Ricky D’Ambrose Presents…
A curated capsule of films selected by award-winning American filmmaker Ricky D’Ambrose (The Cathedral).
"A few films have affected me at different times in my life, and that continue to have things to teach—and pleasures to give."
THE CATHEDRAL streams exclusively on MUBI from Fri Sep 9. Click here to view on MUBI.
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Hermia & Helena
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Matías Piñeiro • 2016 • Argentina-USA • Blends the whimsy of youth with the cadences of theatrical text.
Blending the whimsy of youth with the jocular cadences of theatrical text, Hermia & Helena weaves an ever-expanding web of relations entangling a young woman as she comes into ...
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La Sapienza
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Eugène Green • Italy-France • 2014
Alexandre and Aliénor live in Paris, in a state of stagnation—Aliénor feels her husband slipping away from her as he settles into a state of professional and spiritual malaise. The couple escape to Italy when Alexandre becomes inspired by the ...
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Little Stabs at Happiness
Ken Jacobs • United States • 1963 • Jacobs' poetic riff on the transformation of The Piper's Son.
In Jacob’s words—“Material was cut in as it came out of the camera, embarrassing moments intact. 100' rolls timed well with music on old 78's. I was interested in immediacy, a sense of ease, and a...
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Michael
Carl Theodor Dreyer • Germany • 1924 • An early Dreyer masterpiece.
Based upon Herman Bang's 1902 novel, Michael refashions the classical Greek myth of Jupiter and Ganymede into a love triangle between aging artist Zoret, his protagonist Michael, and Princess Zamikoff, an aristocratic femme fata...
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Nostalghia
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Andrei Tarkovsky • 1983 • Italy-Soviet Union • A sensory reflection of living in exile.
Shrouded in diaphanous textures of mist, fog, and rain, and blending memory and reality to the threshold of discernibility, Nostalghia evokes the distinct sensation of being elsewhere, far from...
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Tabu
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Miguel Gomes • Portugal • 2012 • A sumptuous, eccentric romance by a modern master.
Pilar is a middle-class woman, and devout Catholic, living in Lisbon. She has become something of a de facto daughter of Aurora, her imperious neighbor. When Aurora is hospitalized one day, she sen...
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The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaucescu
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Andrei Ujică • Romania-Germany • 2010 • A glimpse inside the mind of a narcissistic leader.
On Christmas Day, 1989, Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elsa, died by firing squad–the last people to be executed by the state. A brutal dictator, Ceaușescu had presided o...
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The Round-Up
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Miklós Jancsó • Hungary • 1966 • A hypnotic, dazzling vision of war.
Miklós Jancsó’s most renowned work depicts a prison camp in the aftermath of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. After the Hapsburg monarchy succeeds in suppressing Lajos Kossuth’s nationalist uprising, the army sets...
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Walden
Jonas Mekas • United States • 1969 • An epic and intimate document of 1960s New York.
A 27-year-old Lithuanian émigré sets out to film his life as it unfolds. In six reels, we encounter several chapters—including the 1960s New York arts scene, featuring many of the filmmaker’s friends: Stan Brak...
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Out 1 - Episode 1: From Lili to Thomas
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
Two theater troupes rehearse avant-garde versions of Aeschylus plays climaxing in a hypnotic warm-up exercise that unfolds like a clothed orgy. We meet Colin, a deadpan, deaf-mute busker, and Frédérique, a wayward young con artist.
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Out 1 - Episode 2: From Thomas to Frédérique
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
The outlines of a conspiracy begin to emerge as the mute busker begins receiving cryptic letters with references to Balzac and Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark. Meanwhile, theater rehearsals take an unsettling turn.
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Out 1 - Episode 3: From Frédérique to Sarah
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
The mystery of the enigmatic notes deepens as the busker learns about their connection to Balzac’s History of the Thirteen. Elsewhere, tensions flare up at rehearsals.
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Out 1 - Episode 4: From Sarah to Colin
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
The various strands of the story begin to intersect. The busker continues on his quest to uncover the source of the cryptic letters, while Frédérique is also inadvertently drawn into the conspiracy. Games — cops and robbers, chess, and cons — abound.
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Out 1 - Episode 5: From Colin to Pauline
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
Frédérique finds that blackmail doesn’t pay as she crosses paths with the busker who is now in love with Pauline — or is it Emilie? Meanwhile, a wild goose chase through Paris ensues when one of the productions is fleeced out of money.
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Out 1 - Episode 6: From Pauline to Emilie
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
Maps, symbols, codes, card games, and double meanings: the intrigue starts to accelerate.
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Out 1 - Episode 7: From Emilie to Lucie
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
Cracks in the conspiracy begin to appear and things really start to get trippy.
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Out 1 - Episode 8: From Lucie to Marie
Jacques Rivette • France • 1971
And then the narrative implodes...