 2020
Directed by Lene Borch Hansen and Anna von Lowzow
2018, Denmark, 90 Minutes
PREVIEW

At the age of 37 Jørn Utzon designed The Sydney Opera House – one of the most famous buildings of the 20th century. It propelled him to the status of stardom in the world of architecture yet became a curse on his career. This documentary tells the story of Utzon’s unique gift, brought to the world with the unending support of Lis, the love of his life. Told by the people closest to him: his children, close colleagues and friends, who share their open, honest anecdotes and experiences of him as an architect and a man, the film is a portrait of a devoted humanitarian and a sensitive and loving soul.

AGGIE | November 11-15, 2020
Directed by Catherine Gund
2020, USA, 92 Minutes
PREVIEW

In 2017, art collector and patron Agnes Gund sold her prized Roy Lichtenstein for $165 million dollars using the profits to start the Art for Justice Fund, an initiative that seeks to reduce mass incarceration in the United States. Deeply aware of her privilege, Aggie has assertively used her wealth and power as an art collector to champion diverse creators and to set up organizations that enact real social change. In 1977, Aggie heard that New York City schools were losing arts funding, so she founded Studio in a School, a program that brings working artists into schools to teach kids. A modest woman, this film forms a portrait of her life by examining the massive impact she has had on others. Through textured interviews with friends, artists, family and institutional leaders, this film is both a celebration of an extraordinary woman, and a call to arms for the viewer to think about how they too can enact change.

THE NEW BAUHAUS: THE LIFE & LEGACY OF MOHOLY-NAGY | December 9-13, 2020
Directed by Alysa Nahmias
2019, USA, 89 Minutes
PREVIEW

In 1937, Hungarian born artist and teacher László Moholy-Nagy arrived in Chicago to become the director of the New Bauhaus.  Though not widely known today, Moholy-Nagy was innovative and tremendously influential in the fields of design, photography, and arts education. Following retrospectives of his paintings, film, photography, and sculpture in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, this film directed by Alysa Nahmias, (Unfinished Spaces, Season I), portrays Moholy-Nagy’s passion for humans, technology, and the creative process. Moholy-Nagy believed, “The person and not the product is the end in view. By making we make ourselves, making ourselves while changing the way we see the world, and the world around us.”

HOLLYWOOD’S ARCHITECT: THE PAUL R. WILLIAMS STORY | January 20-24, 2021
Directed by Royal Rodgers Kennedy & Kathy McCampbell Vance
2020, USA, 56 Minutes
PREVIEW

African American architect Paul R. Williams defied the odds to become one of the most notable architects in history. From the early 1920s until his retirement 50 years later, Williams was one of the most prolific architects in America. His list of celebrity clients included Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. He is noted for his mastery of various iconic architectural styles that include the Beverly Hills Hotel, the original MCA Headquarters Building and LAX Airport’s signature “The Theme Building.” Because of racial prejudice, Paul Williams was not always welcome in the restaurants and hotels he designed, or the neighborhoods where he built homes, even at the height of his career. This film explores how Paul Williams, the first African American Member, Fellow, and Gold Medal recipient of the American Institute of Architects, used his fortitude, talent and determination to overcome discrimination and create a portfolio of work that can be found nationwide.

URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD: INTO HER OWN | February 17-21, 2021
Directed by Daniel Traub
2019, USA, 57 Minutes
PREVIEW

Ursula von Rydingsvard is one of the few women in the world working in monumental sculpture. This film covers nearly 80 years in the life of this vibrant sculptor whose work draws directly from nature and is forged into almost mythological creations revealing intimacy and tactility regardless of the scale. Born in 1942 Germany, von Rydingsvard spent 5 years in displaced persons camps before immigrating to the US. Go behind the scenes with von Rydingsvard as she and her team produce new work, including challenging commissions in copper and bronze. Whether in wood or bronze these works want the viewer to circle, to touch, to dwell. This film is a fascinating and engaging glimpse into an artist’s work, inspirations and process.

THE GARDENER | March 17-21, 2021
Directed by Sebastien Chabot
2016, USA, 88 Minutes
PREVIEW

The Gardener is a film that reflects upon the meaning of gardening and its impact on our lives. Shortly before his passing at the age of 86, influential gardener and plantsman Frank Cabot recounts his personal quest for perfection at Les Quatre Vents, his twenty-acre English style garden and summer estate nestled amongst the rolling hills of Charlevoix County, Quebec. Created over 75 years and three generations, it is an enchanted place of beauty and surprise, a horticultural masterpiece of the 21st century. Through the words of Cabot and his family, and with the participation of gardening experts and writers, the film looks back at this remarkable man’s personal story and the artistic philosophy that gave birth to one of the greatest gardens in the world.

NEUTRA: SURVIVAL THROUGH DESIGN | April 14-18, 2021
Directed by PJ Letofsky
2019, USA, 100 Minutes
PREVIEW

This comprehensive documentary into the 125 year life, work, and times of Austrian/American Architect Richard Neutra begins in 1892 Vienna and takes you inside his most important works – the Luckenwalde Forest Cemetery, his first built house design in Berlin, working with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin, Rudolph Schindler’s Kings Road House, the family home VDL House in Los Angeles, and the Palm Springs Kaufmann House. The illustrious cast of storytellers includes sons Dion and Raymond Neutra, Barbara Lamprecht, Thomas Hines, Alan Hess, Volker M. Welter, Harriet Roth, Norman Foster, and Moshe Safdie. Join us on this eye-opening journey into the life, work and times of Richard Neutra.

