"This Scandinavian import is a lavishly constructed true-to-life epic that stands among the most thrilling and accessible films of this year's Academy Award nominations." Simon Brookfield, We Got This Covered

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Max Manus co-directors Espen Sanberg and Joachim Rønning reteam for this sweeping adventure detailing Thor Heyerdahl's daring attempt to prove that early settlers from South America once populated Polynesia by sailing across the Pacific on a simple balsa wood raft. Rejected by every publisher he approaches to print his unusual thesis, Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen) eventually decides that the only way to prove it is to make the journey himself as the entire world watches.

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"What Linklater, Delpy and Hawke have achieved with their trilogy is at once fluidly cinematic and novelistic, with stories behind the stories and possible endings beyond the endings we're given." Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

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Before Midnight is an upcoming American romance drama film and the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). Like its predecessors, the film was directed by Richard Linklater. As with the previous film, Linklater shares screenplay credit with both actors from the movies, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

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"Loose, limber and driven by a fierce energy and staccato/pause rhythm we haven't seen previously from this filmmaker, Noah Baumbach's sublime "Frances Ha" is a fresh and vivacious near-reinvention of the director/writer's comedic milieu."  Rodrigo Perez - The Playlist.

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Frances lives in New York, but she doesn't really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she's not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren't really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness.

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Shakespeare by Joss Whedon!

"While you can sense the easy camaraderie and chemistry among the cast, the film doesn't coast on its homey goodwill. It's actually a very smart and disciplined adaptation of Shakespeare's play." Rob Thomas, Capital Times

Shakespeare's classic comedy is given a contemporary spin in Joss Whedon's film, "Much Ado About Nothing". Shot in just 12 days (and using the original text), the story of sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick offers a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love.

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"What Linklater, Delpy and Hawke have achieved with their trilogy is at once fluidly cinematic and novelistic, with stories behind the stories and possible endings beyond the endings we're given." Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune 

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Before Midnight is an upcoming American romance drama film and the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). Like its predecessors, the film was directed by Richard Linklater. As with the previous film, Linklater shares screenplay credit with both actors from the movies, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

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Special sneak peek before wide release! Presented by Gathr Previews. Tickets are purchased through 'Gathr' either individually at $10 or buy a Subscription and see all the preview series free. See more info on the Gathr website!

"The film is rich in poignant moments and negotiates its frequent shifts from violence to gentleness to sorrow with sensitivity." David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Skunk is 11, diabetic, and pretty cool. The summer holidays have just begun and her days are full of easy hopes. Then Mr. Oswald, the ugly man who lives opposite, beats up Rick, the sweet, but unstable boy next door and Skunk's innocence begins to be drained away at a speed and in a way she cannot control. Her home, her neighborhood, her school - all become treacherous environments where the happy certainties of childhood give way to a fear-filled doubt, and a complex, broken world fills her future. Skunk seeks solace in the last remaining place where she knows she can find it - the unspoken friendship with sweet, damaged Rick - and falls into a chaos where suddenly, joyfully, she has choice thrust back into her hands. The choice to remain in this place she was never promised, or to leave it entirely - to live or to die...

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"Pickford Film Center is thrilled to be a part of Gathr Previews, which brings back the excitement of being the first in the neighborhood to see great films on the big screen--before their wide release. Our film fans will have the opportunity to be local and national taste-makers." - Michael Falter, Program Director, Pickford Film Center  

Tickets are free, available only at the box office.

Pickford Film Center is proud to partner with ITVS and present screenings of select Independent Lens documentaries on the big screen as part of our dedication to community education and outreach.

Love Free or Die begins with the story of a man whose two defining passions are in conflict: his love for God and his love for his partner, Mark.

Gene Robinson is the first openly gay bishop in the high church traditions of Christendom. His consecration in 2003, to which he wore a bullet-proof vest, caused an international stir, and he has lived with death threats nearly every day since. Bishop Robinson refuses to leave the church that has taught for centuries it has no place for people like him. And he refuses to leave the man he loves, even though he has been taught it is God's will for him to do so. And of course he is not alone. Bishop Robinson lives in a nation and a world in which many are caught in this ultimate double bind.

