2019 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Animation at Real Art Ways

One Week Only!
A special program featuring five shorts from the UCLA Archives gives new lustre to both the films’ visual quality and soundtracks.

Battle of the Century (1927)
The 2018 full restoration of the big pie fight film always excerpted but never seen in its entirety.

Berth Marks (1929)
This film features a restored Vitaphone soundtrack for the first time ever and has the boys trying to escape an irate husband through multiple train cars.

Brats (1930)
The famous Stan and Ollie playing dual roles as both the fathers and their young spoiled sons, also featuring restored Vitaphone sound.

Busy Bodies (1933)
This film has Laurel and Hardy working at a sawmill in a recipe for disaster!

Hog Wild (1930)
Witness the debacle on Hardy’s roof when he decides to install a radio antenna. This last film has been restored to its full aperture so you can see ALL the mayhem!

Masato, a young Ramen chef, leaves his hometown in Japan to embark on a culinary journey to Singapore to find the truth about his past.

He uncovers a lot more than family secrets and delicious recipes.

Director Eric Khoo says, “I have always been intrigued by food and the role that it plays in our lives. As the noted food historian Ben Rogers says, ‘Food is, after language, the most important bearer of cultural identity.’ I feel that what food signifies goes beyond that, it defines who we are and shapes the lives we lead. On top of that, I also think that food is a unifying force. It has the power to bring people together under the most mysterious circumstances.”

Film + Discussion

Post-film discussion with Matthew Dicks of Speak Up and Moth storytelling renown. Matt is also a New England Patriots season ticket holder.

This award-winning film explores the highly topical issues of media manipulation, science for hire, and perversion of the legal system…all through the lens of the Deflategate scandal.

Through interviews with attorneys, journalists, professors, and fans, FOUR GAMES IN FALL examines how accusations of deflated footballs became a national obsession. We go beyond the football to show that the tactics used by the NFL in this scandal are not unique, but are frequently replicated to manipulate public opinion, influence government regulation, muddy the waters around science, and unfairly impact the outcome of court cases.

Featuring interviews with NFLPA spokesperson George Atallah, New York Law School Professor Robert Blecker, Patriots Attorney Daniel L. Goldberg, MIT Professor John J. Leonard, Sports Illustrated Legal Analyst and UNH Law School Associate Dean Michael McCann, former ESPN reporter Jane McManus, Jim Morris, Editor of Pulitzer-Prize winning Center for Public Integrity, attorney Jonathan Ruckdeschel, Barstool Sports writer Jerry Thornton, and St. Mary’s Professor Andrew E. Wilson.

FOUR GAMES IN FALL is written and directed by Julie Marron (Happygram, 2015) and produced by Ami Clifford, Lila Kerns, Hellfire Films, and Rob & David Gomes. Executive Producer Kurt Redfield.

One Week Only | Four young Jews survive the Third Reich in the middle of Berlin by living so recklessly that they become “invisible.”

Hanni, Cioama, Eugen and Ruth. Four ordinary German youths trying to navigate the scarcities and prohibitions of Berlin at the height of World War II. They hailed from different social classes and different neighborhoods, but they shared a single common secret: they were Jews.

While Goebbels infamously declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943, 1,700 managed to survive in the Nazi capital.

Claus Räfle’s gripping docudrama traces the stories of four real-life survivors who learned to hide in plain sight.

Moving between cinemas, cafés and safe houses, they dodged Nazi officials and a dense network of spies and informants.

Yet their prudence was at odds with their youthful recklessness, prompting them to join the resistance, forge passports, or pose as Aryan war widows.

Masterfully weaving these story threads together, The Invisibles is a testament to the resourcefulness, willpower and sheer chance needed to survive against incredible odds.

93% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

From the team behind the genre-defying Embrace of the Serpent, comes an audacious saga centered on the Wayúu indigenous people during a crucial period in recent Colombian history.

Torn between his desire to become a powerful man and his duty to uphold his culture’s values, Rapayet (José Acosta) enters the drug trafficking business in the 1970s and finds quick success despite his tribe’s matriarch Ursula’s (Carmiña Martínez) disapproval.

