Shhhh..Maddie’s Secret is finally sneaking its way to The Frida Cinema!

Comedian, writer, and actor John Early’s critically acclaimed directorial debut stars himself as Maddie, a plucky dishwasher who leaps to viral superstardom at a trendy food content creation company. While her life seems picturesque–complete with an adoring husband (Eric Rahill), ride-or-die best friend (Kate Berlant) and a cupboard full of woman-owned ethically-sourced chili crisp to boot–mounting professional pressures threaten to reawaken a hidden secret from her troubled past.

We’ve added encores of the enduring coming-of-age classic The Graduate!

Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), fresh out of college and disillusioned with life, finds himself stuck between his older lover, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and her daughter (Katharine Ross).

Both a biting satire of suburban conformity and a timeless portrait of youthful uncertainty, The Graduate captured the anxieties of a generation coming of age in a rapidly changing America. Revered for its star-making performance from Dustin Hoffman and elevated by the unforgettable music of Simon & Garfunkel, the film perfectly balances sharp comedy with genuine melancholy, a tone often imitated, but never replicated.

We are not alone.

We’ve added some Spielberg Summer encores of the Director’s Cut of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the director’s epically intimate Sci-Fi masterpiece!

After an inexplicable encounter with a mysterious object in the night sky, ordinary family man Roy Neary begins experiencing strange visions that consume his life and lead him toward a destiny he cannot understand. As reports of unexplained phenomena spread across the globe, Roy joins a growing search for answers that culminates in one of the most unforgettable finales in movie history.

Where many Sci Fi films imagine alien contact as a threat, Close Encounters of the Third Kind dares to imagine it as a miracle. Spielberg’s knack for groundbreaking visual effects with a deeply human sense of curiosity shine brightly here, paired, of course, with a brilliant score from the one and only John Williams. It’s a reminder of why we go to the movies in the first place.

An auteur emerges from America’s underclass.

From migrant farmworker to revolutionary artist, Luis Valdez changed American culture. His El Teatro Campesino performed on flatbed trucks and helped mobilize California’s farm workers. His Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. Despite critical rejection that killed the show’s New York run, he persevered, creating La Bamba, a blockbuster that brought Mexican-American life to a global audience.

Now in its 60th year, El Teatro continues to be a beacon for Latino creators. American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez is the first feature documentary about this American original, narrated by Edward James Olmos reprising his legendary El Pachuco role, featuring Cheech Marin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dolores Huerta, and Linda Ronstadt. The film weaves 4K-restored archival footage, including over 80,000 feet of deteriorating 1970s celluloid rescued and digitized for the first time, with the story of a man who proved that Chicanos have always been America.

Join us for a night of short films as we present a double feature of A Brief Mental Lapse with Mallory Kane and Saint Arcadia! 

6:30PM – Doors open!

7:00PM – A Brief Mental Lapse With Mallory Kane directed by Andrew Frescas!

7:10PM –  Saint Arcadia directed by Domino Martinez!

7:20PM – Q&A

A Brief Mental Lapse With Mallory Kane: A writer descends into chaos as she struggles to produce anything. She is on the brink of either brilliance or madness. Join her as she struggles with something every writer has experienced: the ferocious battle of writers block. 

Saint Arcadia: A girl signs up to be a part of a research group. The new drug called Moss, and it only has only one side effect…hallucinations.  

This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Calling all Deadheads! We’re screening the new documentary Summer Tour!

Few American demographics are more easily caricatured than Deadheads, those swirling, dosing, hippy-dressed vagabonds. But in his infinitely sweet and wise documentary, director Mischa Richter offers us the Deadheads as complex, self-aware and resourceful members of a wandering commune, one that’s admirable for its kindness and care.

Filmed across Dead & Company’s 2023 Goodbye Tour, the film is reminiscent of a classic American road movie and paints a tender portrait of one of the country’s last remaining countercultures. Following two young Deadheads as they follow the band from state to state, the film never shows the band performing but instead celebrates the fans who have kept their legacy alive for decades.