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Now Playing at the Packard Campus Theater (May 10-13, 2017)

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The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.

Wednesday, May 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Marty Stuart Presents Roger McGuinn – Live — SOLD OUT!
Multiple Grammy-Award -Winning country music singer-songwriter Marty Stuart will be joined by Roger McGuinn, frontman of the rock group The Byrds, for an evening of music and dialogue as part of the ongoing Marty Stuart Presents … concert series at the Packard Campus Theater. The evening will include an in-depth conversation about McGuinn’s music conducted by Marty Stuart, and the two will also perform. These concerts are made possible by the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and the Marty Stuart Congress of Country Music.

A Mighty Wind (Warner Bros., 2003)

Thursday, May 11 (7:30 p.m.)
A Mighty Wind (Warner Bros., 2003)
Folk musicians of the 1960s era are the subject of this mockumentary directed by Christopher Guest. Guest, along with fellow This is Spinal Tap stars Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, portray the earnest trio The Folksmen, reuniting for a tribute performance for a recently-deceased concert promoter. Also on the bill are the perky New Main Street Singers and former lovebirds Mitch & Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O’ Hara). Every song featured in the film was written by members of the cast or by Guest’s long-term musical collaborator, C.J. Vanston. ”A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” which was composed for the film by McKean and wife Annette O’Toole, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, while the title song “A Mighty Wind,” won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Friday, May 12 (7:30 p.m.)
White Zombie (United Artists, 1932)
Bela Lugosi in one of his most distinctive roles stars as Murder Legendre, the owner of a sugar mill in Haiti who controls an army of zombie workers. When Legendre becomes captivated by a young bride-to-be (Madge Bellamy) visiting a neighboring estate, he uses black magic to make her his own. This eerie, low-budget chiller is considered to be the first Hollywood production to feature zombies. The print is a recent restoration by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by The Packard Humanities Institute. It will be introduced by film historian and author John McElwee whose latest book, The Art of Selling Movies, was published in February 2017. Also on the program is the 1932 comedy short The Dentist starring W. C. Fields.

The Book of Life (20th Century-Fox, 2014)

Saturday, May 13 (2 p.m. – plus a special 10 am Sensory Sensitive screening)
The Book of Life (20th Century-Fox, 2014)
This animated feature celebrates the folklore surrounding the Mexican holiday The Day of the Dead, when family and friends gather to remember loved ones who have died and help support their spiritual journey. The story follows a bullfighter who, torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart, embarks on an adventure that spans three fantastic worlds where he must face his greatest fears. Zoe Saldana, Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin lend their voices to this musical fantasy adventure comedy that received both Golden Globe and Annie Award nominations for Best Animated Feature.

Saturday, May 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Hollywood Speaks German (1930 – 1932)
In the silent film era, it was relatively easy for Hollywood to distribute their product to other countries by inserting translated titles into the film prints. By 1929, new technologies made talking pictures possible, but dubbing films into another language proved to be a still insurmountable technological challenge. To make films available to a wider audience, the only feasible option was to reshoot different language versions. From 1930 through 1932, all major Hollywood studios shot films in German with famous German actors such as Heinrich George, Paul Morgan, and Camilla Horn who came to Hollywood to shoot on location; while German-speaking actors already in the country, including Greta Garbo, Edward G. Robinson, and Marion Lessing, were also cast in these versions. Alternately, a number of famous American actors, such as Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Buster Keaton, spoke their lines for foreign language versions phonetically. Stefan Droessler, director of the Filmmuseum Munich, will discuss how different studios dealt with the situation and will show excerpts from a dozen of these movies that have been neglected by film studies.

For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.

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