Special Screenings 2025
Special Screenings 2025
Ongoing
Recent releases, restored classics, and special guests grace the Barbro Osher Theater.
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Luis Buñuel: Viridiana, 1961
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Lewis Milestone: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 1946
- Upcoming
Films - Past
Films - Past
Events
Past Films
Close Your Eyes
Víctor Erice
Spain, Argentina, 2023Friday, December 6 7:00 PMView DetailsRevered Spanish auteur Víctor Erice (The Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur, and The Quince Tree Sun) returns with his fourth feature, a meditation on memory, absence, and the magic of cinema—a “poignant cinematic swan song” (Hollywood Reporter).
The Goldman Case
Cédric Kahn
France, 2023Wednesday, December 11 7:00 PMView DetailsNew York Times Critic’s Pick: “An electrifying courtroom drama” that delves into the sensationalized 1976 trial of Pierre Goldman. The film communicates so much about the complexity of Jewish identity in recent European history.
The Wages of Fear
Henri-Georges Clouzot
France, 19534K Digital Restoration
Friday, December 13 7:00 PMView DetailsFour desperate men are hired by a ruthless oil company to drive trucks filled with explosives across a mountainous South American country in one of the toughest noirs ever filmed. Starring Yves Montand.
No Fear, No Die
Claire Denis
France, 19904K Digital Restoration
Wednesday, December 18 7:00 PMView DetailsIn Claire Denis’s surprising second film, Isaach de Bankolé and Alex Descas play immigrants who train birds for cockfights on the outskirts of Paris. The film “has a seedy, claustrophobic power that says as much about human as about animal exploitation” (Time Out).
Close Your Eyes
Víctor Erice
Spain, Argentina, 2023Saturday, January 11 3:00 PMView DetailsRevered Spanish auteur Víctor Erice (The Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur, and The Quince Tree Sun) returns with his fourth feature, a meditation on memory, absence, and the magic of cinema—a “poignant cinematic swan song” (Hollywood Reporter).
No Fear, No Die
Claire Denis
France, 19904K Digital Restoration
Sunday, January 12 7:00 PMView DetailsIn Claire Denis’s surprising second film, Isaach de Bankolé and Alex Descas play immigrants who train birds for cockfights on the outskirts of Paris. The film “has a seedy, claustrophobic power that says as much about human as about animal exploitation” (Time Out).
Fairytale
Alexander Sokurov
Belgium, 2022Bay Area Premiere
Wednesday, January 15 7:00 PMView DetailsFairytale resurrects from the dead, via animated archival imagery, the twentieth-century leaders Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin. A cinematic phantasmagoria that was banned by the Russian censors.
The Goldman Case
Cédric Kahn
France, 2023Friday, January 24 3:00 PMView DetailsNew York Times Critic’s Pick: “An electrifying courtroom drama” that delves into the sensationalized 1976 trial of Pierre Goldman. The film communicates so much about the complexity of Jewish identity in recent European history.
The Wages of Fear
Henri-Georges Clouzot
France, 19534K Digital Restoration
Sunday, January 26 6:00 PMView DetailsFour desperate men are hired by a ruthless oil company to drive trucks filled with explosives across a mountainous South American country in one of the toughest noirs ever filmed. Starring Yves Montand.
Sátántangó
Béla Tarr
Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, 1994BAMPFA Collection
Sunday, February 16 1:00 PMView DetailsBéla Tarr’s extraordinary seven-and-a-half-hour epic Sátántangó. “Set on an entropic collective farm during the last years of Hungarian Communism, it’s a mordant, characteristically Eastern European tale of hapless peasants and charismatic swindlers. . . . Despair has never been more voluptuously precise” (Village Voice).
All We Imagine as Light
Payal Kapadia
India, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, 2024Saturday, March 1 3:30 PMView DetailsCrafted with visual poetry and emotional empathy, Payal Kapadia’s drama shines a light on three hospital workers as they negotiate love and life in the teeming metropolis of Mumbai. Outstanding performances and cinematography that reflects the small but wondrous epiphanies of everyday lives anchor this Cannes Grand Prix winner.