Ignoring ancient omens, Rapayet and his family get caught up in a conflict where honor is the highest currency and debts are paid with blood.

A sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, Birds of Passage is a visually striking exploration of loyalty, greed, and the voracious nature of change.

On the remote New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, hunters are searching for the tusks of extinct mammoths.

There is a gold rush fever in the air. The price for white gold has never been so high.

The thawing permafrost not only releases precious ivory. The tusk hunters find a surprisingly well-preserved mammoth carcass. Such finds are magnets for high-tech genetic scientists.

They want to bring the extinct woolly mammoth back to life à la “Jurassic Park.” Resurrecting the mammoth is a first manifestation of the next great technological revolution. Man becomes Creator. Genesis two point zero.

A film about the secrets and mysteries hidden within nature and the fundamental difference in view of creation and the role of man in it.

Special Return Engagement

The world’s first fully oil painted feature film brings the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh to life in an exploration of the complicated life and controversial death of one of history’s most celebrated artists.

On July 27, 1890 a gaunt figure stumbled down a drowsy high street at twilight in the small French country town of Auvers.

The man was carrying nothing; his hands clasped to a fresh bullet wound leaking blood from his belly.

This was Vincent van Gogh, then a little known artist; now the most famous artist in the world.

His tragic death has long been known – what has remained a mystery is how and why he came to be shot.

Held Over
100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

There are 8,000 miles of roads and paths in New York City and for the past six years Matt Green has been walking them all – every street, park, cemetery, beach, and bridge.

It’s a five-borough journey that stretches from the barbershops of the Bronx to the forests of Staten Island, from the Statue of Liberty to Times Square, with Matt amassing a surprisingly detailed knowledge of New York’s history and people along the way.

Something of a modern-day Thoreau, Matt gave up his former engineering job, his apartment, and most of his possessions, sustaining his endeavor through couch-surfing, cat-sitting and a $15-per-day budget. He’s not sure exactly why he’s doing it, only knowing that there’s no other way he’d rather spend his days.

Executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg, The World Before Your Feet is a tribute to an endlessly fascinating city and the freedom to be found, wherever you live, in simply taking a walk.

Return Engagement
100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

“ENDEARING. A portrait of hobby turned obsession, a chronicle of a little-known subgenre of musical theater and an elegy for a period in midcentury America when company loyalty was, well, fun.” – Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times

When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.

Bizarre cast recordings – marked “internal use only” – revealed full-throated Broadway-style musical shows about some of the most recognizable corporations in America: General Electric, McDonald’s, Ford, DuPont, Xerox. Steve didn’t know much about musical theater, but these recordings delighted him in a way that nothing ever had.

Bathtubs Over Broadway follows Steve Young on his quest to find all he can about this hidden world. While tracking down rare albums, unseen footage, composers and performers, Steve forms unlikely friendships and discovers that this discarded musical genre starring tractors and bathtubs was bigger than Broadway.

With David Letterman, Chita Rivera, Martin Short, Florence Henderson, Susan Stroman, Jello Biafra and more.

Held Over
2019 Academy Award Nominee: Best Foreign Language Film
99% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

“A marginalised band of thieves living on the poverty-stricken fringes of Japan steals the show in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s masterly drama.” – The Guardian

After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces.

Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.

The first Kenyan feature to ever screen at Cannes Film Festival. Wanuri Kahiu’s stunning lesbian drama wins a landmark Supreme Court case, overturning the Kenyan Film Board’s ban and chipping away at Kenyan anti-LGBT legislation.

Inspired by Ugandan Monica Arac de Nyeko’s 2007 Caine Prize-winning short story “Jambula Tree.”

Bursting with the colorful street style & music of Nairobi’s vibrant youth culture, RAFIKI is a tender love story between two young women in a country that still criminalizes homosexuality.

Kena and Ziki have long been told that “good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives” – but they yearn for something more.

Despite the political rivalry between their families, the girls encourage each other to pursue their dreams in a conservative society. When love blossoms between them, Kena and Ziki must choose between happiness and safety.

Initially banned in Kenya for its positive portrayal of queer romance, RAFIKI won a landmark supreme court case chipping away at Kenyan anti-LGBT legislation.

