Chattanooga Pulse

Independent film fans, rejoice: the AEC has just announced the list of films for the Spring Film Series—and it rocks. And on top of that, the “tattered screens of the Bijou,” as our film critic Phillip Johnston called them, will be replaced by the fancy-schmancy ones of the brand new Majestic.

If you saw the Golden Globes, you heard many of these films talked about. Beginning January 29, a new film will open each Friday. Purchase a 2010 Film Club Card for $15 to support the series and receive discounts on movie tickets, dining and retail shops. Visit the Arts & Education Council at www.artsedcouncil.org.

The series includes:

Me and Orson Welles
January 29 – February 4
Based in real theatrical history, Me and Orson Welles is a romantic coming-of-age story about a teenage actor who lucks into a role in Julius Caesar as it‘s being re-imagined by a brilliant, impetuous young director named Orson Welles at his newly founded Mercury Theatre in NYC, 1937.

An Education
February 5 – 11
Jenny is a top student who has hopes of attending university at Oxford in the early 1960s, but she meets a charismatic older man (Peter Sarsgaard) who offers an exciting alternative of seeing and experiencing life. The film won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2009.

A Single Man
February 12 – 18
Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, this film tells the story of George Falconer, a 52-year-old British college profesor (Colin Firth) who is struggling to find meaning in his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim (Matthew Goode).

Broken Embraces
February 19 – 25
Mateo Blanco writes, lives and loves in the darkness. Fourteen years before, he was in a brutal car crash in which he lost not only his sight, but also Lena, the love of his life. After the accident, Mateo reduces himself to his literary pseudonym, Harry Caine, and erases any trace of his former identity, until one night when the story of Mateo and Lena comes alive again.

The Last Station
February 26 – March 4
For almost 50 years, the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren) has served as Leo Tolstoy‘s (Christopher Plummer) devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary. She has born him 13 children and copied out War and Peace six times…by hand!  But she suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down when, in the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favor of a life devoid of material things.

That Evening Sun
March 5 – 11
Abner Meecham (Hal Holbrook), an aging Tennessee farmer discarded to a nursing facility by his lawyer son, flees the old folks‘ home and catches a ride back to his country farm to live out his days in peace. Upon his return, he discovers that his son has leased the farm to Abner‘s old enemy and his white trash family.  Nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, this movie was filmed in Knoxville.

Police, Adjective
March 12 – 18
One of the most critically-acclaimed films of the year and a double prize-winner at Cannes, this is the new whip-smart, dryly funny comedy from Cornelu Poromboiu. The film was Romania‘s official entry to the 2009 Academy Awards. Cristi (Dragos Bucur) is a young undercover cop who undergoes a crisis of conscience when he is pressured to arrest a teenager who offers hash to classmates.

A Town Called Panic
March 19 – 25
Audience Award Winner at Fantastic Fest 2009 and the first stop-motion animated feature selected to Cannes, A Town Called Panic follows the wacky, hilarious and often surreal adventures of three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse who share a rambling house in a rural town which never fails to attract the weirdest events.

Fish Tank
March 26 – April 1
The most honored British film of the year, this film is an emotionally stunning coming-of-age story, electrified by the breakthrough performance of its young star Katie Jarvis. Fifteen-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) is in a constant state of war with her family and the world around her, without any creative outlet for her considerable energies save a secret love of hip-hop dance.

A Prophet
April 2 – 8
Condemned to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena cannot read or write. Arriving at the jail entirely alone, he appears younger and more fragile than the other convicts.  Cornered by the leader of the Corsican gang who rules the prison, he is given a number of  missions  to carry out, toughening him up and gaining the gang leader’s confidence in the process. But Malik is brave and a fast learner, daring to secretly develop his own plans.

The Art of the Steal
April 9 – 15
The Art of the Steal plays like a thrilling whodunit as it seeks to solve what happened to the world-renowned Barnes art collection, valued in the billions. This story is full of twists, turns and double-crosses. Along the way, multiple questions are raised: How is art best served? Should it be reserved for true connoisseurs or made available to the most eyeballs possible? And who decides?

The White Ribbon
April 16 – 22
A village in Protestant northern Germany on the eve of World War I. The story of the children and teenagers of a choir run by the village schoolteacher, and their families: the baron, the steward, the pastor, the doctor, the midwife, the tenant farmers. Strange accidents occur and gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Who is behind it all? Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Film.