SEPTEMBER 12-Jan. 30: “Shulie” is a 37-minute experimental film by Elisabeth Subrin, a new sort of docudrama in which Subrin creates a shot-by-shot remake of a documentary about ’60s feminist Shulamith Firestone. The result should call into question the whole procedure of “direct cinema,” itself something of a ’60s phenomenon. The Jewish Museum (Fifth Avenue at 92nd St.). For information, go to www.thejewishmuseum.org or call (212) 423-3200.
17: “Leaves of Grass,” an off-beat comedy about rural Southern drug dealers with a bizarre Jewish connection, by Tim Blake Nelson (“The Grey Zone”), fell through the cracks when it opened early in the year, but the film is getting a much deserved second chance at the Village East Cinema (Second Avenue and 12th Street).
17-23: Lionel Rogosin’s ground-breaking documentary “On the Bowery” hasn’t been shown on a big screen in this city in a long time. Now Film Forum will be showing it in a brand-new 35mm print accompanied by a new film about its creation, directed by Rogosin’s son Michael. Film Forum (209 W. Houston St.).
22: “100 Voices: A Journey Home” chronicles a journey through Poland last year by a phalanx of top American cantors, who were there to pay tribute to the over 1300 professional cantors who were murdered in the Shoah. The result was a moving series of encounters between Jewish and Polish cultures as embodied by musical artists from both worlds. AMC Empire 25 (42nd Street near Eighth Avenue).
24: “Howl” is a first dramatic feature for award-winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, a recounting of both the firestorm that erupted around Allen Ginsberg with the publication of “Howl,” and the epochal obscenity trial that resulted. A great cast, from James Franco as the young poet to David Strathairn and Jon Hamm as the primary literary antagonists. And great buzz from Sundance 2010. Opens at Angelika, Clearview Chelsea and Lincoln Plaza theaters.
24-Oct. 10: The 48th annual New York Film Festival. Among this year’s promising programs are “Nuremberg” (as discussed above), and new films by Frederick Wiseman, Mike Leigh and Michael Epstein, but the most tantalizing offering of all may be “The Strange Case of Angelica,” the latest film from Portugal’s remarkable 102-year-old master Manoel de Oliveira. It’s a romantic comedy-drama about a Jewish photographer who becomes obsessed with a seemingly dead bride. Visit www.Filmline.com for movie info.
NOVEMBER 11-21: Now in its fourth year, the annual Other Israel Film Festival, one of the most consistently interesting programs of Israeli films, is going to expand its purview to include other ethnic minorities in addition to the state’s Arab citizens. The high quality of the first three years of this event is another indicator of how rich Israeli cinema has become in the past couple of decades. JCC in Manhattan (76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue). For information, go to at www.OtherIsrael.org or call (646) 505-5708.
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