SEASON VII

MIES ON SCENE: BARCELONA IN TWO ACTS | September 25, 2019
Directed by Pep Martín & Xavi Campreciós
2018, Spain, 57 Minutes
PREVIEW

This is the story of a building that changed the history of architecture. The Barcelona Pavilion, constructed in 1929 and subsequently reconstructed in 1986, at two key moments in Barcelona’s history, immerses us in a reflection on the perception of art, space and the concept of masterpiece. Originally existing for only 8 months, the Barcelona Pavilion expressed the ground-breaking ideas of Ludwieg Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich and influenced generations of architects around the world. This story reveals the originality and power of the building, and the struggle of a group of architects to recover and give back to the city of Barcelona one of its most emblematic architectural works.

KUSAMA: INFINITY | October 23, 2019
Directed by Heather Lenz
2018, USA, 76 Minutes
PREVIEW

Now the top-selling female artist in the world, Yayoi Kusama overcame countless odds to bring her radical artistic vision to the world stage. For decades, her work pushed boundaries that alienated her from peers and those in power in the art world. Despite the trauma of growing up in Japan during World War II, life in a family that discouraged her creative ambitions, sexism and racism in the art establishment, and mental illness in a culture where that was a particular shame, she continued to pursue and be devoted to her art full time. Working as an artist for over six decades, Kusama has endured and created a legacy of artwork that spans the disciplines of painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, poetry, and novels.

RAMS | November 13, 2019
Directed by Gary Hustwit
2018, USA, 74 Minutes
PREVIEW

Rams is a portrait of Dieter Rams, one of the most influential designers alive, and a rumination on consumerism, materialism, sustainability, and the future of design. For over fifty years, Dieter has left an indelible mark on the world through his iconic work at Braun and Vitsoe. This film dives deep into his philosophy, his process, his inspirations and some of his regrets. His design principles champion simplicity, honesty, and restraint, and still apply to design theory and practice today. Dieter’s philosophy is about more than just design, it’s about a way to live. It’s about getting rid of distractions and visual clutter, and just living with what you need.

RENZO PIANO: THE ARCHITECT OF LIGHT | December 11, 2019
Directed by Carlos Saura
2018, Spain, 80 Minutes
PREVIEW

Director Carlos Saura captures the genius of Renzo Piano, the brilliant Italian designer behind structures including the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, and The New York Times Building in midtown Manhattan. Saura follows Piano during the design of the Botín Center in Santander, Spain. From its elevated glass and steel walkways to the 280,000 round ceramic tiles that reflect the surrounding sunlight and the sea, this story becomes a reflection on the vibrant creative process behind this magnificent structure that altered the landscape and artistry of the city.

THE PROPOSAL | January 22, 2020
Directed by Jill Magid
2018, USA, 86 Minutes
PREVIEW

Luis Barragán is among the world’s most celebrated architects of the 20th century. Upon his death in 1988, much of his design work including drawings, models, and letters were privately purchased and have been concealed from the world’s view ever since. In an attempt to resurrect Barragán’s life and art, artist Jill Magid creates a daring proposition that becomes a fascinating artwork in itself, an act of negotiation that explores how far an artist will go to democratize access to art.

VINCENT SCULLY: AN ART HISTORIAN AMONG ARCHITECTS | February 19, 2020
Directed by Tom Piper and Edgar Howard
2010, USA, 56 Minutes
PREVIEW

* Special Guest (Brattleboro Location): Architect Dan Scully

Vincent Scully was likely the best-known art historian in the United States. His deep engagement with the subject and his passionate presentation style inspired generations of students at Yale University and beyond. This film examines Scully’s career as a professor, art historian and writer through interviews with students and the architects closest to him. The breadth and depth of his knowledge, which included a close familiarity with literature as well as with the visual arts, lent a special richness to his historical interpretations. This film projects the energy and passion of this extraordinary teacher.

GLENN MURCUTT: SPIRIT OF PLACE | March, 2020
Directed by Catherine Hunter
2016, Australia, 59 Minutes
PREVIEW

Glenn Murcutt, recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize and Australia’s most famous living architect, brings extraordinary beauty and integrity to his work. Internationally acclaimed, he has never built outside his own country by choice. Murcutt’s focus instead has been the creation of energy-efficient masterpieces perfectly suited to their environment and his breakthrough designs have influenced architects around the world. This film follows Glenn Murcutt, now 80 years old, as he designs his most ambitious project to date – a mosque for an Islamic community in Melbourne.

DESIGN CANADA | April, 2020
Directed by Greg Durrell
2018, Canada, 74 Minutes
PREVIEW

The long road to Canada’s brand is tricky: two official and countless unofficial languages, a sprawling geographical range, and a rocky cultural history. This film examines the untold story of the discussions and considerations that led to the graphics and iconography which “define modern Canada”. Design Canada looks at inclusive efforts to rebrand the nation by acknowledging facets of the population traditionally omitted from the discussion of ‘Canadianness’. French and English appeared in equal font and size on all national brands and efforts of Expo ’67, and the highlighting of Indigenous cultures gave a first step for self-representation. The resulting Canadian Design has become a national hallmark seen from coast to coast and recognized around the world.

SEASON VI

ZAHA HADID, AN ARCHITECT, A MASTERPIECE  |  September 19th, 2018
Directed by Carine Roy
2015, France, 52 Minutes
PREVIEW

This documentary looks back on the career of one of the most ambitious and unique artists of our time, Iraqi-born architect, Zaha Hadid. Working in a field generally dominated by men, she was the first woman ever to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Hadid pioneered a form of parametric design which utilizes computer software to enable the creation of designs with unprecedented plasticity. Among her best known works are the London Aquatic Centre, the Guangzhou Opera House in China and the Heydar Aliyev Center of Baku in Azerbaijan which was selected as “Design of the Year” in 2014. Her work has always resulted in structures that are incredibly forward-thinking and very memorable.

