BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Kicking off its fall season with a free open house Aug. 17, Indiana University Cinema will present over 70 events throughout the semester. Events include masterworks from Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and Steven Spielberg; restorations of cherished classics like “The Big Lebowski”; the return of staple series like New Americas Cinema, Art and a Movie and CINEkids; and plenty of can’t-miss new discoveries.
IU Cinema will be the go-to place for horror lovers with its Friday Night Frights films in September and October. Included in the lineup are:
- Brian De Palma’s psychological shocker “Sisters.”
- A 4K restoration of “The Wicker Man,” just in time for its 50th anniversary.
- The Gore Girls Double Feature with the witchy new release “Trim Season” and the French Extremist “High Tension.”
- A24’s skin-crawling new flick “Talk to Me.”
- “Friday the 13th Part 2” screening on Friday, Oct. 13.
- The infamous Japanese horror movie “Audition.”
- David Cronenberg’s audacious “Videodrome,” followed by a live taping of the “Weird Studies” podcast.
- “The Void,” a supernatural indie film that expertly wears its influences on its sleeve.
- The Buckets of Blood Double Feature on Halloween featuring Nicolas Cage as Dracula in “Renfield” and the gonzo Korean revenge thriller “I Saw the Devil.”
Highlighting the inexhaustible contributions of women to the film industry, the latest iteration of the Women on Top: Legacies of Women in Global Cinema series will include:
- “Charcoal,” a pitch-black comedic thriller from Brazil.
- “Users,” a meditation from MacArthur genius and former IU Cinema guest Natalia Almada on the relationship between humans and technology.
- Two events celebrating writer Ursula Parrott.
A best-selling author and consistent headline-grabber during her colorful life, Parrott was also a screenwriter for Hollywood. Her words gave Norma Shearer her only Academy Award and helped launch Jimmy Stewart as a lead actor. To dive into Parrott’s career, the cinema will welcome Marsha Gordon, a professor from North Carolina State University and the author of “Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott.” Gordon’s talk will be paired with a book signing and screening of Douglas Sirk’s “There’s Always Tomorrow,” starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck and adapted from a novel by Parrott.
Stanwyck will appear in another series this fall, Sirens & Spitfires: Liberated Ladies of Pre-Code Cinema. Before Hollywood began enforcing the Production Code from 1934 until the 1960s to avoid censorship from political and religious institutions, the movies were a playground for salacious stories and lurid vices.
Focusing on the self-possessed and ambitious women of this era, Sirens & Spitfires includes new 2K restorations of:
- “Baby Face,” a scorching Stanwyck classic.
- “Shanghai Express” starring legends Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong.
- “Jewel Robbery,” an underrated and stylish romp with Kay Francis.
- “Red-Headed Woman,” a comedy starring Jean Harlow.
- A rare 35mm print of “Three on a Match,” a daring drama starring Bette Davis, Joan Blondell and Ann Dvorak.
In collaboration with the Department of Slavic and Eastern European Languages and Cultures, IU Cinema will also host Serbian filmmaker Želimir Žilnik, whose unwavering portrayals of society’s most marginalized populations are imbued with deep humanism and compassion. A leading figure in Yugoslavia’s Black Wave film movement of the 1960s and ’70s, Žilnik will visit the cinema for an onstage conversation as part of its Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Series, while several of his films and a documentary about the filmmaker will encompass the series Želimir Žilnik: Essential Work.
Drawing on recent art-house and independent releases from North, Central and South America, New Americas Cinema will showcase the following:
- A new 4K restoration of the Martin Scorsese classic “Raging Bull.”
- “Cadejo Blanco,” the first Guatemalan film to screen at IU Cinema.
- The award-winning Canadian/Caribbean crossover “Brother.”
- The art-house hit of the summer, “Past Lives.”
- A politically charged Brazilian thriller that’s so new, the cinema can’t reveal the name yet.
Additional upcoming programs at the cinema include:
- Steven Spielberg’s influential blockbuster “Jaws” presented in 3D.
- Ending Overdose Together, a series in collaboration with the Indiana Recovery Alliance that illuminates the realities of the overdose crisis and the stigma faced by people who use drugs.
- A once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Disney’s animated classic “Fantasia” on the big screen.
- The world premiere of a new score for the silent gangster epic (and proto-film noir) “Dragnet Girl” as part of the Jon Vickers Scoring Award.
For full information, film listings and a downloadable calendar, visit the IU Cinema website and follow @iucinema on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