All We Imagine as Light
Payal Kapadia
India, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, 2024Sunday, March 23 5:00 PMView DetailsCrafted with visual poetry and emotional empathy, Payal Kapadia’s drama shines a light on three hospital workers as they negotiate love and life in the teeming metropolis of Mumbai. Outstanding performances and cinematography that reflects the small but wondrous epiphanies of everyday lives anchor this Cannes Grand Prix winner.
BAMPFA Student Committee Film Festival
Free Admission
Friday, April 4 7:00 PMStudent Filmmakers in PersonView DetailsA selection of outstanding student films from around the Bay Area.
All We Imagine as Light
Payal Kapadia
India, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, 2024Sunday, April 13 6:00 PMView DetailsCrafted with visual poetry and emotional empathy, Payal Kapadia’s drama shines a light on three hospital workers as they negotiate love and life in the teeming metropolis of Mumbai. Outstanding performances and cinematography that reflects the small but wondrous epiphanies of everyday lives anchor this Cannes Grand Prix winner.
Film and Video Makers at Cal: Works from the Eisner Competition
Free Admission
Sunday, May 18 2 PMUC Berkeley Student Filmmakers in PersonView DetailsStudent filmmakers join us for a screening of this year’s prizewinners and honorable mentions in the film and video category of the Eisner Prize competition, UC Berkeley’s highest award for creative media making.
Vivien’s Wild Ride
Vivien Hillgrove
United States, 2025Closed Captioned
Audio DescriptionSunday, June 8 7 PMDeann Borshay Liem, Eric M. Ivey, and Todd Boekelheide in PersonView DetailsWhen legendary film editor Vivien Hillgrove begins losing her sight, she turns to filmmaking to craft a magical memoir, reflecting on her career, personal struggles, and the transformative power of creativity.
The 400 Blows
François Truffaut
France, 1959Thursday, June 12 7 PMIntroduction by Laura TruffautView DetailsJean-Pierre Léaud plays François Truffaut’s alter ego, Antoine Doinel, in the quintessential coming-of-age film, a lyrical but unsentimental portrait of adolescence and of Paris.
Vermiglio
Maura Delpero
Italy, 2024East Bay Premiere
Winner of the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film FestivalWednesday, June 18 7 PMView DetailsThe lush and breathtaking beauty of the Alps, filmed with painterly grace under natural light from frigid winter to redemptive spring, provides the physical and emotional backdrop for Vermiglio, Maura Delpero’s visionary film, which won the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
Vivien’s Wild Ride
Vivien Hillgrove
United States, 2025Closed Captioned
Audio DescriptionSaturday, June 21 4 PMJanet Cole and Kathleen Toschi in PersonView DetailsWhen legendary film editor Vivien Hillgrove begins losing her sight, she turns to filmmaking to craft a magical memoir, reflecting on her career, personal struggles, and the transformative power of creativity.
A Photographic Memory
Rachel Elizabeth Seed
United States, 2024Winner of the Truer Than Fiction Award at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards
Saturday, June 28 4 PMIntroduced by Rachel Elizabeth Seed on July 20View DetailsA New York Times Critic’s Pick, A Photographic Memory is an intimate portrait of filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed’s trailblazing mother, Sheila Turner Seed, who was a vibrant and pioneering journalist, photographer, and filmmaker. “Vividly introspective . . . sumptuous” (Carlos Aguilar, Variety).
Él
Luis Buñuel
Mexico, 19534K Digital Restoration
Sunday, June 29 5 PMView DetailsA psychological thriller: one of Luis Buñuel’s rawest, angriest indictments of religious and social hypocrisy, Él stands as the Surrealist master’s great excursion into dark melodrama, where civilization can find no answer to the raging urges of the irrational id.
Vermiglio
Maura Delpero
Italy, 2024East Bay Premiere
Winner of the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film FestivalSunday, July 6 4:30 PMView DetailsThe lush and breathtaking beauty of the Alps, filmed with painterly grace under natural light from frigid winter to redemptive spring, provides the physical and emotional backdrop for Vermiglio, Maura Delpero’s visionary film, which won the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
A Photographic Memory
Rachel Elizabeth Seed
United States, 2024Winner of the Truer Than Fiction Award at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards
Sunday, July 20 4:30 PMIntroduced by Rachel Elizabeth Seed on July 20View DetailsA New York Times Critic’s Pick, A Photographic Memory is an intimate portrait of filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed’s trailblazing mother, Sheila Turner Seed, who was a vibrant and pioneering journalist, photographer, and filmmaker. “Vividly introspective . . . sumptuous” (Carlos Aguilar, Variety).
