PREVIOUSLY
Where is the Friend's House?
Khaneh-ye dust kojast?
1987, Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 84 min.
With Babak Ahmadpour, Ahmad Ahmadpour
Film series:
Abbas Kiarostami
Showtimes:
- Sat, Sep 7th 3:15pm
- Thu, Sep 12th 6:00pm
“As refreshing and exciting as discovering an Orson Welles or Jean Renoir film for the first time. He’s that good.”—Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Set in the mountain village of Koker in northern Iran, WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOUSE? is a tale of two boys and a problem. Eight-year-old Ahmad discovers that he has accidentally taken home the notebook of his friend, who risks expulsion if he comes to school without having done his homework. Refining a model of the narrative quest that resonates through Iranian cinema to this day, Kiarostami follows the boy in a frantic trek through a neighboring village in search of his friend’s home. In Ahmad’s small world, narrowly defined by his harried mother, his rigidly authoritarian teacher, and adult villagers dismissive of a child’s dilemma, the little boy becomes the film’s moral center as he earnestly pursues his mission undeterred. In Persian with English subtitles. New DCP digital restoration. (BS)
The Thursday, Sept. 12, screening is a Movie Club event, featuring a discussion facilitated by Jonathan Rosenbaum and Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa, co-authors of the definitive monograph Abbas Kiarostami.
Special guests in person!
Bessie Coleman, First Black Aviatrix
2018, Olivier Sarrazin, France, 53 min.
Film series:
25th Anniversary Black Harvest Film Festival
Showtimes:
- Sat, Aug 24th 5:15pm
- Tue, Aug 27th 6:00pm
Pioneer aviatrix Bessie Coleman was the first African American woman to receive a pilot's license. This classy French production uses excerpts from Coleman's journals and sweeping aerial views of the sites where she learned to fly to accompany commentary by experts centered in France and Chicago—the two most important venues in her flying career. Born to a family of Texas sharecroppers, in 1916 the 24-year-old Coleman moved to Chicago, where she embraced the dream of becoming a flier. American aviation schools were closed to both Blacks and women, but Chicago Defender publisher Robert S. Abbott encouraged her ambitions and helped sponsor a trip to France, where she learned to fly. Returning to the U.S., Coleman gained fame as a barnstorming pilot, until her life was cut short by an aviation accident at age 34. Buried in Chicago's Lincoln Cemetery, she remains an inspiration for African American aviators (including astronaut Mae Jemison, who carried a picture of Coleman on her first space mission). In English and French with English subtitles. DCP digital. (MR) FF
The following guests are scheduled to appear for audience discussion:
Gigi Coleman Brooms, great-niece of Bessie Coleman and CEO/President of Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars;
Dr. Christopher Reed, Professor Emeritus of History at Roosevelt University and Resident Historian at the DuSable Museum;
Myiti Sengstacke-Rice, CEO/President of Chicago Defender Charities and great-grand-niece of Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender;
Jean-Marc Giboux, director of photography for BESSIE COLEMAN, FIRST BLACK AVIATRIX (Saturday only);
Tammera Holmes, President/CEO of the AeroStar Consulting Corporation and winner of the Bessie Coleman Aviation Award (Saturday only).
VeeLa Gonzales, Archivist/Curator for the Robert Sengstacke Abbott Foundation (Tuesday only).
The Tuesday screening is a Movie Club event.