The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, January 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Wanda (Janus, 1970)
The only feature film written and directed by Barbara Loden, Wanda is a stark road movie shot on 16mm film on a miniscule budget. The title character, as portrayed by Loden, is a drifter, a floater, a wanderer. Wanda is a groundbreaking film both in the presentation of a woman breaking away from her prescribed life, and in the introduction of a fiercely independent filmmaker. While the film won the Critics Prize in Venice in 1970, it only screened in one theater in New York during its US theatrical release. Wanda was recently restored by UCLA, and was added to the National Film Registry in 2017. Digital presentation, 102 min.
Friday, February 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Black Orpheus (Lopert Films, 1959)
Winner of both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the 20th-century madness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. With its eye-popping photography and ravishing, epochal soundtrack, Black Orpheus was an international cultural event, and it kicked off the bossa nova craze that set hi-fis across America spinning. The romantic drama was made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and stars Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It was an international co-production among production companies in Brazil, France and Italy. 35mm film print courtesy of Janus Films, 107 min.
Saturday, February 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Singin’ in the Rain (MGM, 1952)
This rollicking musical satire of Hollywood in the 1920s when film transitioned from silent to sound features outstanding performances by Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Jean Hagen and Gene Kelly, who co-directed the film with Stanley Donen. Now considered one of the greatest musicals ever filmed, it’s filled with memorable songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, lavish routines and Kelly’s fabulous song-and-dance number performed in the rain. Although Debbie Reynolds had made a few movies prior to her role as Kathy Selden, this is the film that made her a star and one of the films for which she is best remembered. The film was one of the first to be selected for the National Film Registry in its first year–1989. 35mm archival print, 103 min.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.