SABRA: THE LIFE AND WORK OF PRINTMAKER SABRA FIELD | October 17th, 2018
Directed by Bill Phillips
2015, USA, 57 Minutes
PREVIEW

* Special Guests (Burlington Location): Printmaker Sabra Field and Director Bill Phillips

This documentary explores the life and career of Vermont based printmaker, Sabra Field. The film highlights a body of work spanning more than five decades from her most commonly circulated images which celebrate American pastoral motifs in New England, to her lesser known but equally important explorations of figurative mythology, Italian tableaux, and political inquiry. Filmmaker and personal friend, Bill Phillips, has created an insightful portrait of the printmaker’s long and productive life, featuring interviews that reflect on how travel, personal tragedy, and life in the Green Mountain State have impacted the development of her work over the years.

IN BETWEEN MOUNTAINS AND OCEANS  |  November 14th, 2018
Directed by Masaaki Miyazawa
2016, Japan, 78 Minutes
PREVIEW

In Between Mountains and Oceans invites the viewer to embark on a journey into a sacred forest where every twenty years, Japan’s Shikinen Sengu ceremony reinforces the bond between humanity and nature in the rebuilding of the Ise Shrine. Inspired by the idea of sending a message to the future in the same way this ancient shrine keeps alive the traditions of the past, acclaimed photographer Masaaki Miyazawa used an ultra-high resolution 4K camera to create a breathtaking visual journey linking the Ise forest with other forests throughout Japan. With crystal-clear photography, stirring music, and words of wisdom from twelve of Japan’s most intriguing personalities, this is a powerful, quiet and beautiful film.

MY ARCHITECT: A SON’S JOURNEY  |  December 12th, 2018
Directed by Nathaniel Kahn
2003, USA, 116 Minutes
PREVIEW

* Special Guest (Burlington Location): Director Nathaniel Kahn

A riveting tale of love, art, betrayal and forgiveness, the son of a legendary architect undertakes a worldwide exploration to discover and understand his father, Louis I. Kahn. While Kahn’s artistic legacy was a search for truth and clarity, his personal life was secretive and chaotic. His mysterious death in a train station left behind three families, one with his wife and two long-term affairs. Kahn’s only son Nathaniel sets out on a journey to reconcile the life and work of this mysterious man. Revealing the haunting beauty of his father’s monumental creations and taking us deep within his own divided family, Nathaniel’s personal journey becomes an investigation of identity, a celebration of art and ultimately, of life itself.

CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER  |  January 23rd, 2019
Directed by Doug Nichol
2016, USA, 103 Minutes
PREVIEW

* Special Event (Burlington Location): Vintage Typewriter Parade!

California Typewriter is a documentary portrait of artists, writers, and collectors who remain steadfastly loyal to the typewriter as a tool and muse, featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, David McCullough, Sam Shepard, and others. It also movingly documents the struggles of California Typewriter, one of the last standing repair shops in America dedicated to keeping the aging machines clicking. The film delivers a thought-provoking meditation on the changing dynamic between humans and machines, and encourages us to consider our own relationship with technology, old and new, as the digital age’s emphasis on speed and convenience redefines who’s serving whom, human or machine?

THE BLACK MUSEUM  |  February 20th, 2019
Directed by Oliver Hardt
2017, Germany, 52 Minutes
PREVIEW

* Guest Speaker (Burlington Location): Lydia Clemmons, Executive Director, Clemmons Family Farm

The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C vibrantly explores America’s history and culture through the lens of the African American experience.   Designed by British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye, it has been met with overwhelming success during its first year of operation. Through interviews and observation, Director Oliver Hardt, who frequently addresses black history and culture with a strong emphasis on architecture, takes us through the remarkable physical spaces, the palpable engagement of museum visitors, and gives us insight into the challenges faced during the design process. The success of the project serves as a reminder that design and advanced storytelling can challenge the dominant political discourse and enable a diverse conversation.

* Lydia is the eldest daughter of Dr. Jackson and Mrs. Lydia Clemmons, who have owned the 148-acre Clemmons Family Farm located in Charlotte, VT since 1962.  Lydia will talk about the farm’s partnership with Zena Howard, FAIA, one of the lead architects of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Zena is a Principal, Shareholder, and Managing Director of the North Carolina practice of global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will. She has graciously offered her expertise to help the work to preservation and creative placemaking work for the farm’s early 19^th century Big Barn as a unique space for future African-American and African diaspora visual arts, performing arts and educational programs. The Clemmons Family Farm is one of just 0.4% of all farms in the United States that are African American-owned.

MILTON GLASER: TO INFORM AND DELIGHT  |  March 20th, 2019
Directed by Wendy Keys
2009, USA, 73 Minutes
PREVIEW

Milton Glaser has often been called America’s foremost graphic designer. Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I Love NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser’s remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight. From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men. The film glances into everyday moments of Glaser’s personal life and captures his immense warmth and humanity, and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

LEANING INTO THE WIND |  April 10th, 2019
Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer
2017, Germany, 97 Minutes
PREVIEW

Leaning into the Wind is a vibrant journey through the diverse layers of Andy Goldsworthy’s world. From urban Edinburgh and London to the South of France and New England, each environment he encounters becomes a fresh kaleidoscopic canvas for his art. A lushly-visualized travelogue, Goldsworthy’s work and Thomas Riedelsheimer’s exquisite cinematography redefine landscape and inextricably tie human life to the natural world.

