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“For all of his genre-bending on display, Kurosawa is interested in something more real and more dark about humanity’s capacity for greed and bitterness, and the quiet ways that the internet can further mutate those diseases in us.” – New York Times

“Unfolding at a hauntingly subdued register before unleashing its pent-up tension during its final act, director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud skewers the anonymity that characterizes our presence in online spaces.” – Chicago Reader

92% on Rotten Tomatoes

A stylish, subversive thriller from suspense-maverick Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Pulse), concerning Yoshii, an ambitious, yet directionless, young factory worker from Tokyo who side hustles in the murky realm of black market reselling, cheating buyers and sellers alike. After swindling his way into loads of cash, he becomes slowly disconnected to humanity, moving out of the city, shunning his girlfriend, and hiring a devoted assistant. After a series of mysterious, sinister incidents occur, he begins to suspect his former victims could be plotting the ultimate revenge.

A master of carefully simmering tension to a bloody crescendo, Kurosawa delivers a searing portrait of digital greed and vengeance.

Eleanor the Great

“June Squibb is brilliant in Scarlett Johansson’s feature directorial debut.” – Mashable

“This was a heartfelt, emotionally resonant story about the power of our lives and the capacity of our stories lingering on long after we’ve left this world. Take someone you love and see it.” – The Film Maven

“[Squibb’s] performance is her own story, and it’s enthralling and heartwarming.” – Austin Chronicle

After seventy years with her best friend, Eleanor moves to New York City for a fresh start. Making new friends at ninety proves difficult. Longing for connection, she befriends a 19-year-old student.

Griffin in Summer

“As a showcase for [Nicholas Colia’s] stellar casting abilities and knack for heartwarming storytelling, Griffin in Summer is a very fine feature directorial debut.” – IndieWire

“A really promising feature directorial debut… The casting is so spot on. It’s such a top-notch ensemble.” – FilmWeek (LAist)

“The writer-director Nicholas Colia infuses his feature debut with sensitivity and the sweet awkwardness of youth.”

– New York Times

94% on Rotten Tomatoes

Griffin Nafly (Everett Blunck) is the most ambitious playwright of his generation. He’s also fourteen years old and living with his parents in a humdrum suburb while dreaming of moving to New York City. When his mom (Melanie Lynskey) hires a handsome 25-year-old handyman (Owen Teague), Griffin’s life and his new play take an inspired turn.

The Roses

Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing — as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites. The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic film The War of the Roses, based on the novel by Warren Adler.

Eddington

“Your mileage will vary according to your stomach for this stuff, but I found myself breathless with giggles at times, sometimes the therapeutic laugh of recognition and sometimes because Aster has a keen eye for what’s most absurd about human nature.” – New York Times

“Aster’s vision of our simmering tensions and the grifters who profit from them is challenging and imperfect but never less than captivating.” – Detroit News

“Aster manages to spike tension without losing the reins over two-and-a-half hours thanks to the sharp cinematography by Darius Khondji, who has made us stir in our seats several times over in nerve-racking films such as David Fincher’s Seven (1995) and the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems (2019).” – Chicago Reader

In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.

From A24, the studio behind EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, UNCUT GEMS, MIDSOMMAR, MOONLIGHT, and more.

Sorry, Baby

“This is the kind of film that sneaks up on you, funny when least expected and affecting without being cloying. And it officially announces the arrival of Victor as a performer and filmmaker to keep on your radar.” NPR

“Tough, tender and observational, “Sorry, Baby” suggests that Victor’s promising career has been suitably launched. The best, with luck, is yet to come.” – Washington Post

“This is a diamond of a screenplay. Based on just those merits alone, “Sorry, Baby” is a tremendous artistic triumph on the healing power of friendship and queer relationships.” – San Jose Mercury News

97% on Rotten Tomatoes

Something bad happened to Agnes. But life goes on… for everyone around her, at least. When a beloved friend on the brink of a major milestone visits, Agnes starts to realize just how stuck she’s been, and begins to work through how to move forward.

The Last Class

American political economist, professor, author, and social media sensation Robert Reich worked under presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. He served as Secretary of Labor in President Bill Clinton’s cabinet, and as a member of President Barack Obama’s economic transition advisory board. Reich is known for his work on economic inequality and as a champion of public education and American democracy. He is one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals.

