This touring series features restorations of seven landmark films by Italian trailblazer Lina Wertmüller — all recently restored by Kino Lorber — plus Valerio Ruiz's recent documentary on the Italian master, BEHIND THE WHITE GLASSES. Starting out as Federico Fellini's assistant, Wertmüller went on to become an internationally celebrated figure of 1970s cinema, smashing American box-office records for foreign-language films and enjoying acclaim as the first female filmmaker ever nominated for a Best Director Academy Award^®. Weaving worlds replete with prostitutes, playboys, mafiosi, petty criminals, working class everymen and comical antiheroes, Wertmüller's piercing satires mobilize comedy and ridicule to skewer paradoxes of class, power, gender and sexual politics. Her unique and subversive voice is more relevant now than ever.

AFI Member passes accepted.

Legendary actress Diane Keaton received the 45th AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, at a gala tribute on June 8, 2017, in Los Angeles, CA.

"Diane Keaton is one of the most beloved leading ladies of American film," said Sir Howard Stringer, Chair, AFI Board of Trustees. "Peerless in her mastery of both comedy and drama, she has won the world's heart time and again by creating characters of both great strength and vulnerability. Her career as a director and producer is even further evidence of her passion for the art form and her seemingly boundless talents. AFI is proud to present her with its 45th Life Achievement Award."

Keaton's iconic roles span the cinematic spectrum, from long-suffering mob wife Kay Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's THE GODFATHER (1972) to the "la-di-da" heroine of Woody Allen's ANNIE HALL (1977) — a role which earned her an Academy Award^® for Best Actress and turned her into a national fashion icon. (A new restoration of ANNIE HALL will screen later this year.) Perhaps best known for her long comedic collaboration with Allen — spanning PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM (1972), SLEEPER (1973), LOVE AND DEATH (1975), MANHATTAN (1979) and more — she has proved herself equally adept at dramatic roles, with powerhouse performances in films such as LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (1977) and REDS (1981). She recently graced the small screen with her unique presence in the HBO miniseries THE YOUNG POPE, and will next appear in the film HAMPSTEAD (2017) opposite Brendan Gleeson.

The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute special returned for its fifth year with Turner Broadcasting to air on TNT on June 15, followed by encore presentations on sister network Turner Classic Movies (TCM) beginning July 31.

AFI Member passes accepted.

On the occasion of Canada's 150th anniversary, we present this selection of both classic and contemporary Canadian cinema. As the Hollywood studio system began to falter in the 1960s, Canada seized the initiative with innovative financing and artist-friendly state support to bolster a parallel cinema that eventually launched the careers of internationally acclaimed filmmakers like Denys Arcand, David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin, and Deepa Mehta. Today, a new wave of Québécois filmmakers have become sought-after directors for A-list Hollywood pictures, such as Jean-Marc Vallée — director of DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, WILD and the HBO smash BIG LITTLE LIES — and Denis Villeneuve, Oscar^®-nominated for Best Director for 2016's ARRIVAL and whose upcoming BLADE RUNNER 2049 is one of the year's most anticipated releases. Meanwhile, enfant terrible Xavier Dolan has won major awards at the Cannes Film Festival. This series combines a diverse selection of contemporary films, from both veteran and emerging filmmakers, along with a selection of classic Canadian films from some of the country's most accomplished talents.

Special thanks to Telefilm Canada and the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC, for their generous support of this program.

AFI Member passes accepted.

The first Harry Potter novel was published 20 years ago, on June 26, 1997. To celebrate the occasion, this summer AFI Silver will be screening all eight of the beloved books' film adaptations.

AFI Member passes accepted.

Tales of crime and punishment are popular the world over, and this series collects a smorgasbord of outstanding neo-noirs, police procedurals and pulse-pounding thrillers from around the globe.

Presented in partnership with MHz Choice, showcasing the best international mysteries, dramas and comedies. Visit watch.mhzchoice.com

AFI Member passes accepted.

AFI Silver presents an exciting selection of stage performances from the National Theatre, captured on camera and presented on the big screen.

No passes accepted.

 

The summer of 1982 was a landmark moment for "fantastic" cinema. Hollywood released an outstanding, influential genre film seemingly every week, including POLTERGEIST, STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, BLADE RUNNER, THE THING and TRON. What a time to be young and impressionable — and ever since, these films have continued to fire the imaginations of fans young and old. All ages are welcome to celebrate as AFI Silver presents a selection of these outstanding titles (BLADE RUNNER is currently out of circulation in anticipation of the October release of BLADE RUNNER 2049), back on the big screen on the occasion of their 35th anniversaries.

AFI Member passes accepted.

"Żuławski is a creature of extreme experience. For him, there is no edge, only the abyss…No other filmmaker has gone so far in creating his own personal outland." – Michael Atkinson, Film Comment

Often compared to Andrei Tarkovsky and David Lynch, the films of Andrzej Żuławski (1940–2016) combine a hallucinatory vision with a taste for stories informed by historical and sociological insight. Starting out in Communist 1970s Poland, the young director's early films were routinely banned, leading to his eventual emigration to France, where he rose to prominence with 1975's THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO LOVE, starring Romy Schneider. His scandalous 1981 film POSSESSION — despite its exploitation credentials, a film very much about Cold War politics — went on to become an international cult classic. Żuławski died in 2016, having recently completed his final film COSMOS after a 15-year absence from filmmaking. This mini-retrospective collects some of his earliest and most significant films, all in new DCP transfers.

