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Pay tribute to one of cinema’s greatest auteurs with Friedkin Weekends, featuring four of William Friedkin’s finest films! Starting off as a director of television documentaries like The People vs. Paul Crump and shows like The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Friedkin made the transiton to the big screen with movies like The Birthday Party and The Boys in the Band. However, it was his fifth film, The French Connection, that first brought him widespread attention and his follow-up feature, The Exorcist, that cemented him as one of the most consequential directors working in cinema. Don’t miss your chance to see Friedkin’s gritty, thought-provoking films in the majestically cinematic experience they deserve.
To Live and Die in LA – Sep 8 – 10
Directed by William Friedkin | 1985
When his longtime partner on the force is killed, reckless U.S. Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William L. Petersen) vows revenge, setting out to nab dangerous counterfeit artist Eric Masters (Willem Dafoe). Along with his new, straitlaced partner, John Vukovich (John Pankow), Chance sets up a scheme to entrap Masters, resulting in the accidental death of an undercover officer. As Chance’s desire for justice becomes an obsession, Vukovich questions the lawless methods he employs.
The French Connection – Sep 15 – 17
Directed by William Friedkin | 1971
Alain Chanier (Fernando Rey) is a drug lord from Marseilles, France working on a big score – $32 million worth of 89% pure heroin to New York City. But his potential buyer – small-time hood Salvatore Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) – is being tailed by two undercover NYC cops, James “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Roy Scheider). The more Popeye and Cloudy dig, the closer they get to a showdown between police and mobsters at large.
Sorceror – Sep 29 – Oct 2
Directed by William Friedkin | 1977
Four men from different parts of the globe (Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou), all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain. The goal? Don’t blow up.
The Exorcist: 50th Anniversary – Oct 20 – 24
Directed by William Friedkin | 1973
12-year-old Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) begins to demonstrate an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn) becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith.