SEASON V

CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY  |  September 20th, 2017
Directed by Matt Tyrnauer
2016, USA, 92 Minutes
PREVIEW

In 1960 Jane Jacobs’s book The Death and Life of Great American Cities sent shockwaves through the architecture and planning worlds, with its exploration of the consequences of modern planners’ and architects’ reconfiguration of cities. Jacobs was also an activist, who was involved in many fights in mid-century New York, to stop “master builder” Robert Moses from running roughshod over the city. This film retraces the battles for the city as personified by Jacobs and Moses, as urbanization moves to the very front of the global agenda. Many of the clues for formulating solutions to the dizzying array of urban issues can be found in Jacobs’s prescient text, and a close second look at her thinking and writing about cities is very much in order. This film sets out to examine the city of today through the lens of one of its greatest champions.

CALVET  |  October 18th, 2017
Directed by Dominic Allan
2011, USA, 86 Minutes
PREVIEW

* Special Guest: Featured Artist Jean Marc Calvet *

Never believe you’ve played your last hand… French painter Jean Marc Calvet recounts his incredible life story as a street kid turned Cannes bodyguard who abandoned his family, robbed a Miami mobster, hid out in Central America and at the age of 38 overcame addictions through an extraordinary metamorphosis in which he began to paint. That was seven years ago. Now his intricate paintings sell for five figures, but he remains desperate to reconcile with his son he left behind.

EERO SAARINEN: THE ARCHITECT WHO SAW THE FUTURE  |  November 15th, 2017
Directed by Peter Rosen
2016, 70 Minutes
PREVIEW

EVENT PROGRAM (2 AIA LU’s offered)

1. Introductory Presentation – Discussion of the context in which Eero Saarinen was working during his career and the dominant architectural trends of the 20th centruy in the United States. Emphasis will be placed on the work of several architects who came to Vermont after working in the Saarinen office, including J. Henderson Barr, Robert Burley, William Linde, and landscape architect Dan Kiley. Introduction by Devin Colman, Vermont State Architectural Historian. (10 min.)

2. Featured Film – Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw The Future (70 min.)

3. Q&A Panel – Join us after the film for a discussion featuring the following guests (30 min.):

FILM DESCRIPTION

A renewed interest is emerging in mid-20th century architects and artists who exploded the comfortable constraints of the past to create a robust and daring modernist America. Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future examines the life of an architectural giant who envisioned the future. His sudden untimely death at age 51 cut short what continues to be one of the most influential legacies in American architecture, a body of timeless work that stands apart from the clutter of contemporary design and continues to inspire architects today.

DIOR AND I  |  December 6th, 2017
Directed by Frederic Tcheng
2014, USA, 90 Minutes
PREVIEW

Dior and I brings the viewer inside the storied world of the Christian Dior fashion house with a privileged, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Raf Simons’ first haute couture collection as its new artistic director-a true labor of love created by a dedicated group of collaborators. Melding the everyday, pressure-filled components of fashion with mysterious echoes from the iconic brand’s past, the film is also a colorful homage to the seamstresses who serve Simons’ vision.

I, CLAUDE MONET  |  January 24th, 2018
Directed by Phil Grabsky
2017, UK, 87 Minutes
PREVIEW

From award-winning director Phil Grabsky comes this fresh new look at one of the world’s favorite artists—in his own words. Using letters and other private writings, the film reveals new insight into the painter whose work gave birth to Impressionism. Monet’s life is a gripping tale about the man behind the sun-dazzled canvases who suffered from depression, loneliness, and even contemplated suicide. But as his art developed and his love of flowers led to the glories of his garden at Giverny, Monet’s humor and love of life also began to flourish. Shot on location in Paris, London, Normandy, and Venice, I, Claude Monet is a cinematic immersion into some of the most loved and iconic scenes in western art.

STONE RISING: THE WORK OF DAN SNOW  |  February 21st, 2018
Directed by Camilla Rockwell
2005, USA, 57 Minutes
PREVIEW

* Special Guest: Featured Master Waller Dan Snow
* Special Guest: Director Camilla Rockwell

For thirty years, master waller Dan Snow has been creating stunning works of dry stone throughout southern Vermont and New Hampshire. Enter into Dan’s creative process and learn about the aesthetic and practical aspects of walling with dry stone. Through humorous and insightful interviews with Dan, his patrons and associates, discover the dramatic possibilities of gardening and landscaping with natural stone. Grottos and waterfalls, a stone boat, a beehive tomb, ancient-looking fortifications, even a Moorish style stone tent! Offering intimate explorations of Dan’s constructions, Stone Rising presents one man’s devotion to the work, mystery and endless surprise of his craft.

THE SALT OF THE EARTH  |  March 21st, 2018
Directed by Wim Wenders and Julian Ruberio Salgado
2014, USA, 110 Minutes
Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving disturbing images of violence and human suffering, and for nudity
PREVIEW

For the last 40 years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed some of the major events of our recent history; international conflicts, starvation and exodus. He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of wild fauna and flora, and of grandiose landscapes as part of a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet’s beauty.

FIVE SEASONS: THE GARDENS OF PIET OUDOLF  |  April 18th, 2018
Directed by Thomas Piper
2016, USA, 70 Minutes
PREVIEW

Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, immerses viewers in Oudolf’s work and takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas. Intimate discussions take place through all fours seasons in Piet’s own gardens at Hummelo, and on visits to his signature public works, as well as to the far-flung locations that inspire his genius. Piet Oudolf has radically redefined what gardens can be. As Rick Darke, the famous botanist, says to Piet in the film, “your work teaches us to see what what we have been unable to see.” Through poetic cinematography and unique access, Five Seasons will reveal all that Piet sees, and celebrate all that we as viewers have been unable to see.