Él
Luis Buñuel
Mexico, 19534K Digital Restoration
Wednesday, July 30 7 PMView DetailsA psychological thriller: one of Luis Buñuel’s rawest, angriest indictments of religious and social hypocrisy, Él stands as the Surrealist master’s great excursion into dark melodrama, where civilization can find no answer to the raging urges of the irrational id.
The 400 Blows
François Truffaut
France, 1959Saturday, August 9 4:30 PMView DetailsJean-Pierre Léaud plays François Truffaut’s alter ego, Antoine Doinel, in the quintessential coming-of-age film, a lyrical but unsentimental portrait of adolescence and of Paris.
Dragon Inn
King Hu
Taiwan, 19674k Restoration
Thursday, August 14 7 PMView DetailsKing Hu’s legendary Dragon Inn merges swordplay, melodrama, history, and Beijing Opera traditions with thrilling results. Viewed obliquely in Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn, it suggests the transient pleasures of cinephilia.
Free Outdoor Screening: Desert Hearts
Donna Deitch
United States, 1985Presented in collaboration with the Pacific Center for Human Growth and the Downtown Berkeley Association
Saturday, August 16 7 PMView DetailsJoin us for a free outdoor screening of Desert Hearts to celebrate Berkeley Pride! Bring a blanket or lawn chair and a picnic dinner to BAMPFA’s huge outdoor LED screen on Addison and Oxford Streets and enjoy the show.
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
Francis Ford Coppola
United States, 1979/20194K Digital Restoration
Saturday, September 6 3:30 PMView DetailsFrancis Ford Coppola’s hallucinatory Vietnam War epic, one of AFI’s Top 100 Films of All Time, returns in a 4K restoration.
Caught by the Tides
Jia Zhangke
China, 2024Sunday, September 7 7 PMView DetailsJia Zhangke delivers an epic look at the romantic destiny of his perennial heroine, Qiao Qiao. Spanning twenty-one years of a country going through profound transformation, the film provides a new perspective on contemporary China.
Ran
Akira Kurosawa
France, Japan, 19854K Digital Restoration
Sunday, September 14 7 PMView DetailsKing Lear in feudal Japan, with Tatsuya Nakadai as the lord who divides his kingdom among his three sons, with disastrous results. “A majestic piece of filmmaking” (Village Voice).
Yõg ãtak: My Father, Kaiowá
Sueli Maxakali, Isael Maxakali, Roberto Romero, Luísa Lanna
Brazil, 2024Presented with the support of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Friday, September 19 3:30 PMRoberto Romero and Natalia Brizuela in ConversationView DetailsSeparated by more than forty years and one thousand miles, Yõg ãtak: My Father, Kaiowá documents filmmaker Sueli Maxakali’s search for her father, while highlighting the struggles of the Indigenous peoples of Brazil to maintain their traditions and autonomy.
Yi Yi
Edward Yang
Taiwan, 20004K Digital Restoration
Saturday, September 20 3:30 PMView DetailsA wedding and a wake bookend Edward Yang’s look at a year in the life of one multigenerational middle-class family in Taipei. “The work of a master in full command of the resources of his art” (New York Times). Released in 2000, it was still named to many Best Films of the 2000s lists.
The Fall of Otrar
Ardak Amirkulov
Kazakhstan, 19914K Digital Restoration
Saturday, September 27 7 PMView DetailsSet in the early thirteenth century, Kazakh New Wave director Ardak Amirkulov’s The Fall of Otrar is a hypnotic epic about one of world history’s crucial military battles. Written by Amirkulov's former teacher Aleksei German and his wife, Svetlana Karmalita.
