07 Mar Philadelphia Monthly Arts Round-Up: March 2023
BY ARTA BARZANJI
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One of the signs of a healthy, burgeoning film culture is a certain balance of programming between films from different eras, nations, traditions, and models of creations, as well as a coexistence of new releases, familiar classics, and more obscure discoveries (to appease new and experienced cinephiles alike). And by this metric, the Philadelphia film scene with its varied programming seems to be flourishing.
Highlights of this month include the first solo exhibit of artist Terence Nance at the ICA, two starkly different visions of slow, contemplative cinema in Sátántangó and Memoria, as well as a pair of the most highly (and beautifully) stylized film noirs in The Night of the Hunter and Touch of Evil.
Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 7:15 PM
The Night of the Hunter
The adjective “singular” is more often than not used as an exaggeration when writing about cinema, as not many films, at least in Hollywood history, can be described as being genuinely unique. A film that could be accurately described that way, however, is actor Charles Laughton’s sole directorial effort, The Night of the Hunter. To this day, I find it baffling that a Shakespearean actor, who would go on to play many secondary characters in Hollywood films in the 40s and 50s, directed one of the most stunningly beautiful and strikingly photographed films of classical Hollywood in which the stark shadows are as ominously beautiful as Robert Mitchum’s portrayal of the murderous preacher whose sinister plotting drives forward the narrative.
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
March 10 – July 19, 2023
Terence Nance: Swarm
Anyone with even a fleeting interest in contemporary American art has likely heard about Terence Nance, whose work tends to defy and complicate classification. The first solo exhibition of the artist’s work, curated by BlackStar Film Festival founder Maori Karmael Holmes and co-organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, will let you delve into Nance’s interdisciplinary practice which includes his experiments in film, video, television, sound, and performance over the past ten years. Additional talks and screenings will complement the exhibit.
Cost: Free
Institute of Contemporary Art — 118 South 36th Street Philadelphia, PA 19104
Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 12 PM
Sátántangó
Hungarian maverick Béla Tarr’s magnum opus is often spoken about in terms of its exceptional length (over seven hours long, which rises to more than eight if you take into account the intermissions). While I imagine watching the film at home could amount to a torturous experience for some, with the sheer amount of inescapable distractions that surround us all, watching Tarr’s patiently-paced mediation on the lives of destitute Hungarian villagers in the collective solitude of a cinema is an oddly transfixing sensory and bodily experience which left an unforgettable mark on me.
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Terence Nance Spotlight
In addition to the Terence Nance exhibition, those interested can also see his film work screened in a cinema over two nights. The first of these nights, audiences have the opportunity to witness Nance’s unique vision in the following six short films: Blank Canvas (2021), Guisado on Sunset (2020), Jimi Could Have Fallen from the Sky (2017), Swimming in Your Skin Again (2014), Univitellin (2016), Vortex (2022).
Cost: $10 General Admission
Bruce Montgomery Theater — 3680 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 7:30 PM
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Terence Nance’s debut feature film begins with Nance’s artist character being stood up by a woman, for whom his emotions alternate between romantic and platonic. Utilizing a mixture of animation and live-action, the film explores questions around the importance of fleeting emotions in our lives, and how our experiences shape who we are.
Cost: $10 General Admission
Bruce Montgomery Theater — 3680 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 6 PM
One Sings, The Other Doesn’t
Ten days after International Women’s Day, you can see Agnès Varda’s One Sings, The Other Doesn’t, her film most clearly influenced by the feminist movements of the 1960s and 70s. The film follows the friendship of a struggling mother and an aspiring singer who form an unlikely but enduring bond on their eventful and difficult journey of discovery.
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 7 PM
Memoria
If you enjoy films with a more deliberate pace and meditative rhythm, you’re in luck: in addition to the aforementioned Sátántangó, this March Philadelphians also have the chance to experience Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s last outing on the big screen. The Thai director’s first fully foreign production, Memoria is an auditory feast, in which the sound design is not only a formal element but also a thematic one. Designed around an aural mystery, the film follows Tilda Swinton’s protagonist as she heads into the rainforests of Columbia in search of answers about an identifiable sound that’s been haunting her.
