The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive takes audiences on a cinematic joy ride with stops in Los Angeles, Cuba, Hong Kong and China.
Buckle up, grab some tickets and ride along to these five series in months ahead.
“Cities & Cinema: Los Angeles” (Sept. 6-Oct. 3): The city where dreams happen, or get dashed, attracts the attention of many filmmakers for a variety of reasons. PFA celebrates the diverse depictions of the City of Angels and its inhabitants with screenings of well-known gems—Roman Polanski’s perfect classic noir “Chinatown” (7 p.m. Sept. 6) and Damien Chazelle’s homage musical “La La Land” (7 p.m. Sept. 20)—and some you might not have heard of. There’s a rare screening of Franco Rossi’s cult classic “Smog” (6:30 p.m. Sept. 14), which used 80 different locations in the city in a tale about an Italian lawyer during a flight layover who gets a tour from some Italian expats; and Pat O’Neill’s “Water and Power” (7 p.m. Sept. 25), a documentary that complements the tangled storyline in “Chinatown” as it depicts the tug of war between nature and industrial needs.
“Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy” (Sept. 28-29): Araki held up a finger (and we know which digit it was) to the Reagan/Bush era when pious conservatives engaged in a cultural war that attempted to muzzle artists while rarely addressing the AIDS crisis. Araki’s three-pack of rebellious productions mix outrage, violence and hot sex with an intriguing cast of counter-culture characters fed up with the system. Actor James Duval starred in all three of Araki’s timeless features: 1993’s “Totally F***ed Up” (5:30 p.m. Sept. 28), 1995’s “The Doom Generation” (8 p.m. Sept. 28) and 1997’s “Nowhere” (7 p.m. Sept. 29). Can only make one? See “The Doom Generation,” the series’ high point. As a bonus, Duval is slated to appear at all screenings.
“Cuban Cinema without Borders” (Oct. 23-Nov. 16): Sponsored by Hannah Arendt Institute of Artivism, which promotes social justice in Cuba, and the University of California Berkeley Department of Film & Media, this thought-provoking program showcases filmmakers (including Nicolás Guillén Landrián, who defied censorship and was imprisoned for his critical thinking) who offer an unvarnished, realistic look at what life in Cuba was, and is, like. The program includes documentaries Landrián: Ernesto Daranas Serrano’s 2023 “Landrián” (7 p.m. Oct. 10) about the director’s pursuit to restore Landrián’s films; and “Landrián Restored” (7 p.m. Oct. 24), a collection of Landrián shorts. Another intriguing-sounding feature is Alán González’s “Wild Woman” (7 p.m. Oct. 27), a 2023 drama in which a mother confronts the brunt of machismo after her lover and her husband feud, and the altercation goes viral.
“Hong Kong Cinema with Paul Fonoroff” (Oct. 17-27): Film collector, critic and actor Fonoroff will be on hand to introduce an eclectic assortment of films he appeared in during the 1980s- 90s. I’d score a ticket immediately for Tsui Hark’s 1992 rousing martial arts epic “Once Upon a Time in China II” (7 p.m. Oct. 19), with the iconic and limber Jet Li making mincemeat out of a batch of bad guys in gloriously choreographed fight moves. In the mood for a romantic comedy? How about Alex Law and Mabel Cheung’s 1992 “Now You See Love, Now You Don’t” (7 p.m. Oct. 25) with tough-guy actor Chow Yun-Fat (“Hard Boiled”) showing his soft side as a fellow who meets up with his childhood sweetheart.
“Jia Zhangke: Filmmaker in Residence” (Nov. 7-Nov. 30): This 12-film series promises to be one of the best cinematic treats of the season. (Some screenings already are sold out.) The acclaimed, award-winning filmmaker captures both the restless spirit of his characters and the restless changes happening in China. As a welcome bonus, Jia is slated to appear Nov. 7-13, beginning with the screening of his 2024 drama “Caught by the Tides” (7 p.m. Nov. 7), an adventurous fusion of documentary and narrative storytelling describing the life of a single woman from youth to middle age. Another worthy film that will fill PFA’s Barbro Osher Theater is the 2018 epic “Ash Is Purest White” (7 p.m. Nov. 13), a potent, engrossing drama spanning the changing 20-year relationship between a small-town criminal and a resilient woman, set against changes China is undergoing.
To buy tickets ($10-$14) and check out all the programs, visit bampfa.org/on-view/film-series.
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