The Last Class is a nuanced and deeply personal portrait of Reich as he reflects on a period of immense transformation, personally and globally. It is also a love letter to education. The former Secretary of Labor might be famous for his public service, best-selling books, and viral social media posts, but he always considered teaching his true calling.

Now, after over 40 years and an extraordinary 40,000 students, Reich is preparing for his last class.

Throughout the film, Reich confronts the impending finality, and his aging with increasing candor, introspection, and, ultimately, emotion. He displays a rawness of feeling he has never shared publicly before. Drawing on his lifetime in politics, he uses his class, “Wealth and Poverty,” to offer a deeper look at why inequalities of income and wealth have widened significantly since the late 1970s, and why this poses dangerous risks to our society.

One thousand students fill the biggest lecture hall on the UC Berkeley campus, the last class to receive Reich’s wisdom and exhortations not to accept that the world has to stay the way it is. His belief in the next generation’s ability to take on the fight is inspiring.

Eye on Video: 2025 Film Showcase

 

Real Art Way’s youth filmmaking program, Eye on Video, concludes with a free public screening on Thursday, July 31, at 7 pm, featuring each high school student’s short films. The showcase films investigate a broad range of contemporary topics that are of personal interest to the young filmmakers.

Eye on Video has received generous support from The Common Sense Fund, Stanley Black & Decker, and the Gawlicki Family Foundation. Eye on Video provides teens with the opportunity to learn artistic skills from a Master Teaching Artist (the filmmakers at Hartford Film Company) and career-skills training to prepare them for today’s creative workplace. Each student also receives a weekly stipend, so they don’t have to choose between a quality arts education and a summer job.

The Real Art Ways film curriculum includes camera operation, scriptwriting, storytelling, composition, critique skills, and digital video production, which includes editing, sound design, and lighting design.

A filmmaker Q&A and reception will follow the screenings. All are welcome.

For more information about our education programs, contact Miller Opie at 860.232.1006 x129 or mopie@realartways.org.

 

Filmmaker Spotlight Series: Jordan Peele – Nope
The film will be followed by a conversation led by Dr. Brandon Ogbunu, an Associate Professor (Tenure) in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, and a Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Ogbunu is a computational biologist whose research investigates complex problems in epidemiology, genetics, evolution, and society.
As the founding director of the Yale Initiative for Science and Society, he runs a parallel research program at the intersection of science, society, and culture.  Brandon is currently an ideas columnist at WIRED and is the author of a column at Undark Magazine entitled “Selective Pressure.” He has written for a range of publications, including Scientific American, Quanta Magazine, The Undefeated, The Atlantic, the Boston Review, and several other venues.
Another special guest for this post-film conversation is Truth Powell. Truth Powell is a senior at Greater Hartford Academy Of The Arts. With a backround in Theater, Poetry, Music, and Photography, Truth found his love for cameras through the lens of a DSLR passed down through his family. Today, Truth writes and directs short films as his love for film continues to grow. Inspired by Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, and Spike Lee, Truth incorporates revolution and activism in much of his work. Truth was also a student apprentice during the Eye on Video program this summer at Real Art Ways.

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“Every genre Peele invokes is a flytrap for social meanings, and you can’t watch this cowboys-and-aliens monster movie without entertaining some deep thoughts about race, ecology, labor, and the toxic, enchanting power of modern popular culture.” – New York Times

“A wild but self-aware mashup of sci-fi and westerns…” – The New Yorker

“It’s extremely sophisticated, this film. And it’s very mysterious in its structure.” – Monocle

A man and his sister discover something sinister in the skies above their California horse ranch, while the owner of a nearby theme park tries to profit from the mysterious, otherworldly phenomenon.

Filmmaker Spotlight Series: Jordan Peele – Us
The film will be followed by a conversation led by Dr. Brandon Ogbunu, an Associate Professor (Tenure) in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, and a Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Ogbunu is a computational biologist whose research investigates complex problems in epidemiology, genetics, evolution, and society.
As the founding director of the Yale Initiative for Science and Society, he runs a parallel research program at the intersection of science, society, and culture.  Brandon is currently an ideas columnist at WIRED and is the author of a column at Undark Magazine entitled “Selective Pressure.” He has written for a range of publications, including Scientific American, Quanta Magazine, The Undefeated, The Atlantic, the Boston Review, and several other venues.
Another special guest for this post-film conversation is Truth Powell. Truth Powell is a senior at Greater Hartford Academy Of The Arts. With a backround in Theater, Poetry, Music, and Photography, Truth found his love for cameras through the lens of a DSLR passed down through his family. Today, Truth writes and directs short films as his love for film continues to grow. Inspired by Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, and Spike Lee, Truth incorporates revolution and activism in much of his work. Truth was also a student apprentice during the Eye on Video program this summer at Real Art Ways.

