Schedule of Events:

February 20, 2025

4:30pm: Film Treasures from The Ohio State University Libraries

Introduced by Tim Lanza and Sarah Hartzell, Ohio State Libraries

It is estimated that that The Ohio State University Libraries’ Special Collections hold tens of thousands of historic audiovisual items—many original or unique—on as many as 30 different formats. We’re thrilled to spotlight the library’s audiovisual preservation and digitization lab and the work that is done there to identify, preserve, and make accessible this massive amount of material. This program features works that have been digitized through an ongoing collaboration between the lab and the Ohio State Libraries’ Special Collections. It includes short films and excerpts about Columbus artist Elijah Pierce, computer animation pioneer Charles Csuri, footage of astronaut Alan Shepard following the first manned flight into space by an American, rare Antarctic expedition footage from the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, and more. (Program approx. 75 mins., DCP)

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7:00pm: Personal Belongings

(Steven Bognar, 1996)

A moving story of one family told against the backdrop of Eastern Europe’s political history from the codirector of the Oscar-winning American Factory.

The first feature-length documentary by Yellow Springs filmmaker Steven Bognar, Personal Belongings charts the odyssey of his father, Bela Bognar, a freedom fighter in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution who is adjusting to life in the American Midwest. The film follows the elder Bognar as he prepares to return to Eastern Europe for the first time in 40 years and the fallout this decision has on his family. We’re thrilled to present this new restoration almost 28 years after it first screened at the Wex! (63 mins., DCP)

Steven Bognar is best known for observational documentaries A Lion in the House (2006), The Last Truck (2009), and Academy Award-winner American Factory, all made with his partner, the late Julia Reichert. A Q&A with the director follows the screening.

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February 21, 2025

4:30pm: Hollywood in the News: Fox Movietone Newsreels

Introduced by Daniela Currò, University of South Carolina

We pull back the curtain on the Golden Age of Hollywood with this program of rare vintage newsreels.

Before televisions became a fixture in homes, newsreels allowed movie audiences to “see” news stories—world events, sports, entertainment—on a weekly basis. The Fox Movietone News Collection at the University of South Carolina Libraries contains seven million feet of nitrate motion picture film and four million feet of safety motion picture film documenting the national and global politics and culture from 1919 through 1934 and from September 1942 through August 1944. For this program, we spotlight newsreels that document three decades of classic films, glamorous stars, and unforgettable events from Hollywood's Golden Age. (Program approx. 75 mins., DCP)

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7:00pm: High Art

(Lisa Cholodenko, 1998)

A milestone in American independent filmmaking and for lesbian representation in film.

The first feature by Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, The Kids Are All Right), High Art follows Syd (Radha Mitchell), an ambitious junior editor trying to work her way up at a respected photography magazine. A leak in the roof of her apartment leads to a chance meeting with Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy), a renowned and reclusive photographer who has stopped making work, and her addict girlfriend Greta (Patricia Clarkson). The encounter represents a potential coup for Syd at her job, but it also opens the door to Lucy’s life lived at the edge. What begins as a close working relationship between the two women quickly becomes more intense. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress for Ally Sheedy. A Q&A with the director follows the screening. (101 mins., 4K DCP)

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February 22, 2025

12:30pm: Back From the Ink: Restored Animated Shorts

A program of newly restored, rarely screened treasures from animation’s Golden Age.

Back From the Ink is the first ever curated restoration of historically significant animated shorts from the 1930s to 1940s. This new restoration project was completed through an unlikely collaboration between Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and animator, director, and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. Highlights of the program include Betty Boop in So Does an Automobile, the charming George Pal Puppetoon Wilbur the Lion, the surreal Fleischer Studio’s The Fresh Vegetable Mystery, and much more! Don’t miss this chance to see these cartoon rarities on the big screen! (51 mins., DCP)

Program lineup:

Wilbur the Lion (George Pal, 1947)
An Elephant Never Forgets (Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, 1934)
The Three Bears (Mannie Davis & Connie Rasinski, 1939)
The Fresh Vegetable Mystery (Dave Fleischer and Dave Tendlar, 1939)
Peeping Penguins (Dave Fleischer and Myron Waldman, 1937)
Greedy Humpty Dumpty (Dave Fleischer and Dave Tendlar, 1936)
So Does an Automobile (Dave Fleischer and Roland Crandall, 1939)

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2:00pm: The Greeks Had a Word for Them

(Lowell Sherman, 1932)