The film shows how Robinson's witness leads to cultural change as his church moves from frozen to outspoken on the LGBT equality issue, and it leads to legal change as his state, New Hampshire, moves from voting against same-sex marriage to supporting it.

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Get tickets Tickets are free however online tickets will incur a .95 cent charge for non members.

Electric Shadow Films Presents.

Starring James McGrath & Evan Kubena. Directed by Nick Nielsen. An Electric Shadow Film, shot in location in the Pacific Northwest."

Challenging? Maybe. But if so, it’s a challenge this endlessly inventive filmmaking crew will more than meet. Dive in and make your own fake film preview or show up and spectate.

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Trailer Wars is a locally founded, ongoing film competition that challenges creative types of the area to create fake movie trailers based on a set of criteria. On screening night, a bewildered yet entertained audience watches the no-budget efforts and votes on a winner, who then states the theme for the following edition. Genres thus far include Musicals, Children's Fantasy, Westerns, and Unnecessary Sequels. The event is a nominal $2, which covers only basic overhead provided by PFC, usually runs for one hour, and often contains the equivalent of R-rated material. For more information or to see past submissions, visit or write us (trailerwars[at]gmail.com, youtube.com/trailerwars, myspace.com/trailerwars).

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This documentary focuses on two bartenders trying to achieve their dreams through the world of bartending. 

After being injured a Marine turns his goals to becoming a rock star bartender at the best cocktail bar in the world. A former bank executive who bought the corner bar in his hometown struggles to keep it afloat in a community that no longer values a place where everyone knows your name.

Featuring the most famous bartenders in the world along with unprecedented access to the most exclusive bars in New York City and commentary from Graydon Carter, Danny Meyer and Amy Sacco.

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"A deceptively light-hearted romp that blends English and Danish with a touch of Italiano, for a lively, likeable view of the complexities of life and love." Ed Gibbs, Empire Magazine Australasia

A hairdresser (Trine Dyrholm) who has lost her hair to cancer finds out her husband is having an affair, travels to Italy for her daughter's wedding and meets a widower (Pierce Brosnan) who still blames the world for the loss of his wife.

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The sublime Barbara Sukowa reteams with director Margarethe von Trotta (Vision, Rosa Luxemburg) for her brilliant new biopic of influential German-Jewish philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt. Arendt's reporting on the 1961 trial of ex-Nazi Adolf Eichmann in The New Yorker-controversial both for her portrayal of Eichmann and the Jewish councils-introduced her now-famous concept of the "Banality of Evil." Using footage from the actual Eichmann trial and weaving a narrative that spans three countries, von Trotta beautifully turns the often invisible passion of thought into immersive, dramatic cinema.

An Official Selection at the Toronto International and New York Jewish Film Festivals, Hannah Arendt also co-stars Klaus Pohl as philosopher Martin Heidegger, Nicolas Woodeson as New Yorker editor William Shawn, and two-time Oscar Nominee Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) as novelist Mary McCarthy.

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Dates are subject to change. 

"A gory and funny riff on the trusty standby of city kids being menaced by rural types, "100 Bloody Acres" reps a promising feature debut for Aussie brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes." Richard Kuipers, Variety

100 BLOODY ACRES is the story of brothers Reg and Lindsay Morgan’s struggling organic blood and bone fertiliser business. The use of dead car crash victims in their product has been a huge boon to business, but it’s been months since their last find and an important new customer is waiting on a delivery. When Reg Morgan (Damon Herriman), the junior partner in the business, comes across two guys and girl stranded on a remote country road, he sees a radical solution to their supply problems, and a way of finally gaining the respect of his bossy big brother, Lindsay (Angus Sampson). But things don’t quite go to plan when Reg starts to fall for Sophie…

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"By spicing up a complex morality tale marked by sophisticated themes with down and dirty back stabbing and betrayals, the movie turns corporate malfeasance into a spy game that is entertaining without being dumbed down." Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

THE EAST is a suspenseful and provocative espionage thriller from acclaimed writer-director Zal Batmanglij and writer-actress Brit Marling (who stars as former FBI agent Sarah Moss). Moss is starting a new career at Hiller Brood, an elite private intelligence firm that ruthlessly protects the interests of its A-list corporate clientele. Handpicked for a plum assignment by the company's head honcho, Sharon (Patricia Clarkson), Sarah goes deep undercover to infiltrate The East, an elusive anarchist collective seeking revenge against major corporations guilty of covering up criminal activity.

