Tuesdays at noon will feature unusual historical films in 16mm from the National Gallery's film department, including artists' portraits and exceptional educational films on topics from prehistory to the present. Now considered an endangered format, these 16mm prints are sometimes unique copies.

This May marks the fortieth anniversary of the notorious “May ’68” social revolution in France. It was a period of student unrest, activism, boycott, rebellion, and mayhem that set off changes in French society later felt around the world. These four films evoke, in ways both reflective and raw, the exhilaration and remonstration that marked May 1968.

The largest and most influential film studio in Russia, Mosfilm first opened its doors in Moscow in the early 1920s. From historical epics to musicals, propaganda films, and enduring classics by directors such as Mikhail Kalatozov, Mikhail Romm, Larisa Shepitko, and Andrei Tarkovsky, Mosfilm's contributions to film history have been beyond compare. Notable productions include Sergei Bondarchuk's monumental War and Peace, the most expensive film ever made, and Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, arguably the greatest film of all time. A selection of ten Mosfilm archival features from the 1920s through the 1950s is presented in June. More films from the 1960s through the present day will be shown in July, concluding with the 2007 Moscow International Film Festival grand prize winner. Organized in association with Envisioning Russia curators Alla Verlotsky and Richard Pena. A presentation of Seagull Films and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in cooperation with Concern Mosfilm. Special thanks to Karen Shakhnazarov.

The central cinematographer of Mexico's golden age of cinema, Gabriel Figueroa (1907–1997), played a key role in establishing the nation's visual heritage. A brilliant master of chiaroscuro, he developed a unique style based on his principle of “curvilinear perspective” that merged the latest Hollywood technique with the pictorial art of Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and Rufino Tamayo. Figueroa's commitment to Mexican national identity and his country's social issues remained firm: “My art has Mexican nationalism engraved everywhere.” He broke new ground and left an indelible mark on cinematography around the world. The Gallery's presentation of six restored 35mm prints is made possible through the cooperation of the Mexican Cultural Institute and Filmoteca de la UNAM. Special thanks to Ivan Trujillo, José Manuel Garcia, Linda Lilienfeld, and Pablo Gutierrez Fierro. An exhibition of Figueroa's work at the Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th Street NW, Washington, DC, will take place from November 2008 through January 2009. Gabriel Figueroa: Cinematographer is composed largely of still photographs, posters, and archival documents and is one of the most comprehensive retrospectives ever of the work of this Mexican artist.

Premiere of new organ score by Dennis James

English comedic actor Reginald Denny resettled in Hollywood when he was twenty-eight and immediately became a beloved star of many now-forgotten American comedies. In I’ll Show You the Town a poor young professor (Denny) is interrupted from his work on a book and becomes caught in a web of scandal and disgrace. Extricating himself with some fast-talking and high-stepping, in the end he finds his true love. Declared one reviewer in 1925, “There are situations here that defy anyone to keep a straight face.” (Harry A. Pollard, 1925, 35mm, 102 minutes) Dennis James live on theater organ. Print from the Stanford Theatre Foundation Collection at UCLA Film Archive.

Washington premiere of Santiago

Each year the National Gallery salutes the annual film showcase known as “The Flaherty Seminar,” a unique week-long forum named for American pioneering filmmaker Robert Flaherty. Now in its fifty-fourth year, the Flaherty brings together artists, filmmakers, writers, students, and scholars. Screenings are conceived around a specific theme, and critical discussions are always an important part of the blend. The Gallery's program consists of four works from the 2007 seminar held on the Vassar College campus. The overall theme was “South of the Other.”

Borom Sarret, a poetic day in the life of a poor cart driver, was the directorial debut for Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene. The deep roots of the worker's poverty are clearly related to corrupt politicians and colonialist practices. (Ousmane Sembene, 1964, French and Wolof with subtitles, 16mm, 20 minutes)

Santiago is the delicately layered portrait of a butler working in the filmmaker's home since childhood. Memory, history, identity, and filmmaking practice all come into play as the director himself provides context. (João Moreira Salles, 2007, Portuguese with subtitles, 35mm, 80 minutes)

Surviving Sabu depicts difficulties arising when a father and son debate issues of tradition and modernity surrounding an intriguing topic: the iconic Indian film star Sabu. (Ian Iqbal Rashid, 1997, English subtitles, Beta SP, 15 minutes)

Elephant Boy, the classic film based on “Toomai of the Elephants” from Kipling's The Jungle Book, features Sabu himself at the age of thirteen. Although seemingly about Sabu's rite of passage to adulthood, the film touches on questions of myth and colonialism. (Robert Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, 1937, 35mm, 80 minutes)

Washington premiere
Actress Julie-Marie Parmentier in person

Fourteen-year-old Nicholas, a foster child uncomfortable with elderly guardians, steals a book and a postcard showing the sea at Belle-Ile-en-Mer. He runs away, meets a young village prostitute called Charly, and experiences a rough coming-of-age. A fresh talent from France, Isild Le Besco (b. 1982) has directed four films and appeared in over thirty. Hailing from a long line of actors and filmmakers, she cast brother Kolia as young Nicholas and used brother Jowan as her cinematographer. (Isild Le Besco, 2007, French with subtitles, 35mm, 95 minutes)Julie-Marie Parmentier, the star of Charly, will discuss the film after the screening.

Bringing together various threads of exploration in the Bamiyan Valley, the film follows archaeologist Tarzi as he digs for a monastery that held a huge Bamiyan Buddha, archaeologist Sarianidi as he confirms whether gold treasures found underneath the presidential palace were in fact the missing Bactrian treasure, and Afghani artists and archivists as they recount stories about preserving works of art and film from impending devastation. (National Geographic Society, 55 minutes, 2006)

Tatsuya Nakadai in person

Natsume Soseki's satirical Japanese novel I Am a Cat spurred Kon Ichikawa to make a film version casting Tatsuya Nakadai in the starring role as a Tokyo teacher during the Meiji period. By turns madcap, meditative, and moving, the film follows not only the teacher's comings and goings, but also the divergent affairs of the local cat population. Toward the end, the teacher's cat politely shares his own perplexed opinion of his overseer and of humans in general. (Kon Ichikawa, 1975, Japanese with subtitles, 35mm, 116 minutes)

Actor Tatsuya Nakadai, legendary star of films by Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, Kon Ichikawa, and Mikio Naruse, is rivaled in reputation only by the late Toshiro Mifune as Japan's most iconic male star. One of the few actors known outside the country, Nakadai is also considered Japan's leading Shakespearean actor and, at 75, remains one of its most popular stage stars. Immediately following I Am a Cat, Mr. Nakadai will appear in person for an on-stage interview with Japanese film specialist Michael Jeck.

Special thanks to Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum, Tom Vick, and the Freer Gallery of Art.

One of the finest Hollywood studio renditions of Shakespeare, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Julius Caesar features not only a stellar cast—James Mason as Brutus, Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, and John Gielgud as Cassius to mention only three—but also a respectful and sensitive reading of the text that preserves the play’s dramatic rhythms. (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1953, 35mm, 120 minutes) Presented in association with the Shakespeare Theater Company’s stage production of Julius Caesar at the Harman Center for the Arts.