Outsider. Freud
Yair Qedar
Israel, Austria, Germany, 2025Copresented with New Lehrhaus and the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life, with support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation and the Austrian Consulate, San Francisco
Sunday, October 19 3 PMYair Qedar, Robby Adler Peckerar, and Harriet Wolfe, MD, in ConversationView Details“There is no writer or philosopher who has shaped the way we think about our own thoughts, dreams, relationships, and inner lives more profoundly than Sigmund Freud . . . Outsider. Freud illuminates Freud’s life in new ways” (Hannah Brown, Jerusalem Post).
Caught by the Tides
Jia Zhangke
China, 2024Friday, October 24 4:30 PMView DetailsJia Zhangke delivers an epic look at the romantic destiny of his perennial heroine, Qiao Qiao. Spanning twenty-one years of a country going through profound transformation, the film provides a new perspective on contemporary China.
Four Nights of a Dreamer
Robert Bresson
France, 19714K Digital Restoration
Friday, October 31 4:30 PMView DetailsThe rarely screened Four Nights of a Dreamer is Robert Bresson’s great forgotten masterpiece, a stark yet haunting ode to romantic idealism and the capriciousness of love. Bresson’s philosophical concerns with transcendence play out in each lover’s romantic reveries.
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
Francis Ford Coppola
United States, 1979/20194K Digital Restoration
Friday, October 31 6:30 PMView DetailsFrancis Ford Coppola’s hallucinatory Vietnam War epic, one of AFI’s Top 100 Films of All Time, returns in a 4K restoration.
The Fall of Otrar
Ardak Amirkulov
Kazakhstan, 19914K Digital Restoration
Saturday, November 22 6:30 PMView DetailsSet in the early thirteenth century, Kazakh New Wave director Ardak Amirkulov’s The Fall of Otrar is a hypnotic epic about one of world history’s crucial military battles. Written by Amirkulov's former teacher Aleksei German and his wife, Svetlana Karmalita.
Four Nights of a Dreamer
Robert Bresson
France, 19714K Digital Restoration
Sunday, November 23 4:30 PMView DetailsThe rarely screened Four Nights of a Dreamer is Robert Bresson’s great forgotten masterpiece, a stark yet haunting ode to romantic idealism and the capriciousness of love. Bresson’s philosophical concerns with transcendence play out in each lover’s romantic reveries.
The Gold Rush
Charles Chaplin
United States, 19254K Digital Restoration
Friday, November 28 2 PMView DetailsA new 4K digital restoration timed with the centennial of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925 version). His remarkable comedy of desperation and get-rich-quick fantasies lampoons the mad American hunger for wealth, which remains as ravenous as ever.
Ran
Akira Kurosawa
France, Japan, 19854K Digital Restoration
Friday, November 28 4 PMView DetailsKing Lear in feudal Japan, with Tatsuya Nakadai as the lord who divides his kingdom among his three sons, with disastrous results. “A majestic piece of filmmaking” (Village Voice).
Yi Yi
Edward Yang
Taiwan, 20004K Digital Restoration
Saturday, November 29 3 PMView DetailsA wedding and a wake bookend Edward Yang’s look at a year in the life of one multigenerational middle-class family in Taipei. “The work of a master in full command of the resources of his art” (New York Times). Released in 2000, it was still named to many Best Films of the 2000s lists.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Jacques Demy
France, 19644K Digital Restoration
Saturday, November 29 6:30 PMView DetailsIn this paean to Catherine Deneuve, French design, 1960s chic, MGM musicals, and Michel Legrand, a boy and girl love, lose, love again, and lose again against an assortment of fabulous wallpaper.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Joel Coen
United States, 2021Sunday, November 30 4:30 PMView DetailsStarring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, Joel Coen’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s cursed tragedy is attentive to the power of its language while being profoundly cinematic, rendering a fog-shrouded, haunted place where fate and ambition collide.
CineSpin: Melon Collective Accompanies Four Films by Maya Deren
Free admission. Tickets available at the admissions desk beginning at 6:30 PM.
Thursday, December 4 7:30 PMLive Music by the Melon CollectiveView DetailsJoin us for CineSpin, the BAMPFA Student Committee’s annual event featuring terrific UC Berkeley student musicians providing original live accompaniment to great movies. This year Melon Collective plays with four films by Maya Deren.