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Hitchcock on DCP!

Jonathan Marlow, co-founder and Chief Content Officer for FANDOR, comes to Bellingham to provide insight into Hitchcock's Rope (and share a short film that you don't want to miss).

"The film is so chilly you could ice champagne in it or place it around a silver serving dish of fresh caviar. It really is the "stunt" that Hitchcock calls it in "Hitchcock," Francois Truffaut's series of interviews with him, but it looks far more interesting now than either Hitchcock or Truffaut thought 20 years ago. And, once you get in touch with its dated speech rhythms, even its archness is acceptable.

"Rope" is not merely a stunt that is justified by the extraordinary career that contains it, but one of the movies that makes that career extraordinary. "I really don't know how I came to indulge in ("Rope")," Hitchcock said almost apologetically to Truffaut, though he then went on to describe exactly why he did:Hitchcock was interested in seeing whether he could find a cinematic equivalent to the play, which takes place in the actual length of time of the story. To do this, he decided to shoot it in what would appear to be one long, continuous "take," without cutaways or any other breaks in the action, though in fact there would have to be a disguised break every 10 minutes, which was as much film as the camera could contain." Vincent Canby

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Fantastic Stan, a traveling salesman who rides on a flying vacuum cleaner, must travel to Hell to rescue his kidnapped parents from the Devil himself.

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Come see this classic adventure on our amazing new equipment!

The last good Indiana Jones movie is back! Nazis make better villains than space aliens, anyway...

Interesting Tidbits:

Sean Connery and Harrison Ford wore no trousers during the shooting of the entire Zeppelin sequence (mainly because it was filmed in a very hot studio and Connery didn't want to sweat too much).

During the Castle Brunwald rescue, Dr. Jones Sr. expresses dismay at Indy inadvertently bringing the diary into enemy hands saying that he "should have mailed it to The Marx Brothers". Harpo Marx revealed in his autobiography that he once really had to smuggle a journal of important documents out of Russia to keep them from falling into enemy hands.

Sean Connery was only 58 at the time of filming (and only 12 years older than Harrison Ford).

"The filmmakers remain admirably unbiased, a rarity in biographical documentaries. They neither worship nor vilify their subject, but allow her to define herself on her own unapologetically complex terms." Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

Venus and Serena takes an unfiltered look into the remarkable lives of the greatest sister-act professional tennis has ever seen. In a sport where they were not welcomed, the indomitable Williams sisters faced the opposition with grace and courage not only breaking new ground for female and African American athletes everywhere, but dominating the women's game for over a decade. The film tells the inspiring story of how these two women, against all odds, but with the help of visionary parents, made it to the top. Venus and Serena also explores the struggle of these two aging superstars during the 2011 tennis season as they battle life and career-threatening health problems. In Venus and Serena we gain unprecedented access into the sisters' lives - both in the spotlight and behind closed doors - and we watch as they draw their greatest strengths from one another to overcome countless adversities.

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Dates are subject to change. 

"A sprawling, ambitious, major work -- a gripping exploration of power, personality, technology and the crushing weight that can come to bear on those who find themselves in its combined path." Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

Filmed with the startling immediacy of unfolding history, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney’s WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS details the creation of Julian Assange’s controversial website, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history. Hailed by some as a free-speech hero and by others as a traitor and terrorist, the enigmatic Assange’s rise and fall are paralleled with that of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the brilliant, troubled young soldier who downloaded hundreds of thousands of documents from classified U.S. military and diplomatic servers, revealing the behind-the-scenes workings of the government’s international diplomacy and military strategy. 