SEASON IV

SAGRADA: THE MYSTERY OF CREATION  |  September 21st, 2016
Directed by Stefan Haupt
2012, Germany, 89 Minutes
PREVIEW

One of the most iconic structures ever conceived, Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia is an astonishing architectural project first imagined by Antoni Gaudi in the late 19th century. Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation celebrates his vision while exploring the continuing work of the thousands of artisans and laborers as they strive to complete the colossal basilica. The film captures the basilica’s quiet ambiance as it peers into nooks and crannies and listens to those who have devoted their lives to work on it. This unhurried, meticulous investigation allows the viewer time to observe, perceive, and reflect upon the historical and spiritual significance of this glorious landmark while gaining deep insight into the ongoing process of artistic creation.

AN ART THAT NATURE MAKES: THE ART OF ROSAMOND PURCELL  |  October 12th, 2016
Directed by Molly Bernstein
2016, USA, 75 Minutes
PREVIEW

Artist Rosamond Purcell creates collages of natural objects: bones, feathers, leaves, fossils, and found objects: distressed books, industrial scrap, cast-off objects, and imbues them with life through her photography. Among her many books are three with scientist Stephen Jay Gould, in which her visuals and his words complement one another. Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, one of Purcell’s admirers, extolls her ability to reveal “the hidden history of the world” and to “find art in really strange places.” Bernstein’s portrait reveals an artist whose work defies our basest materialist impulses and celebrates the beauty of decay, the poetry of destruction, and the ineffable effects of time – on everything.

WATERMARK  |  November 9th, 2016
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky 
2013, Canada, 93 Minutes
PREVIEW

Watermark brings together diverse stories from around the globe about our relationship with water: how we are drawn to it, what we learn from it, how we use it and the consequences of that use. Massive floating farms off China’s Fujian coast, the biggest arch dam in the world, the barren desert delta where the mighty Colorado River no longer reaches the ocean, and the water-intensive leather tanneries of Dhaka. We witness how humans are drawn to water, from surfing in Huntington Beach to the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, where thirty million people gather for a sacred bath in the Ganges. We speak with scientists who drill ice cores two kilometers deep into the Greenland Ice Sheet, and roam the sublime pristine watersheds of Northern British Columbia. This film stunningly shows water as a terraforming element and the scale of its reach, as well as the magnitude of our need and use.

SPINNING PLATES  |  December 7th, 2016
Directed by Joseph Levy
2013, USA, 93 Minutes
PREVIEW

Spinning Plates is a documentary about three extraordinary restaurants and the incredible people who bring them to life. A world-renowned chef competes for the ultimate restaurant prize in Chicago, while privately battling a life-threatening condition. A 150-year-old restaurant in Iowa is still standing only because of an unbreakable bond with the community. And a fledgling Mexican restaurant in Tucson struggles as its owners risk everything to survive and provide for their young daughter. Their unforgettable stories of family, legacy, passion and survival come together to reveal how meaningful food can be, and the power it has to connect us to one another.

TROUBLEMAKERS: THE STORY OF LAND ART  |  January 25th, 2017
Directed by James Crump
2016, USA, 72 Minutes
PREVIEW

Troublemakers unearths the history of land art in the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. The film features a cadre of renegade New York artists that sought to transcend the limitations of painting and sculpture by producing earthworks on a monumental scale in the desolate desert spaces of the American southwest. Today these works remain impressive not only for the sheer audacity of their makers but also for their out-sized ambitions to break free from traditional norms. The film includes rare footage and interviews which unveil the enigmatic lives and careers of storied artists Robert Smithson (Spiral Jetty), Walter De Maria (The Lightning Field) and Michael Heizer (Double Negative); and others. In making works that can never be possessed as an object in a gallery, these troublemakers stand in marked contrast to the hyper-speculative contemporary art world of today – they were exploring a larger canvas to work on while simultaneously seeking to create works that induced awe in the viewer, thus producing a new kind of pilgrimage and a new kind of visceral viewing experience.

ONE BIG HOME  |  February 15th, 2017
Directed by Thomas Bena
2016, USA, 82 Minutes
PREVIEW

Trophy homes are threatening the unique character of Martha’s Vineyard.  Ten, fifteen, even twenty-thousand-square-foot houses are going up around the Island. These mansions stand in stark contrast to the traditional small cottages and most sit empty for ten months a year, yet are heated year round. When he feels he is complicit in wrecking the place he calls home, one carpenter takes off his tool belt and picks up a camera. Bumping up against tired clichés, angry homeowners, and builders who look the other way, he works with his community and attempts to pass a new bylaw that limits house size. A compelling and relevant film to all communities grappling with development and “responsible” community growth.

FALLINGWATER: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S MASTERWORK  |  March 22nd, 2017
Directed by Kenneth Love
2011, USA, 56 Minutes

Fallingwater, the Edgar J. Kaufmann house, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright between 1934 and 1937. Considered the greatest American house of this century, it is sited on a spectacular waterfall in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.  Fallingwater features rare home movies of Mr. Wright and Mr. Kaufmann and features personal accounts by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., who was also a Wright apprentice, in which he relates how the house came to be, describes special features of the house, describes in detail the extraordinary building as well as the events that led to Mr. Wright’s commission. Fallingwater is the definitive film on the greatest creation of America’s greatest architect.  A real visual treat comes with Fallingwater’s depiction in all four seasons.

VISUAL ACOUSTICS: THE MODERNISM OF JULIUS SHULMAN |  April 19th, 2017
Directed by Eric Bricker
2009, USA, 84 Minutes
PREVIEW

Visual Acoustics celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California’s modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.

