“A scary reminder of how easily totalitarian ideas and ideals crop up in societies and take fierce hold.” - Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Practice
Saturday, September 6, 12:30 p.m. & Monday, September 22, 6:00 p.m. | In his novel 1984, George Orwell imagined a bleak, constantly surveilled totalitarian future. Little did he know, 75 years later we’d all have super computers in our pockets and there would be a 27-seasons-long reality show named Big Brother. In this right-on-time adaptation, Winston Smith (John Hurt) is a low-ranking government worker who begins to question the oppressive regime led by the omnipresent Big Brother. When Winston begins a forbidden love affair and the limits to his resistance are revealed, 1984 devastatingly questions if a man’s soul be free while his body remains enslaved.
Awards & Nominations
Winner - Best Film, Best Actor (John Hurt), Evening Standard British Film Awards
Related Event
ORWELL: 2+2 = 5 (2025, dir. Raoul Peck) - Opens exclusively at the Siskel Film Center Friday, October 10
Cinema of Resistance | September 1–28, 2025
In Cinema of Resistance, we present eight films that expose the lowest moments of humanity, both real and imagined: war, corruption, cowardice, authoritarianism, and then raise high displays of bravery from movements that changed the course of history and individuals that put themselves on the line for the greater good. Join the fight from your cinema seat.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu