The Grand Illusion

From the rich and textured imagination of Czech visionary Juraj Herz (THE CREMATOR) comes his own vivid reimagining of the classic fairy tale BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. The film follows the innocent Julie and her experiences living under the watchful eye of Netvor, a bird-like being torn between his growing affection for her and his animalistic urge to kill. Gorgeously shot, intriguingly surreal, thrillingly sensual - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST retells a beloved story in ways unlike any adaptation before or since.

Restored by Národní filmový archiv, Prague and Severin Films, supported by The Czech Audiovisual Fund. In Czech with English subtitles.

“The 1978 adaptation by the Czechoslovak film-maker Juraj Herz is both a vital addition to – and a radical departure from – the tradition of fairy tales on film.” David Melville, Senses of Cinema

Kristen Stewart's feature-length directorial debut, shot in glorious 16mm.

Based on the beloved memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER is a raw and unflinching portrait of survival, sexuality, and self-invention. The film traces Lidia’s life from her earliest memories in the Pacific Northwest, as a promising swimmer, through fractured relationships, near-motherhood, addiction, and encounters with artistic heroes. Told as a fluid memory wash, the story transforms trauma into art, embodying Yuknavitch’s defiant voice that made her work a modern cult classic. It is not only a chronicle of a woman becoming a writer, but a visceral journey through the wreckage and resilience of a life lived against the grain.

February 22nd showing added due to popular demand!

“Kristen Stewart reveals a deft directorial hand and a distinct, languid, echoing style in her vividly made, emotionally visceral exploration of the life and times of American novelist Lidia Yuknavitch.” Christina Newland, Time Out

4/4 stars! “In partnership with Imogen Poots, who gives an astonishing performance as Lidia, Stewart boldly evokes the source material. There’s a collage aspect to the image placement, but Stewart is not afraid to be direct. This project has been years in the making. Stewart adapted the material, and you can feel her love for it.” Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature!

As captivating and joyful as it is eye-opening and sobering, MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN is a uniquely collaborative film that showcases rare footage revealing the profound impact of Putin’s regime on the lives of everyday Russians, particularly its children.

Pasha Talankin is an unlikely hero—a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the transformation of his school and community, he struggles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower.

As the school’s videographer, Pasha documents intimate and revealing footage of Putin’s regime, capturing the rise of militarized children’s groups, repressive laws, fervent nationalism, and the recruitment of graduating students to fight in the war. When he learns his own life may be at risk, Pasha is forced to plan a dangerous escape from Russia.

In Russian with English subtitles.

“…a striking work of rebel cinema.” Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

“Remarkable… An exemplary work of cinematic modernism.” Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Critic’s Pick! “Mr. Nobody Against Putin is unique in dealing with serious issues about war and dehumanization with a light, even humorous, and certainly personality-filled, touch — in the serious-as-a-heart-attack war documentary landscape, it is a unicorn. The fact that it leads to more empathy and understanding, and a capacity for seeing ordinary Russians in a more human light, makes it a profound film as well as an engaging one.” Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire

In Mascha Schilinski’s transcendent SOUND OF FALLING, fragments from a hundred years in one farmhouse coalesce into a cinematic flood of memory.

Germany’s shortlisted Best International Feature Film entry to the 98th Academy Awards tracks the lives of four adolescent girls (Alma, Erika, Angelika, Lenka) across the last century – their desires and distress, their secrets and truths, their encounters with another’s gaze and defiant gaze in return. Though separated by time, far-reaching resonances emerge as echoes of experience linger.

Sensual and sensory, this awe-inducing Cannes prizewinner invites audiences to witness an eternal summer, a constant now, and ask: what is looking back at us from the past – or perhaps even from the future?

In German with English subtitles.

Named one of the ten best films of 2025 by The New Yorker, Variety, Vulture, Slant, and more!

Crtic’s Pick! “Unfold[s] like 100 years of home video footage that were shot by the family ghosts… rich and mesmeric…” David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“It’s an astonishing work, twining together the lives of four generations of families with an intricacy and intimacy that feels like an act of psychic transmission.” Alison Willmore, Vulture

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a filmmaker wield the tools of her craft with such an ingenious and committed sense of mischief… [Sound of Falling] is both disorienting and enveloping; it knocks you off your feet and then sweeps you up again.” Justin Chang, The New Yorker

John Woo's long-unavailable action masterpiece, newly restored!

Chow Yun-Fat stars as a cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers and goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring, he joins forces with an undercover agent (Tony Leung) who's working as a gangster hitman. More than a cops-and-bad-guys story, HARD BOILED continually startles with its originality and dark humor.

In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Encore screening added Tuesday, Feb 17th!

“Woo has elevated the action movie into the realm of art. Infinitely more exciting than a dozen Die Hards, action cinema doesn’t come any better than this.” Mark Salisbury, Empire Magazine

“It’s nirvana for seekers of action, and it rarely gets any better than this.” Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle