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"The 14th UCLA Festival of Preservation offers a mixture of the ancient and the modern, silent masterpieces and sound diversions, fictional shorts and full-length documentaries. In addition to important American independent cinema, viewers will have the opportunity to see premieres of restored classic Hollywood films by many of the industry's greatest auteurs, including Josef von Sternberg, Fritz Lang, Joseph Losey, Frank Borzage, and Edgar G. Ulmer. We are particularly proud of our sole foreign film, GAMPERALI YA, the first independent film from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). It must be said that without crucial, ongoing financial support, our preservation and programming activities would, quite simply, come to a halt. All of our preservation work and public programs are funded by donations from government agencies, foundations, corporations, and individuals. We are thankful to those organizations and individuals who have given generously."—Dr. Jan-Christopher Hora, Director, UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Thanks to Media Sponsor PDX Pipeline.

Our annual sampling of the fascinating films coming out of Japan's vibrant film culture ranges from commercial box-office hits to cutting-edge independent work and anime
shorts. Alongside the films of such internationally heralded directors as Hirokazu Koreeda, Takeshi Kitano, and Yôji Yamada are works by emerging talents, including a selection of short films from the Sapporo Film Festival, presented in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Portland-Sapporo Sister City Association.

Presented by the Northwest Film Center and Japan-America Society of Oregon (JASO ). Sponsored by The Japan Foundation of Los Angeles, Delta Air Lines, Port of Portland, and Vanport International, Inc./Vanport Manufacturing, Inc. Co-sponsored by Folawn Alterman & Richardson LLP; Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University; Lynn Moyers & Sal Strom; Moss Adams LLP; Portland Japanese Garden; Portland-Sapporo Sister City Association; Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt; Summit Properties, Inc.; and The International School.

French film critics coined the term "noir" to epitomize the surprisingly bleak and pessimistic turn they observed in many American postwar films of the late forties and early fifties. Disillusionment and paranoid malaise were not, however, confined to the States alone; during this same period Great Britain turned out a number of films that are thoroughly evocative of the noir tradition yet maintain an unmistakable sense of British composure. Pitch black in form and content and rife with themes of fatalistic abandon, these films depict an underbelly of British society where decorum isn’t quite enough to suppress greed, deception, and murderous intent.

Since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, China has undergone a series of profound, ever-accelerating transformations spurred by experiments with a market economy and a more open approach to foreign investment and external cultures. In the last decade the consequences of these changes have dramatically impacted China and its place in the world. Concurrent with the Portland Art Museum’s CHINA DESIGN NOW exhibition, the Northwest Film Center continues to explore the perspectives of Chinese and western filmmakers whose works reflect on the broad currents of contemporary change in Chinese society. As China’s past and future collide, the works by these media artists provide unique insight into the social and aesthetic confusions, obstacles, and opportunities being navigated in the interstices between history, daily reality, and the future’s promises.

Most of the screenings are during the Museum’s open hours and are free with a Museum admission ticket. Film-only admission at regular prices.