For decades known mostly by its reissue title Three Broadway Girls, the bubbly comedy The Greeks Had a Word for Them follows three former showgirls who pool their limited resources to rent a luxurious apartment in New York. Their shared goal? To set themselves up by landing a rich man—by any means necessary. Starring pre-code icon Joan Blondell, this is one of only a few films with costumes designed by Coco Chanel. (79 mins., 4K DCP)

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4:00pm: Winter Kept Us Warm

(David Secter, 1965)

Introduced by David Marriott, cofounder of Canadian International Pictures

The indie film Winter Kept Us Warm may have been the first English-language Canadian film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, but it has remained in relative obscurity for many years. The film follows Doug (John Labow), a popular senior at the University of Toronto who takes shy freshman Peter (Henry Tarvainen) under his wing. Both have girlfriends, but as their friendship grows, Doug begins to develop especially strong feelings for Peter. Director David Secter had to keep the relationship at the center of the film ambiguous due to the era in which it was made, but when viewed today the tension is undeniable. A groundbreaking film in the development of Canadian cinema, Winter Kept Us Warm paved the way for other Canadian queer filmmakers such as John Greyson, Bruce LaBruce, and Patricia Rozema. Introduced by David Marriott, cofounder of Arbelos Films and Canadian International Pictures. (81 mins., 4K DCP)

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5:30pm: Cinema Revival Reception

Join fellow film enthusiasts and Cinema Revival guests for a reception in the lower lobby with complimentary appetizers and a cash bar. Connect with your fellow festival goers then stay for the screening of The Spook Who Sat by the Door, with special guests Doris Nomathandé Dixon and Heather Linville.

Cost: Free

7:00pm: The Spook Who Sat by the Door

(Ivan Dixon, 1973)

Introduced by Doris Nomathandé Dixon and Heather Linville, Library of Congress

In Ivan Dixon’s The Spook Who Sat by the Door, a white senator up for reelection hopes to curry favor with Black voters by creating a program to recruit African American agents into the CIA. The program, of course, is rigged to the point that none of the applicants have a chance of landing the job—except one. Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook), an undercover Black nationalist who plans to take full advantage of his training by returning to his inner-city Chicago neighborhood to train a guerilla army to fight for liberation and freedom. Dixon is best known from his role on Hogan’s Heroes and in the 1964 indie film Nothing But a Man. Dixon’s daughter Doris Nomathandé Dixon joins Heather Linville of the Library of Congress for a conversation about the film and its preservation following the screening. (102 mins., 35mm)

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February 23, 2025

12:30pm: The Walking Dead

(Michael Curtiz, 1936)

Introduced by Heather Linville, Library of Congress

The Walking Dead stars Boris Karloff as a wrongly convicted man who was framed for murder by gangsters and sentenced to death. Despite his innocence, evidence is discovered too late to save him from the electric chair. Sensing an opportunity to test an experimental procedure, a scientist implants his body with an artificial heart, bringing him back to life and allowing him to confront those who framed him. (66 mins., 35mm)

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2:00pm: Lifeboat

(Alfred Hitchcock, 1944)

In Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat, a group of survivors from German U-boat attack finds themselves stranded at sea—along with a suspicious crew member from the sub that destroyed their ship. Tensions mount as alliances shift and a power struggle ensues as the food and water begin to dwindle. How does Hitch pull off his trademark cameo in this one? Starring Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, and Walter Slezak; based on a story by John Steinbeck. (97 mins., 4K DCP)

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4:00pm: The Sealed Soil

The Sealed Soil follows a young woman living in a poor village who must prepare to move her household after a state-directed construction project is announced. Her life is one of repetitive monotony, made more insufferable by her family’s desire for her to submit to an arranged marriage. A tale of quiet feminist resistance, the film has never screened legally in Iran, and Nabili had to smuggle the footage out of the country and finished editing it in New York. (90 mins., 4K DCP)

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February 24, 2025

3:30pm: Camp de Thiaroye

Camp de Thiaroye tells the largely untold history of the Thiaroye Massacre. In 1944 the French army murdered of hundreds of Senegalese soldiers who were protesting their pay after they were drafted by France to fight the Nazis. Instead of being met with gratitude following their sacrifices during the war, the soldiers instead endured harassment, poor rations, and saw only a portion of the pay they were promised leading to an explosive act of resistance that ended in tragedy. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1988 Venice Film Festival. (154 mins., 4K DCP)

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Date: February 20-24, 2025

Location: Wexner Center for the Arts - 1871 North High Street Columbus, Ohio 43210

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