“Triumphantly fierce, funny, moving and innovative.” - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
“The group portrait is as grandly, sometimes as hilariously, realized as anything the director has ever done.” - Vincent Canby, New York Times
Wednesday, August 13, 6:00 p.m. & Saturday, August 16, 2:00 p.m. | In the night sky, helicopters circle and spray, raining insecticide indiscriminately over Los Angeles residents. We meet 23 of them—portrayed by Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Fred Ward, Anne Archer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Robert Downey Jr., Lili Taylor, Madeleine Stowe, Chris Penn, Jack Lemmon, Frances McDormand, Tim Robbins, Lori Singer, Peter Gallagher, Andie MacDowell, Buck Henry, Zane Cassidy, Lily Tomlin, Annie Ross, Bruce Davidson, Huey Lewis, Lyle Lovett, and Tom Waits—whose lives intersect over the course of a weekend. Adapted from the stories of Raymond Carver, SHORT CUTS is a grand vision that, like Los Angeles, sprawls: across marriages, sex, death, and hope. Epic in scale but abundant with moments of intimacy, SHORT CUTS, for which Altman received his fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Director, is an unforgettable portrait of the beauty and chaos of everyday life. 35mm print courtesy of the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Awards & Nominations
Nominee - Best Director, Academy Awards
Winner - Golden Lion, Special Volpi Cup (cast), FIPRESCI Prize (Competition), Venice Film Festival
Winner - Special Award (For the ensemble cast), Golden Globes
Winner - Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Independent Spirit Awards
Nominee - Best Supporting Female (Julianne Moore), Independent Spirit Awards
Robert Altman Centennial | June–August 2025
Robert Altman (1925–2006) is one of the rare directors whose name alone conjures his style. Say a film is “Altmanesque” and you’ll get nods of understanding—most cinephiles know the auteur’s calling cards: large ensemble casts; overlapping dialogue; a roving camera, and a subtle critique of the American Dream. Altman was prolific (a hardworking midwesterner), directing 36 feature films, and well over 100 episodes of television. Nominated for five Best Director Academy Awards, Altman was presented with an Honorary Academy Award in 2006—and he passed away nine months later, at the age of 81. When asked by Playboy Magazine in 1976, “When you look into your future, what do you want to have accomplished?” Altman answered, “All I want is to do what I'm doing. What else would I do?”
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