SEASON III

DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO: REIMAGINING LINCOLN CENTER AND THE HIGH LINE  |  September 30th, 2015
Directed by Muffie Dunn & Tom Piper
2012, USA, 54 Minutes
PREVIEW

Diller Scofidio + Renfro has long been at the forefront of design. The interdisciplinary design firm, founded in 1979, first stirred interest with its provocative exhibitions of theoretically based projects that blurred the boundaries between art and architecture. In 1999, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, were awarded the prestigious “genius” grant by the MacArthur Foundation, in recognition of their commitment to integrating architecture with issues of contemporary culture.

With the almost simultaneous completion of two large-scale projects in New York City – the renovation of the High Line and revitalization and expansion of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts – Diller Scofidio + Renfro has galvanized the public’s attention. Between 2004 and 2011, the firm, in collaboration with James Corner Field Operations, converted the derelict High Line railroad tracks on the city’s West Side into a sophisticated 1.5 mile elevated urban park.

From early 2003 to 2010, DS+R redesigned Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and the Juilliard School, built a free-standing, grass-covered pavilion that houses a destination restaurant (the Lincoln) and a public lawn, and inventively modified the public spaces connecting the complex’s existing buildings. As architecture critic Martin Filler states in the film, “Both the High Line and Lincoln Center have had a really euphoric effect on life in New York. So it’s populism of a very high order.”

MAKER: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE MAKER MOVEMENT  |  October 21, 2015
Directed by Mu-Ming Tsai
2011, USA, 65 Minutes
PREVIEW

“Maker” is a feature-length documentary that looks into the current maker movement in America – a new wave of Do-It-Yourself and Do-It-Together fueled by passion and powered by the advance of new technologies.

The “Maker Movement”, sometimes called the “Third Industrial Revolution,” subverts traditional manufacturing by building on innovative concepts such as open source, local manufacturing, crowd funding, and digital fabrication. Breaking the hobbyist movement stereotype, “Maker” delves deep into this ecosystem of design and manufacturing in the Internet era. The film explores the ideas, tools, and personalities that are driving the Maker Movement – and returns with a timely snapshot of one of the transforming influences of the current age.

The film includes extensive interviews of key figures behind headline-making projects, daily practitioners, and observers of the movement and presents insights on how it can impact society, culture and the economy in the U.S., and the world.

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY  |  November 4, 2015
Directed by Alison Klayman
2012, Germany, 91 Minutes
PREVIEW

Ai Weiwei is China’s most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

MATISSE: FROM TATE MODERN AND MOMA  |  December 2, 2015
Seventh Art Productions
91 Minutes
PREVIEW

MoMA & Tate Modern’s record-breaking show ‘The Cut-Outs’ explores the final chapter of Matisse’s career when he began ‘carving into colour,’ creating his signature cutouts. Audiences are invited to enjoy an intimate, behind-the-scenes documentary about this blockbuster exhibition with contributions from curators, historians and those who knew Matisse personally.

Filmed at both Tate Modern and MoMA the film reflects the preparation and exhibition of Matisse’s simple but sophisticated cut-outs. Special attention is given to the conservation work of MoMA’s treasured ‘The Swimming Pool’ by Matisse.

Beautifully filmed footage of the exhibition is interwoven with Matisse’s biography, behind-the-scenes material, and sequences featuring special guests including Tate director Nicholas Serota; MoMA director Glenn Lowry; jazz musician Courtney Pine and Royal Ballet principal dancer Zenaida Yanowsky. Acclaimed British actor Simon Russell Beale brings insight and emotion to the words of Henri Matisse, while actor Rupert Young narrates.

CATHEDRALS OF CULTURE: SALK INSTITUTE, OSLO OPERA HOUSE, CENTRE POMPIDOU  |  January 27, 2016
Directed by Robert Redford, Margreth Olin, and Karim Ainouz
2013, Germany, 82 Minutes
PREVIEW

“If buildings could talk, what would they say about us?” The new 3D film project Cathedrals of Culture offers a series of startling responses, allowing six iconic and very different buildings – the Berlin Philharmonic, the National Library of Russia, Halden Prison, the Salk Institute, the Oslo Opera House and the Centre Pompidou – to speak for themselves. Six filmmakers – Wim Wenders, Michael Glawogger, Michael Madsen, Robert Redford, Margreth Olin and Karim Aïnouz – bring their own distinctive visual style and artistic approach to the project, showing how buildings are material manifestations of human thought and action and exploring how each of these landmarks reflects our culture and guards our collective memory. This year’s screening will present three of the six buildings: Salk Institure, Oslo Opera House and Centre Pompidou.

GRAY MATTERS  |  February 24, 2016
Directed by Marco Antonio Orsini
2014, USA, 72 Minutes
PREVIEW

Gray Matters explores the long, fascinating life and complicated career of architect and designer Eileen Gray, whose uncompromising vision defined and defied the practice of modernism in decoration, design and architecture.  Making a reputation with her traditional lacquer work in the first decade of the 20th century, she became a critically acclaimed and sought after designer and decorator in the next before reinventing herself as an architect, a field in which she laboured largely in obscurity.  Apart from the accolades that greeted her first building -persistently and perversely credited to her mentor-her pioneering work was done quietly, privately and to her own specifications.  But she lived long enough (98) to be re-discovered and acclaimed.  Today, with her work commanding extraordinary prices and attention, her legacy, like its creator, remains elusive, contested and compelling.

