As we turn the corner towards the end of our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series, we’re celebrating one of the essential voices of contemporary queer cinema with a double feature from French filmmaker Céline Sciamma: Water Lilies + Tomboy.

Sciamma’s debut feature, Water Lilies, plunges into the charged world of teenage desire, where a sexual awakening can feel impossibly intense. When Marie befriends Floriane, the star of a local synchronized swimming team, she becomes fascinated by her new friend, even as Floriane’s complicated relationship with her own sexuality begins to blur the boundaries between admiration and desire.

Then, in Tomboy, Sciamma turns her gaze toward gender identity through the eyes of a ten-year-old child. After moving to a new neighborhood, Laure introduces herself to the other children as “Michaël,” beginning to navigate friendships, play, and first love while keeping her secret from her family. What begins as a simple childhood game gradually becomes a tender exploration of discovering who you might be.

Long before Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma was already making some of the most quietly radical films about queer desire and identity. This double feature is an exemplary early showcase of her extraordinary talent.

There will be a 10 minute intermission between the movies. One ticket gets you access to both films.

Plunging into the 1970s Berlin underground, this unforgettable portrait stands as one of the most harrowing films ever made about drug addiction. Based on the true story of Christiane Felscherinow, whose shocking memoir made her the face of a generation of troubled German youth, this bracing dramatization follows the alienated thirteen-year-old Christiane (Natja Brunckhorst) as she goes from popping pills to shooting heroin amid West Berlin’s infamous club scene. An instant cult sensation on account of its authentically grimy location shooting and electrifying soundtrack by David Bowie, Christiane F. (original title: Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo) remains a haunting vision of a young life in free fall.

As part of our Unsung 80’s Soundtracks series, we will be presenting Janus Films’ new 4K digital restoration, approved by director Uli Edel, featuring a new 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The soundtrack album is essentially a David Bowie compilation created around the film, rather than a conventional original film score. Bowie also recorded the German-language version of “Heroes,” “Helden,” specifically for the German market/film connection. Bowie also appears as himself in concert footage, and his music is deeply woven into the film’s atmosphere and Christiane’s obsession with him.

This film contains mature themes and intense subject matter that may be triggering for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.