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Friday, March 24, 2023 at 7 PM
Terra Femme
Courtney Stephens’s moving essayistic mediation on the concepts of traveling and the archive is composed of amateur film travelogues recorded by women between the 1920s-50s. Instead of the lone male traveler we’re so used to seeing in movies, the film brings to the fore female travelers who not only capture the world but also themselves. In this way, the film also brings up questions about the place of women in visual archives, as both subjects and objects.
Cost: $10 General Admission, $8 Students/Seniors, Free for Members/UArts Students/UArts Faculty & Staff
Lightbox Film Center — 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Monday, March 27, 2023 at 7 PM
Touch of Evil
Another heavily stylized and somewhat unconventional Film Noir from the 50s, if Laughton’s Night of the Hunter pushed the limits of high contrast cinematography, Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil does the same for complex and intricate long takes, as exemplified by the film’s renowned opening sequence, which also sets in motion the murder mystery plot. With a stellar cast boasting the likes of Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Welles himself (in one of his most memorable roles as corrupt cop Hank Quinlan), and last but not least, the legendary Marlene Dietrich (who has a small but memorable appearance).
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 7 PM
The Gold Rush
While not quite the pinnacle of Chaplin’s work , The Gold Rush might just be the Tramp’s most atmospheric and nostalgic film, as the studio built snow-filled sets of Klondike, Yukon captures the imagination like few studio sets ever have. A true marvel of early special effects, trick photography, and craftsmanship, The Gold Rush also features some of Chaplin’s most iconic scenes (the pantomime “fork dance”). The late great critic Manny Farber wrote “on this mastery of pantomime, and on his exact knowledge of what he wants and of what is humanly moving, he builds a character, then fits it into a situation, and it comes out all of a piece.” And it’s precisely in that rare combination of immaculate technique (in performance and cinematic language), deep human understanding, meticulous world-building, and comedic genius which lies the everlasting appeal of Charlie Chaplin.
Cost: $10 General Admission, $8 Students/Seniors, Free for Members/UArts Students/UArts Faculty & Staff
Lightbox Film Center — 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
MORE EVENTS:
Friday, March 10, 2023 at 7 PM
The Wounded Man (L’homme blessé)
Cost: $10 General Admission, $8 Students/Seniors, Free for Members/UArts Students/UArts Faculty & Staff
Lightbox Film Center — 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 7 PM
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Student, $12 Senior, $10 Children (12 and under)
PFS Bourse — 400 Ranstead St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Monday, March 13, 2023 at 7 PM
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at 7:15 PM
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 7 PM
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Friday, March 17, 2023 at 7 PM
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 8:30 PM
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 4 PM
Dark Waters (35mm)
Cost: $12 General Admission, $8 Members, $10 Seniors/Students/Military
The Colonial Theatre — 227 Bridge St, Phoenixville, PA 19460
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 5:30 PM
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Saturday, March 25, 2023 at 11 AM
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 3 PM
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 7:15 PM
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Friday, March 31, 2023 at 6 PM
Throwback Quizzo & Movie: Southland Tales
Cost: $14 General Admission, $13 Students, $12 Seniors, $10 Children (12 and under)
Philadelphia Film Center — 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Friday, March 31, 2023 at 7 PM
Film, the Living Record of our Memory
Cost: $10 General Admission, $8 Students/Seniors, Free for Members/UArts Students/UArts Faculty & Staff
Lightbox Film Center — 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
*Featured Image: Still from Terence Nance’s Swimming in Your Skin Again. Courtesy of ICA.
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Arta Barzanji is an Iranian cinephile, writer, filmmaker, and a current MFA candidate in Film and Media Arts at Temple University. His work, encompassing experimental, narrative, and documentary modes, deals directly with the cinema itself, exploring the relationship between the viewer and the screen while engaging with the works of filmmakers as diverse as Stan Brakhage, Orson Welles, Kamran Shirdel, and Malcolm Le Grice. Arta was a 2022 participant of the Young Critics Workshop, and his critical writings and translations have appeared both in Farsi and English.
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