IN MEMORIAM: Andrzej Żuławski (1940–2016)

AFI Member passes accepted.

Film lovers were saddened at news of the death of beloved filmmaker Jonathan Demme earlier this year. His career highpoint, the multi-Oscar^®-winning THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, was but one point in the constellation of this most multifaceted of filmmakers. Starting out as a utility player in the 1970s with Roger Corman's low-budget filmmaking operation, Demme rose through the ranks to eventually direct exploitation titles CAGED HEAT and CRAZY MAMA. Parlaying this experience into a studio gig, Demme soon scored with the succès d'estime of MELVIN AND HOWARD, which won an Oscar^® for actress Mary Steenburgen. The landmark Talking Heads concert documentary STOP MAKING SENSE followed in 1984 as the first of many rock docs assayed by Demme, who also worked with Robyn Hitchcock and, famously, Neil Young on three different films. He filmed Spalding Gray's much-praised monologue film SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA in 1987, various music videos for the band New Order and the underappreciated neo-screwball comedy MARRIED TO THE MOB in 1988 before the blockbuster success of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS changed everything. But instead of being co-opted into franchise sequel work, Demme continued to seek new challenges, including the daring PHILADELPHIA and the screen adaptation of Toni Morrison's BELOVED. In the last decade, Demme became ever more dedicated to the documentary form, and was the AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim honoree in 2007. The global outpouring of grief over Demme's death demonstrates the importance of this amiable, unassuming film auteur's work. This mini-retrospective collects several of his best-loved films.

IN MEMORIAM: Jonathan Demme (1944–2017)

AFI Member passes accepted at all screenings.

Silver Spring's FREE Outdoor Summer Screening Series

Each Friday on Veterans Plaza, August 11–September 1, look for FREE outdoor screenings of these popular screen favorites. NO TICKETS NEEDED.

Screenings begin at approximately 8:00, rain or shine.

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II
Fri, Aug 11, 8:00
Picking up where the smash-hit first film left off, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) race into the future to save Marty and girlfriend Jennifer's (Elisabeth Shue) future son from getting framed for theft and sent to jail, only to have the Delorean stolen by their nemesis Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), who travels back in time to change history, with terrifying results for the McFlys and the people of Hill Valley back home in 1985. Now Marty and Doc must return to 1955 and stop Biff from changing history, but avoid meeting their own time-traveling selves and creating a rift in the space-time continuum. Got all that? Plus: hoverboards! DIR/SCR/PROD Robert Zemeckis; SCR/PROD Bob Gale; PROD Neil Canton. U.S., 1989, color, 108 min. RATED PG

 

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
Fri, Aug 18, 8:00
In this unlikeliest of superhero movies, Gotham City is built from LEGO construction pieces and populated by Minifigures, including Batman himself. The Joker and his cronies are at large and planning a new evil deed, while the billionaire crime fighter must also deal with the new police commissioner and an orphaned teenager whom he adopts as his sidekick, Robin. The deadpan gravitas of Christopher Nolan's DARK KNIGHT trilogy is all but mocked in this elaborately designed animated adventure, featuring voices by Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Zach Galifianakis, Conan O'Brien, Jenny Slate and Eddie Izzard. DIR Chris McKay; SCR Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern, John Whittington; PROD Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller. U.S./Denmark, 2017, color, 104 min. RATED PG

 

PURPLE RAIN
Fri, Aug 25, 8:00
Powered by a landmark Grammy^®-winning soundtrack album and an Oscar^®-winning score, PURPLE RAIN showcases Prince in the prime of his artistry, dazzling with his extraordinary musical ability in this semi-autobiographical tale. Against a crumbling home life and some serious band drama, "the Kid" (Prince) meets starry-eyed beauty Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero), a newcomer to the Minneapolis music scene. But rival musician Morris (Morris Day) is intent on taking her — and the Kid's rising stardom — away. DIR/SCR Albert Magnoli; SCR William Blinn; PROD Robert Cavallo, Steven Fargnoli, Joseph Ruffalo. U.S., 1984, color, 111 min. RATED R 

 

SCHOOL OF ROCK
Fri, Sep 1, 8:00
Jack Black delivers a tour-de-force, wildly hilarious performance as a wannabe rocker who's kicked out of his band. To pay the rent, Black poses as his substitute teacher-roommate Mike White (CHUCK & BUCK) at an upscale prep school, where he's struck by the notion that his students have the makings of a dazzling rock-and-roll band. To exact revenge on his old bandmates, he concocts an elaborate scheme to beat them at a battle of the bands. With musical numbers performed by the kids themselves, Linklater's box-office smash celebrates the endless possibilities of childhood — without pandering to children. DIR Richard Linklater; SCR Mike White; PROD Scott Rudin. U.S., 2003, color, 108 min. RATED PG-13