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“Fearsomely entertaining, consistently thought-provoking and occasionally bloody scary.” – Observer (UK)

“A sharp, often funny meditation on the terrifying power of human connection.” – The Atlantic

Even as the central characters are enveloped by doom, Peele provides a haunting image of a black family that is both unsuspecting and frighteningly unfuckwithable.” – Harper’s Bazaar

93% on Rotten Tomatoes

Accompanied by her husband, son, and daughter, Adelaide Wilson returns to the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen. Her worst fears soon become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon the house, forcing the Wilsons into a fight for survival. When the masks come off, the family is horrified to learn that each attacker takes the appearance of one of them.

Filmmaker Spotlight Series: Jordan Peele – Get Out
The film will be followed by a conversation led by Dr. Brandon Ogbunu, an Associate Professor (Tenure) in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, and a Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Ogbunu is a computational biologist whose research investigates complex problems in epidemiology, genetics, evolution, and society.
As the founding director of the Yale Initiative for Science and Society, he runs a parallel research program at the intersection of science, society, and culture.  Brandon is currently an ideas columnist at WIRED and is the author of a column at Undark Magazine entitled “Selective Pressure.” He has written for a range of publications, including Scientific American, Quanta Magazine, The Undefeated, The Atlantic, the Boston Review, and several other venues.
Another special guest for this post-film conversation is Truth Powell. Truth Powell is a senior at Greater Hartford Academy Of The Arts. With a backround in Theater, Poetry, Music, and Photography, Truth found his love for cameras through the lens of a DSLR passed down through his family. Today, Truth writes and directs short films as his love for film continues to grow. Inspired by Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, and Spike Lee, Truth incorporates revolution and activism in much of his work. Truth was also a student apprentice during the Eye on Video program this summer at Real Art Ways.

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“Peele seduces, subverts and manipulates audience expectations – as the masters Alfred Hitchcock, John Carpenter, and Stanley Kubrick did before him.” – IndieWire

“It’s a game-changer.” – Sydney Morning Herald

“By focusing the storyline on a particular form of racism — the kind that’s often disguised as peculiar envy — Get Out reveals something more insidious.” – Salon.com

“Beneath the beatific smile of 21st-century liberalism, Get Out finds the still grinning ghoulish skull of age-old servitude and exploitation unveiled during a rollercoaster ride into a very American nightmare.” – Observer (UK)

“Peele succeeds where sometimes even more experienced filmmakers fail: He’s made an agile entertainment whose social and cultural observations are woven so tightly into the fabric that you’re laughing even as you’re thinking, and vice-versa.” – TIME Magazine

98% on Rotten Tomatoes

Now that Chris and his girlfriend, Rose, have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries leads him to a truth that he never could have imagined.

Filmmaker Spotlight Series: Ang Lee – Eat Drink Man Woman

“This film is a perfect place to kick off our Filmmaker Spotlight: Ang Lee series because it highlights a central theme in all of Lee’s work: Finding meaning through human relationships. While the framework of Eat, Drink, Man, Woman is art (in this case, cooking) it is the familial relationships that are both fulfilling and confounding.” – Ian Ally-Seals, Film Programming Coordinator & Curator for this series

“This is a startlingly superior piece of craftsmanship, with the flavour of life and richness of the script conveyed via uniformly wonderful performances.” – Empire Magazine

“Eat Drink Man Woman may not just amuse and entertain you. It’s likely to make you very hungry, too-perhaps for more than food.” – Chicago Tribune

“Wonderfully seductive, and nicely knowing about all of its characters’ appetites.” – New York Times

“A spicy, well-written comedy about family, food and independence.” – San Francisco Chronicle

88% on Rotten Tomatoes

Master Chef Chu (Sihung Lung) is semi-retired and lives at home with his three unmarried daughters, Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang), a religious chemistry teacher; Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien Wu), an airline executive; and Jia-Ning (Yu-wen Wang), an employee at a fast-food joint. Life at the family’s house revolves heavily around preparing and eating an elaborate dinner every Sunday. The stability of these meals gives them all strength as they deal with new romantic relationships and disappointments.

