Wings of Desire

Wim Wenders, 1987
PG-13; 128 minutes; German with English subtitles
 
Two angels glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population and providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed, but never interacting with them. When one of the angels falls in love with a lonely trapeze artist, he longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds—with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk (playing himself)—that it might be possible for him to take human form.

Charles Gaines

“I do believe that there is such a thing as intuition and there is such a thing as imagination. I just think these are concepts, that they’re culturally realized. What we come to understand is, knowledge and meaning are not pure products of our genius but are built into the structure where we reside.” —Charles Gaines, “Systems & Structures,” Art21 Extended Play, December 14, 2022

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, with Laura Phipps

“My work comes right from a visceral place―deep, deep―as though my roots extend beyond the soles of my feet into sacred soils. Can I take these feelings and attach them to the passerby? To my dying breath, and my last tube of burnt sienna, I will try.” —Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, quoted in Laura Phipps’s catalogue essay, “‘My Roots Extend’: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and the Landscape of Memory,” Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map (2023).

Priscilla

When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) meets Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, director Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla's long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.

Farewell, My Concubine

This new 30th anniversary uncut 4K restoration of Chen Kaige's 1993 much acclaimed, long out-of-print masterpiece chronicles the rise of two young stars of the Beijing Opera House, their turbulent relationship, and their ultimate downfalls. Beginning in 1924 and spanning nearly half a century, Farewell My Concubine's sumptuous narrative is interwoven with moments from some of the most troublesome times in modern Chinese history, including Japan's 1937 invasion through the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath.

R; 171 minutes; Chinese with English subtitles

Anatomy of a Fall

For the past year, Sandra (Sandra Hüller), her husband Samuel (Sann Arlaud), and their eleven-year-old son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) have lived a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether he was murdered or committed suicide. Samuel's suspicious death is presumed murder, and Sandra becomes the main suspect. What follows is not just an investigation into the circumstances of Samuel's death but an unsettling psychological journey into the depths of Sandra and Samuel's conflicted relationship.

Emmanuel Ramírez, Estudio MMX

“A new spatial contract should be devised; one that recognizes that public is not enough. ‘Public’ needs to become more collective, inclusive, and tolerant and that's what the studio has been exploring: spatial strategies to requalify territories into intensively collective realms. Places that extend the household scale into greater spatial and experiential opportunities; that embrace the contemporary tensions, conflicts, and confrontations; that propose alternative and inclusive urban life experiences. We believe collective is the new public.” —Estudio MMX statement

Jammie Holmes

“My work is partially my story, but it is everybody else’s story also, all in one. From Thibodaux to New York to California.” —Jammie Holmes, Marianne Boesky Gallery video for What We Talking About exhibition, 2022

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