Indian cinema boasts the most prolific output of any national film industry on the planet—its films, stars, and songs are beloved at home and by millions around the world, yet remains largely unknown to many audiences in the West. Often incorrectly referred to as “Bollywood” (a term which actually only applies to the Hindi cinema of Mumbai, one of many film production centers in the country), Indian cinema is much more than the “song and a wedding” fare typically referenced in Western pop culture. Blending the traditions of musical storytelling and popular myth with dozens of different genres—often all in the same movie—Indian cinema eschews easy classification and demands recognition for its diversity and vitality. This ten-film retrospective offers a primer on popular Indian cinema and a rare opportunity to celebrate these classic films as they are meant to be seen—big movies on the big screen. 

Sponsored by East India Co. Grill & Bar, Anjali School of Dance, and DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid. 

Welcome to our 33rd annual edition of Reel Music. We’ve been on the lookout all year for new works—and timely classics—to feature in our annual celebration of sound, music, and image. Whether your passion is jazz, blues, rock, soul, opera, classical, avant-garde—or anything in between—we hope you find something to discover and inspire you in this eclectic mix of the familiar and unknown. As always, our special thanks go to Music Millennium, Willamette Week, Walker, KINK.fm, MusicFestNW, All Classical Portland, PDX Jazz, XRAY.FM, KMHD, KBOO, PDX Pipeline, Oregon Music News, and Marmoset. 

Beginning with his key role within the coterie of German filmmakers who took flight in the 1970s, Wim Wenders has since become one of world cinema’s greatest directors— and possibly its most poetic. Following an extensive restoration project of Wenders’ best-known works and most sought-after rarities, the Film Center is pleased to present this 14-program retrospective. Wim Wenders: Portraits Along the Road features critically-acclaimed classics such as PARIS, TEXAS (1984) and THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977), while offering several long-unavailable films including Wenders’ feature debut, THE GOALIE’S ANXIETY AT THE PENALTY KICK (1974), and the complete five-hour director’s cut of the legendary UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD (1991). The series highlights the important ways in which Wenders’ career has been shaped by his long-standing collaborations—with the producer Peter Przygodda, the cinematographer Robby Müller, the novelist and screenwriter Peter Handke, and the actors Rüdiger Vogler and Bruno Ganz. Much like the rock ‘n’ roll bands Wenders so adored through his youth and adulthood, these recurring collaborators form something of a backing band to Wenders’ frontman. His films—best seen on the big screen in the company of family, friends, lovers, and strangers—offer a glimpse of hope in a time of strife, and are profoundly resonant in a time where cinematic poetry has come to inhabit an increasingly marginal role in our collective lives. 

Synopses adapted from Janus Films’ “Portraits Along the Road” tour website: janusfilms.com/wenders/. For notes on the restoration project, please visit wimwendersstiftung. de/en/digitization/. 

Special thanks to the Wim Wenders Stiftung and Janus Films for restoring these key works and coordinating the touring program. 

Our Northwest Tracking programs showcase the work of independent filmmakers living and working in the Northwest—Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington—whose work reflects the vibrant cinematic culture of the region. Whether presenting single artist retrospectives, new features, documentaries, or inspired collections of short works, Northwest Tracking offers testimony to the creativity and talent in our flourishing media arts community. Northwest Tracking is supported in part by the Oregon Cultural Trust. 

The Northwest Film Center and Portland’s premiere dance company, BodyVox, are pleased to partner in presenting the first annual Contact Dance Film Festival, a showcase featuring award-wining collaborations between filmmakers, dancers, and choreographers from around the world. Portland has long been a mecca for dance of all forms. With films from the Northwest and across the globe—and an entire program curated by filmmaker and frequent BodyVox collaborator Mitchell Rose--the Contact Dance Film Festival represents the latest evolution of an art form bursting with hybrid creativity. The screenings will take place at both the Bodyvox Dance Center, 17th and NW Northrup, and the Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. We hope you’ll hop between the two venues and that the series’ eclectic choices will get your 2016 off on just the right foot. 

The UCLA Film & Television Archive is, after the Library of Congress, the largest collection of media materials in the United States and ranks among the premier film preservation institutions in the world. The Archive’s annual preservation efforts—an ambitious, eclectic range of everything from lost silents to at-risk mid-century features, shorts, and documentaries—find new audiences in each year’s Festival of Preservation in Los Angeles and in the works selected for a smaller touring program. We are honored to present the 2015 UCLA Festival of Preservation program, a surprise-filled treasure trove sure to delight cinema lovers of many persuasions. “Forget Cannes, Sundance, even the Oscars: This is the cinematic event I look forward to most of all. That’s because no other movie festival comes close to it in the magnificent breadth of neglected but compelling American film material it puts on display. ”— Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times. Special thanks to Shannon Kelley, Head of Public Programs; Steven Hill, Circulation; Todd Weiner, Archivist; and Dr. Jan-Christopher Horak, Director, UCLA Film & Television Archive, for making these new 35mm preservation prints available. Program notes by Marty Rubin, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago. Additional notes are available in the Festival of Preservation Program catalogue (www.cinema.ucla.edu/programs/ucla-festival-preservation), which also includes additional information about the films and the Archive’s ambitious preservation efforts. 

The theme of our second Friday Film Club discussion series is PORTRAITS—literal, narrative, existential and cinematic. Friday Film Club screenings are presented monthly when the Portland Art Museum’s galleries are open late on Friday evenings. Each screening is accompanied by a post-film discussion led by Film Center staff and Art Museum docents, in which a work from the Art Museum galleries is utilized to spark dialogue and debate about the film. Special Admission: $5. 

Sponsored by Pacific University Master of Fine Arts in Writing.