Viridiana
Luis Buñuel
Spain, Mexico, 19614K Digital Restoration
Saturday, December 13 6:30 PMView DetailsViridiana (Silvia Pinal) dreams of becoming a nun until the attentions of her lecherous uncle change her path. Luis Buñuel’s irreverent vision of life as a beggar’s banquet is regarded by many as his masterpiece.
Such a Pretty Little Beach
Yves Allégret
France, 1949Digital Restoration
Thursday, December 18 7 PMJanuary 24 screening introduced by Polina BarskovaView Details“Marvelously photographed by Henri Alekan and arguably Gérard Philipe’s finest study of romantic despair” (David Thomson, Biographical Dictionary of Film).
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Lewis Milestone
United States, 1946Digital Restoration
Saturday, December 20 6 PMView DetailsThis masterful psychological noir thriller directed by Lewis Milestone stars a fiery Barbara Stanwyck. The screenplay by Robert Rossen is tight, tough, and cynical.
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Lewis Milestone
United States, 1946Digital Restoration
Saturday, January 10 4 PMView DetailsThis masterful psychological noir thriller directed by Lewis Milestone stars a fiery Barbara Stanwyck. The screenplay by Robert Rossen is tight, tough, and cynical.
Cairo Station
Youssef Chahine
Egypt, 19584K Digital Restoration
Sunday, January 11 4:30 PMView DetailsCombining Italian neorealism, Egyptian romanticism, and overheated film noir, Cairo Station is unlike anything anyone had seen in 1958, or indeed today. With short Cairo as Seen by Chahine.
Viridiana
Luis Buñuel
Spain, Mexico, 19614K Digital Restoration
Wednesday, January 14 7 PMView DetailsViridiana (Silvia Pinal) dreams of becoming a nun until the attentions of her lecherous uncle change her path. Luis Buñuel’s irreverent vision of life as a beggar’s banquet is regarded by many as his masterpiece.
Such a Pretty Little Beach
Yves Allégret
France, 1949Digital Restoration
Saturday, January 24 4 PMJanuary 24 screening introduced by Polina BarskovaView Details“Marvelously photographed by Henri Alekan and arguably Gérard Philipe’s finest study of romantic despair” (David Thomson, Biographical Dictionary of Film).
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1—Last Air in Moscow: Crackdown Chapters 1–3
Julia Loktev
United States, 2024Chapters 4–5 screen Saturday, February 14, 4:15 PM & Friday, February 27, 7 PM
Saturday, February 14 12 PMView DetailsHailed as one of the must-see documentaries of the last year. “A scary and riveting portrait of Russia’s last independent news channel” (Lauren Wissot, IndieWire).
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1—Last Air in Moscow: First Week of War Chapters 4–5
Julia Loktev
United States, 2024Chapters 1–3 screen Saturday, February 14, 12 PM & Thursday, February 26, 7 PM
Saturday, February 14 4:15 PMView DetailsHailed as one of the must-see documentaries of the last year. “A scary and riveting portrait of Russia’s last independent news channel” (Lauren Wissot, IndieWire).
Cairo Station
Youssef Chahine
Egypt, 19584K Digital Restoration
Saturday, February 21 4:30 PMView DetailsCombining Italian neorealism, Egyptian romanticism, and overheated film noir, Cairo Station is unlike anything anyone had seen in 1958, or indeed today. With short Cairo as Seen by Chahine.
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1—Last Air in Moscow: Crackdown Chapters 1–3
Julia Loktev
United States, 2024Chapters 4–5 screen Saturday, February 14, 4:15 PM & Friday, February 27, 7 PM
Thursday, February 26 7 PMView DetailsHailed as one of the must-see documentaries of the last year. “A scary and riveting portrait of Russia’s last independent news channel” (Lauren Wissot, IndieWire).
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1—Last Air in Moscow: First Week of War Chapters 4–5
Julia Loktev
United States, 2024Chapters 1–3 screen Saturday, February 14, 12 PM & Thursday, February 26, 7 PM
Friday, February 27 7 PMView DetailsHailed as one of the must-see documentaries of the last year. “A scary and riveting portrait of Russia’s last independent news channel” (Lauren Wissot, IndieWire).