A family gathers around a dinner table for an elaborate meal.

A family gathers around a dinner table for an elaborate meal.

Filmmaker Spotlight Series: Ang Lee – Hulk

“When discussing his approach to making Hulk, Ang Lee stated that he was, “attempting to make filet mignon from American hamburger.” You can see this approach in every frame of the film. Ang Lee dives deep into the comic book form, bringing everything from complex panel structure to epic themes onto the big screen. It is a quirky, playful experiment in adaptation. The film also has bombastic and thrilling fight scenes. It is the Hulk, after all.” – Ian Ally-Seals, Film Programming Coordinator & Curator for this film series

“An interesting effort to give one of the staples of mass entertainment something extra in the way of insight and feeling.” – Observer

“Where The Hulk excels is in Schamus and Lee’s almost academic attempt to reinvent the superhero movie according to the rules of its source material.” – Premiere Magazine

“A comic-book movie for adults, that, while it finally flies wide of its intended ‘classic’ mark, is shockingly ambitious in nearly everything it attempts…”- Austin Chronicle

Eric Bana (“Black Hawk Down”) stars as scientist Bruce Banner, whose inner demons transform him in the aftermath of a catastrophic experiment; Jennifer Connelly portrays Betty Ross, whose scientific genius unwittingly helps unleash the Hulk; Nick Nolte plays Banner’s brilliant father, who passes on a tragic legacy to his son; and Sam Elliott portrays the commander of a top-secret military research center.

Large green man-monster climbing uphill on the street in San Francisco

Large green man-monster climbing uphill on the street in San Francisco

Filmmaker Spotlight Series: Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain

Come early to check out 4Ever Vintage’s pop-up shop featuring Western wear inspired by the film! 4Ever will be onsite starting at 4pm on Saturday.

There will be a short intro and post-film conversation led by Ian Ally-Seals, film programming coordinator and curator for this series.

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“We conclude the Filmmaker Spotlight: Ang Lee series with one of his most influential films to date. Brokeback Mountain‘s compassionate and unblinking look at its same-sex love story cleared a path for queer focused cinema. Lee subverts expectations by casting Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, pulling nuanced performances from this movie star duo. Focusing on the raw emotional truth of the characters, Brokeback  Mountain tells a story that is moving and resonant. It is, in other words, an Ang Lee film.” – Ian Ally-Seals, Film Programming Coordinator & Curator of this film series

“[A] powerful and moving film, a smart study of relationships that could but can’t and never will be.” – Empire Magazine

“The whole movie is a rich, spacious, passionate way of showing, not telling, feelings that dare not speak their name — and doing so with superb intelligence and magnificent candour.” – Guardian

“Lee has taken a story of gay love and placed it where it should be — in the mainstream. He’s delivered a beautifully crafted film to boot.” – Time Out

“A film about love and the cost of lying that’s exquisite in its beauty, painful in its truths.” – Houston Chronicle

88% on Rotten Tomatoes

In 1963, rodeo cowboy Jack Twist and ranch hand Ennis Del Mar are hired by rancher Joe Aguirre as sheep herders in Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, Jack makes a drunken pass at Ennis that is eventually reciprocated. Though Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart, Alma, and Jack marries a fellow rodeo rider, the two men keep up their tortured and sporadic affair over 20 years.

Two cowboys embrace

Two cowboys embrace

Little, Big, and Far

“Feels spiritually nourishing in a way few films can manage.” – The New York Times

“You could just listen to it or just watch it, and have a great experience either way. With both, it feels transcendent.” – Nonfics

“Reflects the constant presence of the unknown in our lives as a reminder to seize solitude amid the bustle of everyday existence, to be quiet and still, to look up and consider the universe.” – RogerEbert.com

Austrian astronomer Karl is at a crossroads in his life and work. He finds his physicist wife growing distant and his job being reshaped by environmental crises as thoughts about science, fascism, and his grandson’s future spin above his head. After attending a conference in Greece, Karl decides not to return home and heads for a small island in hopes of finding a dark enough sky to reconnect with the stars. Abandoned at a remote mountain trail, he ascends and waits for darkness to fall.

