Jul 14, Jul 15 & Jul 23; Holy Girls and Headless Women: The Films of Lucrecia Martel July 14, 2009

When:

Tue, Jul 14: 7:30 pm: La Ciénaga

Wed, Jul 15: 7:30 pm: The Headless Woman

Thu, Jul 23: 7:30 pm: The Holy Girl

What:

Holy Girls and Headless Women: The Films of Lucrecia Martel
Filmmaker in person Jul 14 & Jul 15
A founding filmmaker in the “New Argentine Cinema” movement, Lucrecia Martel has become a major figure in contemporary world cinema. With just three feature films, she has created a deeply complex and vivid aesthetic, using a kind of exquisite minimalism where images, sound and subtle gestures dominate over traditional dramatic narrative. Martel will present two of her three films in person, her startling, masterful first film La Ciénaga, and the local premiere of her mysterious, multilayered new work The Headless Woman.

La Ciénaga
Tue, Jul 14: 7:30 pm
Filmmaker in person
Mecha is a middle-aged woman with several accident-prone teenagers, a husband who dyes his hair, and the tedious problem of sullen servants. Nothing that a few drinks can’t cure. To avoid the uncomfortably humid weather, they spend their summers at their decaying country estate. Before long, the crowded domestic situation strains everyone’s nerves, exposing repressed family mysteries that threaten to erupt into violence. Like Luis Buñuel before her, Martel offers an unapologetic peek into the world of the decadent bourgeoisie. (2001, 102 min, 35mm)

The Headless Woman
Wed, Jul 15: 7:30 pm
Filmmaker in person
A bourgeois woman is driving alone on a dirt road, becomes distracted, and runs over something. In the days following this jarring incident, she is dazed and emotionally disconnected from the people and events in her life, and becomes obsessed with the possibility that she may have killed someone. Martel’s third feature examines the intricacies of class status and the role of women in a male-dominated society. (2008, 87 min, 35mm)

The Holy Girl
Thu, Jul 23: 7:30 pm
The Holy Girl is set in a decrepit hotel where a medical convention is being held. It poignantly captures the lives of two teenage girls, as they adjust to their growing sexuality and religious passion. After an encounter with a physician, one of the girls decides that she is going to deliver him from sin. After submitting to her wishes, the doctor realizes that no matter how irresistible the temptation, nothing is worth the evil it causes. (2004, 104 min, 35mm)

Who:

Films by Lucrecia Martel

Where:

Holy Girls and Headless Women: The Films of Lucrecia Martel – 701 Mission St., San Francisco CA 94103 – YBCA Screening Room

Public Info:

415-978-2787 or www.ybca.org
$8 regular; $6 students, seniors, teachers & YBCA members

Official Website: http://www.ybca.org