Jacob Burns Film Center Announces Exciting Slate of Spring Events

The Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC), a nonprofit cultural arts center and one of the most successful suburban film houses in the country, announced today a variety of unique and compelling film series launching or re-launching this spring. Many of the film screenings also feature thought-provoking and engaging Q&As with renowned local and international filmmakers, cast members, and more.

One of those filmmakers is Julie Cohen, who will visit the JBFC in May for the opening of her highly-anticipated documentary RBG, fresh from its celebrated run at the Sundance Film Festival. Tickets will be available for this title beginning in mid-April.

From films that highlight the struggle for human rights around the world and revivals of retro Hollywood classics to a series examining the legacy of institutional racism, and one featuring documentaries on jazz icons paired with live performances, there is something for everyone to experience and enjoy this spring at JBFC.

Some highly anticipated events include:

o Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, This Living Hand and Other Essays) will introduce the film La Belle Noiseuse on April 15.

o Greenhouse 2018: Emerging Documentary Voices from the Middle East and North Africa - The Greenhouse Documentary Development Program nurtures emerging documentary filmmakers who are committed to representing their struggle for justice and freedom in the Southern Mediterranean region, including the Middle East, North Africa, and areas beyond.

o In celebration of the JBFC's 10th anniversary of the Jazz Sessions Series, American Jazz Guitarist and Vocalist John Pizzarelli will kick off opening night of Jazz Sessions 2018: Take 10 with a musical tribute to Antônio Carlos Jobim, followed by four more live performances throughout the month of May.

Other highlights of the spring season at JBFC include:

World Stage on Screen
March 22 - May 23
This series features the best of international theater and fine arts programming brought to the silver screen.
Performances include: live broadcasts of NT Live's Julius Caesar and Macbeth, Royal Opera House's The Winter's Tale, , and the Royal Opera House's Bernstein Centenary

Retro Revival
April 3 - May 29
This series represents the JBFC's renewed commitment to repertory programming, with a focus on rarely-screened titles and film projection. Each month, the JBFC presents remastered versions or high-quality prints of great films from the history of cinema, with titles we've always wanted to experience with a crowd, such as "Bergman Tuesdays" throughout the month of May. From Hollywood classics to more contemporary gems, Retro Revival gives moviegoers the opportunity to rediscover fantastic cinema on the big screen.
Films include: The Passion of Joan of Arc, Beat the Devil, Persona, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Autumn Sonata, Through a Glass Darkly

Global Watch: Crisis & Social Action
April 4
Global Watch is a year-round documentary series that untangles the stories behind the headlines, sheds light in dark corners, and introduces viewers to the people working to make the world a better place. This season, the series will feature Rahul Jain's debut documentary Machines-winner of the Special Jury Award for Cinematography at Sundance-which takes audiences into the labyrinthine passages of an enormous textile factory in Gujarat, India.
Films include: Machines

FrameWorks 2018: Art on Film
April 11-19
FrameWorks is a curated series of films about artists and their work, from the mysteries of Hieronymus Bosch's masterpiece to the Nazi obsession with art, plus Schnabel, Beuys, Cattelan, and more. Rounding out the series are a shorts program and a look back at La Belle Noiseuse, which Roger Ebert called "the best film about the physical creation of art," with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Edmund Morris.
Films include: Bosch: The Garden of Dreams, Beuys, Motion Pictures shorts program with artist Julian Kreimer, The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography, Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait, La Belle Noiseuse, Art and Oligarchs, Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back, Hitler vs Picasso and the Others: The Nazi Obsession for Art and Loving Vincent
Q&A's include: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris; Artist Julian Kreimer (Motion Pictures shorts program)

Greenhouse 2018: Emerging Documentary Voices from the Middle East and North Africa
April 22-26
The Greenhouse Documentary Development Program nurtures emerging documentary filmmakers who are committed to representing their struggle for justice and freedom in the Southern Mediterranean region, including the Middle East, North Africa, and areas beyond. JBFC Programmer Karen Sloe Goodman, along with Greenhouse Program Director Sigal Yehuda and Greenhouse Partner and Mentor Bruni Burres, are delighted to collaborate for the fourth year on five days of courageous and challenging films that highlight sexism, homophobia, and the struggle for human rights in these regions.
Films include: Braving the Waves, Brothers of Silence, 'Youth-in-Progress' - Greenhouse Artist-in-Residents' Showcase and Stronger than a Bullet
Filmmaker Q&A's include: Artist-in-Residence Hana Mire, Visiting Artist Ekin Çal???r. Greenhouse Director Sigal Yehuda

REMIX: The Black Experience in Film,Media, and Art
April 29
REMIX is a year-round series examining the legacy of institutional racism and the black experience in film, media and art. Featuring films that challenge perceptions, inspire dialogue, and celebrate the richness and breadth of cinema that is too often overlooked, this year's Remix series focuses on the accomplishments of black women, including their pivotal role in social justice movements of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Films include: Shorts Program: '63 Boycott & The Chicago Mixtape
Q&A's include: Q&A filmmaker Paola Piers-Torres with Professor of Media Studies and Film at The New School Michelle Materre;

Bergman Tuesdays
Every Tuesday through May
This series is a showcase of films by Ernst Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, writer, and producer who worked in film, television, theatre and radio.
Films include: Persona, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Through a Glass Darkly and Autumn Sonata

Jazz Sessions: Take 10 - Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Jazz Sessions: The Greats on Camera
May 2-30
JBFC celebrates a decade of Jazz Sessions by revisiting films from past years-The House of Tom, Chasing Trane, 1959: The Year That Changed Jazz, and Jazz on a Summer's Day-and introducing two new films on Django Reinhardt and Bill Evans. John Pizzarelli kicks off the series with a musical tribute to Antônio Carlos Jobim on opening night, followed by four more live performances throughout the month of May, all of which will introduce us to some of the exciting young innovators who carry on the jazz legacy and continue to reinvent the form today.

Jacob Burns Film Center is a nonprofit arts and education hub located on a three-building campus in the New York Metro area. The JBFC brings the transformative power of film to the surrounding community through unique programming and discussion, shared experiences, and educational initiatives. Since opening in 2001, over 3,000,000 people have enjoyed the best of current American and foreign cinema, unique film series, and special events at the five-screen theater complex. A pioneer in visual literacy education, the JBFC offers courses in filmmaking, screenwriting, animation, and more for students of all ages at our state-of-the-art Media Arts Lab, and develops media literacy curricula for schools throughout the region.