Lost Films Of Covid

Our Lost Films Of Covid series kicks off with Pig, one of those rare films that still found light in a time of theaters going dark. Michael Sarnoski’s elegy of grief and grace follows a reclusive truffle hunter (Nicolas Cage, in one of his most effecting performances) as he searches for his stolen pig. The tagline is simple, but the story is so much more than revenge and spectacle. Returning to the big screen, it reminds us how cinema helps us feel human again.  Whether you've seen it since its release or have been waiting to watch it, come see Pig where it belongs--up on the big screen! Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.

A few years before winning multiple Oscars, filmmaker Sean Baker, like everyone else, was battling with releasing a film around the time of Covid. Our Lost Films Of Covid series is bringing back his 2021 wild ride through the backroads of Texas, Red Rocket, to the big screen. Simon Rex stars as a washed-up adult film actor returning to his Texas hometown with big talk, no plan, and a knack for burning every bridge he crosses. Just as tensions begin to ease, he becomes infatuated with a young doughnut shop worker named Strawberry. Shot on 16mm with Baker’s signature energy and empathy, Red Rocket captures the beauty and absurdity of people chasing something—anything—to keep going. Five years later, it plays like a snapshot of a country still struggling to sell The American Dream.  Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.

Our series on the Lost Films Of Covid is moving on to American auteur Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, a small story with an enormous heart.  In the rough Oregon Territory of the 1820s, a skilled cook and a Chinese immigrant form an unlikely partnership — baking sweet cakes with stolen milk and daring to imagine a better life. Shot with Reichardt’s signature patience and intimacy, First Cow finds poetry in the fleeting bonds of survival. Five years after theaters went quiet, it's a reminder that history isn’t written by conquerors, but by those who share what little they have. Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.

From Chinese filmmaker Diao Yinan (Black Coal, Thin Ice), The Wild Goose Lake is a sleek, moody neo-noir that is headlining our Lost Films Of Covid series. The story follows a gangster that ends up making a mistake that causes every gun on both sides of the law to point at him. While on the run, he comes across a mysterious woman who might get him out of trouble or make things worse. The Wild Goose Lake is a fatalist love sotry that's also a portrait of outcasts looking for a way out in a city that won’t stop closing in. Back in 2020, we streamed it online at our website during lockdown. But now is finally the time to see it on the big screen.  Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.

Natalie Erika James’ haunted house film Relic was near the top of our list of movies to play in 2020, but regretfully never made it to the big screen here. As part of our Lost Films Of Covid series, we are finally able to make good on that idea! When a daughter and granddaughter return to their family home to care for an aging matriarch, they discover that the real terror isn’t what lurks in the walls—it’s what’s slipping away inside them. Anchored by powerful performances from Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, and Bella Heathcote, Relic turns decay and dementia into a slow, aching metaphor for inheritance and love. Five years later after its initial release, it stands as one of the most affecting horror films of its era.  Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.

Our Lost Films Of Covid series is delving into many of the films that we wished we played on the big screen during the years of 2020 and 2021, but with The Painter And The Thief , we get to explore titles that weren't even on our radar at that time! When two of artist Barbora Kysilkova’s most valuable paintings are stolen from a gallery at Frogner in Oslo, the police are able to find the thief after a few days, but the paintings are nowhere to be found. Barbora goes to the trial in hopes of finding clues, but instead she ends up asking the thief if she can paint a portrait of him. This will be the start of a very unusual friendship. Over three years, the cinematic documentary follows the incredible story of the artist looking for her stolen paintings, while at the same time turning the thief into art. The Painter and the Thief asks whether understanding another person can ever truly heal them—or ourselves. We can't think of a better way to end our series on films of the Covid era that never got to be seen on the big screen. Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.

Wolfwalkers played at our pop-up drive-in in 2020, but now with our Lost Films Of Covid series, we can bring it to you on the big screen! In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when she saves a wild native girl, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy. Told with exuberant motion and striking watercolor design, Wolfwalkers is both a thrilling adventure and a heartfelt allegory about empathy and freedom. Don't miss a chance to see this beautifully animated film  on the big screen! Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.