The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Friday, March 24 (7:30 pm)
The Student Nurses (New World, 1970, R-rated *)
Roger Corman, renowned producer of low budget independent films, hired the wife and husband team of Stephanie Rothman and Charles S. Swart, for what he envisioned as “a contemporary drama with a liberal to left wing viewpoint and some R-rated sex and humor.… It was important to the filmmakers and me that we have something to say within the films… I insisted each (nurse) had to work out her problems without relying on a boyfriend.” Rothman directed, and she and her husband produced and provided the original story. The film was an enormous box office success and was the first in the popular “nurses” cycle of exploitation movies. It has since become a cult film. *No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
Saturday, March 25 (2:00 p.m.)
Songcatcher (Lions Gate Films, 2000)
Maggie Greenwald wrote and directed this period drama set in 1907 that follows Doctor Lily Penleric
(Janet McTeer), a professor of musicology, as she studies an Appalachian community that, due to its isolation, has kept alive centuries-old traditional folk songs from England. As she gains their trust and records their music, she confronts her own prejudices while growing to see this community as more than a quaint accident of history. Along the way, Greenwald tackles issues as timeless as cultural schism, shifting attitudes regarding sexuality, and the preservation of historical and cultural legacy for subsequent generations. Songcatcher was the winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and both Emmy Rossom (in her film debut) and Pat Carroll were nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for their performances. The film also stars Aidan Quinn and Jane Adams.

Saturday, March 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Point Break (20th Century Fox, 1991, R-rated *)
The second of Kathryn Bigelow’s trilogy of action films (following Blue Steel in 1989 and preceding Strange Days in 1995) stars Keanu Reeves as rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah, who goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers. The film co-stars Patrick Swayze as the charismatic gang leader and was praised for its outstanding surfing and skydiving sequences. In 2010, Bigelow became the first woman to receive an Academy Award for Best Director, for The Hurt Locker. *No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.