Featuring remarkable performances by newcomers Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva, RAFIKI is a hip tale of first love “reminiscent of the early work of Spike Lee” (Screen Daily) that’s “impossible not to celebrate” (Variety)!

Director Wanuri Kahiu calls her style of filmmaking “Afro bubble gum art,” which she describes in an NPR interview: “We need to show images of Africans who are not dying, not in need of saving and living a joyous, thriving African life.”

94% on Rotten Tomatoes

Based on Haruki Murakami’s short story Barn Burning

Burning is the searing examination of an alienated young man, Jongsu (Ah-in Yoo), a frustrated introvert whose already difficult life is complicated by the appearance of two people into his orbit: first, Haemi (newcomer Jong-seo Jun), a spirited woman who offers romantic possibility, and then, Ben (Steven Yeun, The Walking Dead, Sorry to Bother You), a wealthy and sophisticated young man she returns from a trip with.

When Jongsu learns of Ben’s mysterious hobby and Haemi suddenly disappears, his confusion and obsessions begin to mount, culminating in a stunning finale.

– Starring Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, and Jeon Jong-seo
– Selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
– Selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.

At the age of 70, Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) makes an audacious escape from San Quentin, conducting an unprecedented string of heists that confound authorities and enchant the public.

Wrapped up in the pursuit are detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck), who becomes captivated with Forrest’s commitment to his craft, and a woman (Sissy Spacek), who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.

Explore the music written for the Magical Mystery Tour TV show, as well as the additional songs that appeared on the 1967 LP.

In 1967, The Beatles embarked on an ambitious project, writing and directing a one-hour film, Magical Mystery Tour.

The music written for the film is some of The Beatles’ psychedelic best. In Deconstructing The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, Mr. Freiman delves into the creative process behind “The Fool On The Hill,” “Blue Jay Way,” “I Am The Walrus,” and other selections from Magical Mystery Tour.  Scott will also “deconstruct” other songs from the Magical Mystery Tour album, including “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” and “All You Need Is Love.”

Scott Freiman is the creator of Deconstructing the Beatles, a series of multimedia presentations about the composition and production techniques of the Beatles. Mr. Freiman has presented his lectures to sold-out audiences at theaters nationwide and has spoken about the Beatles at colleges, universities, and corporations.

Golden Globe Nominee: Best Motion Picture – Animated

92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

From acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, Wolf Children) and Japan’s Studio Chizu comes MIRAI, a daringly original story of love passed down through generations.

When four-year-old Kun meets his new baby sister, his world is turned upside down. Named Mirai (meaning “future”), the baby quickly wins the hearts of Kun’s entire family.

As his mother returns to work, and his father struggles to run the household, Kun becomes increasingly jealous of baby Mirai… until one day he storms off into the garden, where he encounters strange guests from the past and future – including his sister Mirai, as a teenager.

Together, Kun and teenage Mirai go on a journey through time and space, uncovering their family’s incredible story. But why did Mirai come from the future?

An official selection at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, and the epic capstone of director Mamoru Hosoda’s career, Mirai is a sumptuous, magical, and emotionally soaring adventure about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are.

Voice actors: John Cho, Rebecca Hall, Daniel Dae Kim, Crispin Freeman.

While many of his peers were still playing with toy cars, Flynn McGarry was creating remarkable gastronomic delights at his home in Studio City, California.

Enjoying unwavering support from his mother Meg, an artist who documented every step of his distinctive journey, he devoted himself entirely to his creative passion. Flynn loved to prepare elaborate dinners for friends and family and soon became known as the “Teen Chef,” establishing his own supper club at age 12 and being featured in a New York Times Magazine cover story at age 15.

Before he was 16, he had staged in top restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, and Europe. But critics soon emerged who challenged Flynn’s rapid ascent in the culinary world, threatening to distract him from his dream.

Pairing Meg’s exhaustive home videos with intimate vérité footage, director Cameron Yates (The Canal Street Madam) creates a collage of Flynn’s singular focus and one-of-a-kind childhood. The result is a uniquely comprehensive portrait of a young star’s rise as seen from the inside.