2020 Film Selections
THE BIG LEBOWSKI
Comedy | Rated R | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time: 119 min.
Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Country: USA
Sponsor: The Mad Taco
Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski is mistaken for Jeffrey Lebowski, who is The Big Lebowski. Which explains why he’s roughed up and has his precious rug peed on. In search of recompense, The Dude tracks down his namesake, who offers him a job. His wife has been kidnapped and he needs a reliable bagman. The Dude is aided and hindered by his pals Walter Sobchak, a Vietnam vet, and Donny, master of stupidity.
CITY DREAMERS
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English/French with English subtitles
Running Time: 81 min.
Director: Joseph Hillel
Country: USA
Sponsor: J Langdon
CITY DREAMERS is a film about our changing urban environment and four trailblazing women architects who have been working, observing, and thinking about the transformations shaping the cities of today and tomorrow for over 70 years.
CONVERSATIONS FROM THE OPEN ROAD
Documentary | Not Rated
Language: English
Running Time: 100 min.
Country: USA
This is a traveling student-journalism program for Vermont high school and college students. This showing includes two collections of documentary shorts from Summer 2019. “Envisioning a Justice System” is a collection of shorts about criminal justice in Vermont and beyond, grounded in interviews of courageous people who have been directly impacted and also inspiring leaders and their work. “Tiny Houses Across the Country” is a collection of shorts from a road trip to seven communities, from Syracuse, NY, to Eugene, OR, who have built villages for their neighbors in need of homes. This is in collaboration with Homes First, a group in Middlebury. Q&A and conversation to follow the shorts.
CRESCENDO
Drama | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: German/English
Running Time: 106 min.
Director: Dror Zhavi
Country: Germany
Sponsor: Three Penny Taproom
When a world-famous conductor tries to create an Israeli-Palestinian orchestra, it takes all his skill and resources to overcome the discord and get them to play in harmony, rising to a tense and emotional finale.
ENDLESS LETTERPRESS (LOS ULTIMOS)
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Running Time: 68 min.
Director: Pablo Pivetta & Nicolas Rodriguez Fuchs
Country: Argentina
Facing deteriorating machines and the advance of new technologies, Argentine printing presses are closing up their shops. At the same time, a group of young designers has rediscovered this great technical innovation in the history of the written word: the typesetting printing press; but it will be difficult to learn since it has always been transmitted from master to apprentice. The last press mechanic in the country will be in charge of teaching them so that this ancient technique can withstand the passage of time.
FILIBUS
Drama/Thriller | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: Silent
Running Time: 76 min.
Director: Mario Roncoroni
Country: Italy
Sponsor: National Life
“No other crime thriller compares to Filibus!” exclaimed a Corona Films ad in the April 1915 edition of the Italian film magazine La Vita Cinematografica — and for once the ballyhoo was correct! Directed by Mario Roncoroni and scripted by future science fiction author Giovanni Bertinetti, FILIBUS is the most exciting, witty, feminist, steam-punk, cross-dressing aviatrix thriller you will ever see! Previously seen in a badly subtitled, imperfect version, FILIBUS was recently remastered by the Eye Filmmuseum, restoring the film’s marvelous range of Desmet tinting and toning from the original nitrate material. Includes panel discussion with Rob Mermin.
HOW ABOUT ADOLF?
Comedy | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: German with English subtitles
Running Time 91 min.
Director: Sönke Wortmann
Country: Germany
What should have been a fun evening quickly gets out of hand when Thomas announces he and his pregnant girl-friend are planning to name their son Adolf. This scandalous news leads to bitter confrontation, with all kinds of secrets coming out.
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time: 77 min.
Director: Carolyn Jones
Country: USA
All of our country’s biggest public health challenges — from the opioid crisis to gun violence to behavioral health and lack of insurance — collide in emergency departments. Nearly half of all medical care in the US is delivered in emergency departments, and nurses are on the frontlines of that care, addressing our physical and emotional needs and sending us back out into the world. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY is a documentary that follows emergency nurses and their patients in seven unique settings across the US, from urban to rural, shedding light on some of the biggest health care crises facing Americans today, and the opportunity that emergency nurses have to help break a sometimes-vicious cycle for patients under their care.
THE KEEPER
Drama | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English/German
Running Time: 120 min.
Director: Marcus H. Rosenmüller
Country: USA
Sponsor: Clark Builders
THE KEEPER tells the incredible true story of Bert Trautmann (David Kross), a German soldier and prisoner of war who, against a backdrop of British postwar protest and prejudice, secures the position of Goalkeeper at Manchester City, and in doing so becomes a footballing icon. His signing causes outrage to thousands of fans, many of them Jewish. But Bert receives support from an unexpected source: Rabbi Alexander Altmann, who fled the Nazis. Bert’s love for Margaret (Freya Mavor), an Englishwoman, carries him through, and he wins over even his harshest opponents by winning the 1956 FA Cup Final, playing on with a broken neck to secure victory. But fate will soon twist the knife for Bert and Margaret, when their love and loyalty to each other is put to the ultimate test.
MEMORY: ORIGINS OF ALIEN
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time: 95 min.
Director: Alexander O. Phillippe
Country: USA
The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott’s ALIEN series, which features Greek mythology, comic books, and inspiration from a range of other science-fiction authors. Includes panel discussion with Savoy owner James O’Hanlon.
THE MONEY STONE
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time: 93 min.
Director: Stuart Harmon
Country: Ghana
IMPULSO iDeep under the jungles of Ghana, scores of children are driven by poverty to leave school and work in dangerous pits in search of gold. THE MONEY STONE tells the stories of Justice and Maxwell, two teens trapped in the deadly world of illegal mining who must risk it all in search of a better future.