SIGN PAINTERS  |  March 23, 2016
Directed by Faythe Levine and Sam Macon
2014, Denmark
PREVIEW

We see them almost every day without a second thought. Weathered by time, distinct characteristics shining through, hand-painted signs are a product of a fascinating 150 year-old American history. What was once a common job has now become a highly specialized trade, a unique craft struggling with technological advances. Sign Painters, directed by Faythe Levine & Sam Macon, stylistically explores this unacknowledged art form through anecdotal accounts from artists across the country including Ira Coyne, Bob Dewhurst, Keith Knecht, Norma Jeane Maloney and Stephen Powers. These vanguards of unseen originality are leading a renaissance with a keen creative purpose and exemplify the working class American success story. Sign Painters celebrates those keeping the tradition intact with a bespoke approach and appreciation for a balance between art and commerce.

PAOLO SOLERI: BEYOND FORM  |  April 27, 2016
Directed by Aimee Madsen
2013, USA, 80 Minutes
PREVIEW

Beyond Form is a cinéma vérité style documentary, that presents a fresh and intimate look at the legendary and multi talented artist, philosopher, urban theorist and architect Paolo Soleri. A man who had a dream to create an environment in harmony with man. This film focuses on how his body of work has inspired thousands of people over the years and why his technique and concepts have staying power. You’ll see why Soleri was green before “green” and “sustainable” ever entered the world lexicon. The lean approach has been a theme that was present through out Soleri’s life. Filmmaker Aimee Madsen created this documentary much in the spirit of Soleri’s style of frugality, doing more with less.

SEASON II

OBJECTIFIED |  September 30th, 2014
by Gary Hustwit, 2009
Swiss, 75 minutes
PREVIEW

Objectified is a documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and the people who design them. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. What can we learn about who we are, and who we want to be, from the objects with which we surround ourselves? Objectified encourages us to stop and notice our surroundings and to think critically about creativity and consumption – how can good, intentional design make these manufactured objects – and by extension our lives – better?

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES  |  October 21st, 2014
by Jennifer Baichwal, 2006
Canada, 86 minutes
PREVIEW

Jennifer Baichwal’s cameras document artist and photographer Edward Burtynsky’s explorations of Manufactured Landscapes to slag heaps, e-waste dumps, huge factories in China, dams, quarries, and a ship graveyard in Bangladesh. Burtynsky’s stunning and beautiful photographs of our civilization’s materials and debris raise intriguing and probing questions about the ethics and aesthetics of Manufactured Landscapes across the globe.

NOTE BY NOTE: THE MAKING OF STEINWAY L1037  |  November 18th, 2014
by Ben Niles, 2007
USA, 81 minutes
PREVIEW

Note By Note is an independent documentary that follows the creation of a Steinway concert grand piano, #L1037, from forest floor to concert hall. It explores the relationship between musician and instrument, chronicles the manufacturing process, and illustrates what makes each Steinway unique in this age of mass production. The most thoroughly handcrafted instruments in the world, Steinway pianos are as unique and full of personality as the world-class musicians who play them.

MICROTOPIA |  December 16th, 2014
by Jesper Wachtmeister, 2013
Sweden, 55 minutes
PREVIEW

Microtopia presents dreams of life in small, mobile or temporary spaces. Successful architects, builders and artists from different parts of the world propose radical solutions, all unnecessary things are removed, and seemingly old and worn-out items are utilized. Behind this is a simple question: How much space, stuff and comfort do we really need? Whether building islands from garbage, tents hanging from trees, micro-homes on wheels, residential sleeping pods or experimental urban parasitic architecture, they are united by the effort to find ways to form new communities without environmental consequences. This film explores how individuals are pushing the limits to find answers to their dreams of portability, flexibility – and of creating independence from “the grid”. On the sidewalk, on rooftops, in industrial landscapes and in nature we learn how these abodes meet the dreams set up by their creators. Microtopia deals with contemporary ideas that are addressed, and solved, in very surprising ways.

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR: I.M. PEI  |  January 20th, 2015
by Peter Rosen, 1997
USA, 90 minutes
PREVIEW

Though known as a modernist, Pei has rejected the implications of globalism inherent in the “International Style,” instead advocating contextual development and variation in style. He has commented that “the important distinction is between a stylistic approach to the design; and an analytical approach giving the process of due consideration to time, place, and purpose.” This acclaimed documentary chronicles the life and work of I.M. Pei whose projects include the famous pyramid entrance at the Louvre, the Meyerson Symphony Center, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pei’s personal reflections about his life and approach to design accompany the beautiful footage of his projects in addition to critical commentary that reflects on the true impact and importance of his work.

16 ACRES |  February 17th, 2015
by Richard Hankin, 2012
USA, 95 minutes
PREVIEW

The rebuilding of ground zero is one of the most architecturally, politically, and emotionally complex urban renewal projects in American history. From the beginning, the effort has been fraught with controversy, delays and politics. The struggle has encompassed eleven years, nineteen government agencies, a dozen projects and over $20 billion. What will emerge in downtown Manhattan over the next few years will redefine the city – and the country – for generations. 16 Acres is the story of how and why this historic project got built. At the heart of the story is the dramatic tension between noblest intentions, the desire of everyone involved to “get it right,” and the politics, hubris, ego and ideology that is the bedrock of New York City. What does it say about us as New Yorkers, as Americans?

HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON: THE IMPASSIONED EYE  |  March 24th, 2015
by Heinza Butler, 2003
Swiss, 73 minutes
PREVIEW

Upon his death in 2004, photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson was mourned as “the father of photojournalism.” This documentary offers a rare moment alone with the camera-shy photographer as he explores his portfolio and offers detailed insight into the remarkable images that have moved millions. Focusing in particular on Cartier-Bresson’s widely acclaimed work from the period ranging from the ’40s through the ’60s, director Heinz Bütler explores the stories behind the photographer’s stunning images of such historical events as the death of Gandhi and the liberation of Paris.

