If you run, the beast catches you. If you stay, the beast eats you.

The second Volunteer Of The Month pick for August comes courtesy of Angel, who has chosen Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund’s 2002 masterpiece City of God! 

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

Few films burst onto the world cinema stage with the raw power of City of God. This electric crime epic remains one of the defining films of the 21st century, backing up its “masterpiece” designation with pure adrenaline and style.

Our first Volunteer of the Month pick for the month of August comes courtesy of Dorene, who has chosen to spotlight Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Mamma Roma!

Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, a middle-aged sex worker who attempts to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Filmed in the great tradition of Italian neorealism, the film offers an unflinching look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy, and highlights director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s lifelong fascination with the marginalized and dispossessed.

Though banned upon its release in Italy for obscenity, today Mamma Roma remains a classic, featuring a powerhouse performance by one of cinema’s greatest actresses and offering a glimpse at a country’s most controversial director in the process of finding his style.

The brand new 4K restoration of Luchino Visconti’s White Nights is coming to The Frida Cinema starting on August 14th! 

Marcello Mastroianni, as a lonely city transplant, and Maria Schell, as a sheltered girl haunted by a lover’s promise, meet by chance on a canal bridge and begin a tentative romance that quickly entangles them in a web of longing and self-delusion.

White Nights is an exquisite adaptation of Dostoevsky’s legendary novella, transforming this romantic, shattering tale of two restless souls into a ravishing black-and-white dream.

Silence affects everyone in the end.

The Piano is back on the big on the big screen in a stunning 4K restoration supervised and approved by writer-director Jane Campion and cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh.

Set in the rugged wilderness of 19th-century New Zealand, the film follows Ada McGrath, a mute Scottish pianist who is sent halfway across the world for an arranged marriage. Accompanied only by her young daughter and her beloved piano, Ada finds herself caught between duty, desire, and self-discovery in a story as emotionally overwhelming as the landscape that surrounds her.

Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and three Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Holly Hunter and Best Supporting Actress for Anna Paquin, The Piano is one of cinema’s most haunting and unforgettable romances ever made.