MOTHERLOAD
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time: 87 min.
Director: Liz Canning
Country: USA
Sponsor: Sustainable Montpelier Coalition
MOTHERLOAD is an award-winning crowdsourced documentary about a new mother’s quest to understand the increasing isolation and disconnection of the digital age, its planetary impact, and how cargo bikes could be an antidote. Filmmaker Liz Canning cycled everywhere until she had twins in 2008. Hauling babies via car was not only unsustainable but took the freedom and adventure out of life, and Liz felt trapped. She Googled “family bike” and uncovered a global movement of people replacing cars with cargo bikes: long-frame bicycles designed for carrying passengers and heavy loads. Liz set out to learn more, and MOTHERLOAD was born.
NOTHING FANCY: DIANA KENNEDY
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time 82 min.
Director: Elizabeth Carroll
Country: USA
Master chef, teacher, writer, and activist Diana Kennedy has become one of the most celebrated culinary legends of Mexican cuisine but has also been fighting unapologetically for change in the environment to produce and sustain fresh food for future generations.
ONE MAN DIES A MILLION TIMES
Drama | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: Russian with English subtitles
Running Time 93 min.
Director: Jessica Oreck
Country: Russia
Two young botanists fall in love as the world wages war around them. The enemy surrounds the city, cutting them off from the rest of Russia, from electricity, from warmth, and from food. A record-breaking, desperate winter sets in, and the city slowly, painfully begins to starve to death. Maksim and Alyssa defend the seed bank and its priceless collection of edible specimens — the future of their nation’s food supply — from the starving masses of the city, the enemy, hordes of rats, and each other. Part documentary, part legend, ONE MAN DIES A MILLION TIMES is the true story of the seed bank and the botanists who worked there throughout the Siege of Leningrad (1941 – 1944).
THE RETIREMENT (EL RETIRO)
Comedy | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Running Time: 90 min.
Director: Ricardo Diaz Lacoponi
Country: Argentina
Rodolfo is a doctor who has just retired. Widowed a few years earlier, he lives alone in his house. His only family is his daughter Laura, whom he barely speaks to. An unexpected event forces Laura move in for a few days. This coexistence brings out old arguments, unresolved quarrels, and wounds that have never healed. Both will have the opportunity to speak again, and this will help Rodolfo realize that there’s still time to recover the lost time.
THE RUNNING NONNA (COME CORRE ELISA)
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: Spanish/Italian with English subtitles
Running Time: 67 min.
Director: Andres Arbit & Gustavo Gersberg
Country: Argentina/Italy
The story of Elisa Forti, who began running at the age of 70, and today, at 82, is about to run the race of her life: 25 kilometers through her hometown in northern Italy, in the Lago di Como. As she travels through her childhood hometown, Elisa runs with two of her grandchildren up and down trails surrounded by lush nature, panoramic views of the lake, and old mountain homes. This is an inspiration story that shows with that age is what is felt in the heart and in the mind, not what an ID says.
SALT OF THE EARTH
Drama | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time: 94 min.
Director: Herbert J. Biberman
Country: USA
Sponsor: Ken Russell
This 1954 film, written by two blacklisted screenwriters and directed by a blacklisted member of the "Hollywood Ten," was suppressed on its release but has since been recognized as a milestone in independent film. It is based on the true story of a successful strike of New Mexico zinc miners, in which wives of the striking workers took a leadership role. The film was cast with many of the Mexican-American participants in the strike playing themselves. Includes a discussion, led by Rick Winston.
THOSE WHO REMAINED
Drama | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: Hungarian with English subtitles
Running Time: 83 min.
Director: Barnabás Tóth
Country: Hungary
Sponsor: National Life
Having survived the camps, 42-year old Aldo lives a solitary life as a doctor in Budapest. Sixteen-year old Klara lives reluctantly with her great-aunt, holding onto hope that her father and mother will return. She meets Aldo, and soon the two of them find something in each other that has long been absent in their lives. As they grow closer and closer, the joy in both of their lives slowly returns. But as the Soviet Empire rises to power in Hungary, their pure and loving father-daughter relationship is misunderstood and frowned upon. A lyrical story of the healing power of love in the midst of conflict, loss, and trauma, THOSE WHO REMAINED reveals the healing process of Holocaust survivors through the eyes of a young girl in post-World War II Hungary.
TREMORS (TEMBLORES)
Drama | Not Rated (contains graphic nudity) | Trailer
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Running Time: 107 min.
Director: Jayro Bustamante
Country: Guatemala
When handsome and charismatic Pablo arrives at his affluent family’s house, everyone is eagerly awaiting the return of their beloved son, devoted father, and caring husband. A seemingly exemplary pillar of Guatemala City’s Evangelical Christian community, Pablo’s announcement that he intends to leave his wife for another man sends shock waves through the family. As Pablo tries to acclimate to his new life in the city’s gay subculture with the liberated Francisco, his ultra-religious family does everything in its power to get their prodigal son back on track, no matter the cost.
THE WOMAN WHO LOVES GIRAFFES
Documentary | Not Rated | Trailer
Language: English
Running Time: 83 min.
Director: Alison Reid
Country: Canada
Sponsor: National Life
In 1956, four years before Jane Goodall ventured into the world of chimpanzees and seven years before Dian Fossey left to work with mountain gorillas, 23-year-old biologist Anne Innis Dagg made an unprecedented solo journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. In THE WOMAN WHO LOVES GIRAFFES, Anne (now 85) retraces her steps and, with letters and stunning, original 16mm film footage offers an intimate window into her life as a young woman, juxtaposed with a firsthand look at the devastating reality that giraffes are facing today.