STRANGE & FAMILIAR: ARCHITECTURE ON FOGO ISLAND  |  April 14th, 2015
by Kathleen Knight and David Craig, 2013
Canada, 60 minutes
PREVIEW

In a rapidly urbanized world what does the future hold for traditional rural societies? As Fogo Island, a small community off the coast of Newfoundland struggles to sustain its unique way of life in the face of a collapse of its cod fishing industry, architect Todd Saunders and social entrepreneur Zita Cobbs’ vision for positive change result in the envisioning, designing and building of strikingly original architecture that will become a catalyst for social change. Experience this staggeringly beautiful place and how the community and local workers together with Saunders and Cobb, come together and play a role in this creative process during a time of optimism and uncertain hope. Change is coming to Fogo Island.

SEASON I

URBANIZED  |  September 17th, 2013
by Gary Hustwit, 2011
Swiss, 85 minutes
PREVIEW

Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. Urbanized looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design – the balancing of housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are universal concerns. From Paris to New York to Mumbai to Rio de Janeiro, from the bike lanes of Bogota to the walkways threading through the townships of Cape Town – what comes, what goes, what grows. Who shapes our cities, and how? Exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cities.

MAYA LIN: A STRONG CLEAR VISION  |  October 15th, 2013
by Freida Lee Mack, 1994 (Oscar for Best Documentary)
USA, 105 minutes
PREVIEW

This Academy award winning film profiles the career of Maya Lin, a young artist whose winning design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC became a national controversy and has since evolved to become a vision for hope and positive change in the world.  The film chronicles her maturation from an emerging young enthusiastic 20-year old into a mature and articulate artist who continues to thoughtfully approach politically motivated artistic creations.

EAMES: THE ARCHITECT AND THE PAINTER  |  November 12th, 2013
by Jason Cohen and Bill Jersey, 2011
USA, 82 minutes
PREVIEW

The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America’s most important designers. Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multi-media exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys. But their personal lives and influence on significant events in American life – from the development of modernism, to the rise of the computer age – has been less widely understood. Narrated by James Franco, Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the first film since their death dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work.

UNFINISHED SPACES  |  December 3rd, 2013
by Alysa Nahmias, 2011
USA, 86 minutes
PREVIEW

In 1961, three young, visionary architects were commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to create Cuba’s National Art Schools on the grounds of a former golf course in Havana, Cuba. Dancers, musicians and artists from all over the country reveled in the beauty of the schools, but as the dream of the Revolution quickly became a reality, construction was abruptly halted and the architects and their designs were deemed irrelevant in the prevailing political climate. Forty years later the schools are in use, but remain unfinished and decaying. Castro has invited the exiled architects back to finish their unrealized dream.

RIVERS AND TIDES  |  January 21, 2014
by Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2002
90 minutes
PREVIEW

Depicting the magical relationship between art and nature while painting a visually intoxicating portrait of artist Andy Goldsworthy, RIVERS AND TIDES follows the bohemian free spirit all over the world as he demonstrates and discusses his creative process and artistic philosophies. From his long-winding rock walls and icicle sculptures to his interlocking leaf chains and multicolored pools of flowers, Goldsworthy’s painstakingly intricate masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in Mother Nature – an unpredictable “critic” who threatens and often succeeds in destroying his art, sometimes before it is even finished. RIVERS AND TIDES is a mesmerizing cinematic experience that helps us to appreciate design and nature in new and enchanting ways.

IF YOU BUILD IT  |  February 11th, 2014
by Patrick Creadon, 2013
82 minutes
PREVIEW

If You Build It spends a year in the life of one of America’s most innovative classrooms. Starring Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller, founders of Project H Design, which is dedicated to design initiatives for Humanity, Habitats, Health, and Happiness. The film chronicles 13 high school juniors in Bertie County, NC throughout the school year where Emily and Matt will be teaching the fundamentals of design, architecture, and construction. Together with “design-build” fundamentals, the students will be learning the principles of “design thinking” – a very specific way of looking at problems to determine how best to solve them: Research, Ideate, Develop, Prototype, Refine, and Build. Their goal is that the students will leave Studio H equipped to tackle virtually any problem they will face throughout their lives.

HOW MUCH DOES YOUR BUILDING WEIGH, MR. FOSTER?  |  March 18th, 2014
by Carlos Carcas & Norberto Lopez Amado, 2010
Spain, 78 minutes
PREVIEW

The film traces the rise of one of the world’s premier architects, Norman Foster and his unending quest to improve the quality of life through design. Portrayed are Foster’s origins and how his dreams and influences inspired the design of emblematic projects such as the largest building in the world Beijing Airport, the Reichstag, the Hearst Building in New York and works such as the tallest bridge ever in Millau France. In the very near future, the majority of mankind will abandon the countryside and live entirely in cities. Foster offers some striking solutions to the problems that this historic event will create.

COAST MODERN  |  April 22nd, 2014
by Mike Bernard and Gaviin Froome, 2012
USA, 55 minutes

Traveling along the Pacific North West coastline from LA to Vancouver, this relaxed journey takes us across three generations of Modernist architecture, all taking us back to the basics of true living – a sense of place, light, and a deep connection to the earth. Dion Neutra tells us that the way to live is to have “the comfort of being inside, yet you have the feeling of being outside”, and it is this established principle that contemporary Modernist architects are emulating and evolving today.