In German and English with English subtitles

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (Opening Night Screening & Q&A)

This screening is presented in partnership with the American School for the Deaf, the first permanent school for the deaf in the United States and a nationally renowned leader in providing comprehensive educational programs and services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

On Friday, July 18, 7 pm, we will present the film, followed by a Q&A with Jeff Bravin, the Executive Director of ASD.

To attend this special screening event, we encourage you to purchase your tickets in advance.

Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria (4K Restoration)

In honor of Art House Convergence’s Art House Theater Day, we are offering RAW audiences a classic Fellini film for a one-time-only screening in our cinema.

Art House Theater Day (AHTD) is an annual program of AHC that brings audiences together to celebrate all that art house theaters – and independent film – contribute to our cultural landscape: ambitious and innovative art that provokes, challenges, entertains, and inspires. 2025 marks the 6th annual Art House Theater Day, which launched in 2016 in more than 150 cinemas across the country.

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Your ticket to the film includes a wine tasting event at 6:30 pm. Sample a selection of thoughtfully curated natural wines, inspired by the film, from the new natural wine shop in Wethersfield, Vino Crudo. Come early to try some new wines before going in to see the movie!

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“A deep, wrenching and eloquent filmgoing experience.” – The New York Times

Nights of Cabiria (Le notti di Cabiria) is a 1957 drama co-written and directed by Federico Fellini. The film features Giulietta Masina as Cabiria, a sex worker living in Rome. The film also stars François Périer and Amedeo Nazzari and is based on a story by Fellini, who expanded it into a screenplay along with his co-writers Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli , and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

In addition to the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for Giulietta Masina, Nights of Cabiria won the 1958 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This marked the second consecutive year that both Italy and Fellini won the award.

In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that “have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978.” The film is widely considered to be one of Fellini’s best works, as well as one of the greatest films of the 1950s.

In Italian with English subtitles

100% on Rotten Tomatoes

Materialists

“…a bold reshaping of the romcom.” – Arizona Republic

Celine Song’s sophomore feature stars Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans in an attractive love triangle.

Johnson plays a young New York City matchmaker whose lucrative business gets complicated as she finds herself torn between the perfect match (Pascal) and her imperfect ex (Evans).

The Life of Chuck

“This film feels like the coziest of blankets enveloping you in the theater. However, you should expect a few jolts of static electricity as you snuggle into that blanket. After all, this touching, beautiful film is based on a novella by Stephen King.” – Boston Globe

From childhood to adulthood, Charles “Chuck” Krantz experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

This screening is presented in partnership with the American School for the Deaf, the first permanent school for the deaf in the United States and a nationally renowned leader in providing comprehensive educational programs and services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

There will be a special Q&A with Jeff Bravin, the Executive Director of the American School for the Deaf, on opening night – Friday, July 18, after the 7 pm screening.

“An intimate and moving documentary that takes us through the legendary life of Marlee Matlin, uncovering a legacy of advocacy, activism, and perseverance.” – RogerEbert.com

“It’s as much about its form as its content; what it says is demonstrated by how it says it. The resulting film is engrossing — and it’s also profound.” – The NYT

“The result is an intimate portrait of a deaf artist who led a 35-year crusade for equity and inclusion in an industry that’s never quite known how to deal with her.” – NPR

98% on Rotten Tomatoes

Academy Award® winner Marlee Matlin recounts the winding road of her life and career as the most influential Deaf actor of her generation in this sublime 2025 American documentary film, directed and produced by Shoshannah Stern.

Marlee Matlin was born into a hearing family, like roughly 95% of Deaf people. Growing up in Illinois, she faced episodes of isolation and abuse. She found joy in performing at a local deaf theater. In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award and was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old. Reflecting on her life in her primary language of American Sign Language, NOT ALONE ANYMORE explores the complexities of what it means to be a trailblazer. As a child, filmmaker Shoshannah Stern was inspired to believe that a deaf woman like herself could pursue a career as an actor after seeing Matlin win her Oscar. Stern’s directorial debut is an intimate, honest, and loving conversation between two profoundly connected people that weaves together Matlin’s first-person account with interviews from those who know her best.

In American Sign Language and English, with English subtitles