In seeking to expose abuse in the corridors of power, Assange and Manning were undermined by forces within and without, as well as by their own human failings. WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS is a riveting, multi-layered tale about transparency in the information age and our ever-elusive search for the truth.

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Angela was adopted as an infant from Chattanooga, TN, under the terms of a 'closed' adoption. As an African-American raised by a Caucasian couple in Bellingham, WA, she had a confused sense of identity while growing up. As Angela grew older it became apparent that the unanswered questions about her birth story would continue to haunt her if she did not attempt to find the answers. This documentary follows Angela over two years during her search, leading her back to Chattanooga to come face to face with her birth mother, and meet family members who never knew she existed.

Q&A with Angela Tucker (Subject) and her husband Bryan Tucker (Director) after the film! 

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Leopold Classic Series feat. Carole Lombard

Senior admission is $5, Free for Leopold residents and staff

In Warsaw at the beginning of WWII, Maria Tura (Lombard) and husband Joseph (Jack Benny) perform anti-Nazi plays with their theater troupe until they are forced to switch to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Lt. Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack) falls for Maria and meets up with her during Joseph's famous "To Be or Not to Be" speech as Hamlet. When Stanislav is eventually dispatched for war, he implicates Maria with Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges), who has a secret plan to destroy the Warsaw resistance. The Polish theater troupe is then forced to use their theatrical skills to ensure their survival. Eventually, they turn to impersonating Nazi officers -- and even Hitler himself -- in order to outwit the enemy and keep the resistance safe from spies. 

Interesting Tidbits:

Ernst Lubitsch directs the 1942 political satire classic To Be or Not to Be, which marked the final screen appearance of comedienne Carole Lombard.

To Be or Not to Be opened to a controversial release in 1942, when the U.S. was still very much involved in WWII.

It was remade in 1983 starring Mel Brooks and real-life wife Anne Bancroft. 

"Nearly 20 years after Interview With the Vampire, Neil Jordan returns to the genre to breath some new life into a mythology that has grown stale, predictable and rather mopey (see Twilight)." Rich Cline, Contactmusic.com

Two mysterious women seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. Clara meets lonely Noel, who provides shelter in his deserted guesthouse, Byzantium. Schoolgirl Eleanor befriends Frank and tells him their lethal secret. They were born 200 years ago and survive on human blood. As knowledge of their secret spreads, their past catches up on them with deathly consequence.

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PFC and Village Books Present... Writers in the Limelight:
On-screen Author Talks & Interviews

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The Things They Carried “belongs high on the list of best fiction about any war....crystallizes the Vietnam experi-ence for everyone [and] exposes the nature of all war stories.” (New York Times)

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Rocket Sci-Fi Matinee

Admission: $2

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Filmed not long after the launch of Russia's Sputnik satellite, First Man Into Space benefited from a surface realism made possible by enhanced public knowledge of space-travel jargon and paraphernalia. Dashing astronaut Lt. Dan Prescott (Bill Edwards) disappears from view when his experimental spacecraft vanishes in a mysterious cloud...

Interesting Tidbit:

The pilot in the stock footage sequences is Chuck Yeager.

"With its sprawling satire and knockabout tone, 'I'm So Excited' is the closest Almodóvar has come in years to early romps like 'Labyrinth', 'Pepi, Luci, Bom' and 'What Have I Done to Deserve This?'" Ben Walters, Time Out

A technical failure has endangered the lives of the people on board Peninsula Flight 2549. The pilots are striving, along with their colleagues in the Control Center, to find a solution. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque characters who, in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could be summarized in two: sex and death.

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Dates are subject to change.

"One of this decade's most important and most harrowing documentaries, The Act of Killing is a shattering take on the nature of evil." Jason Gorber, Twitch

This documentary challenges former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

Anwar Congo and his friends have been dancing their way through musical numbers, twisting arms in film noir gangster scenes, and galloping across prairies as yodelling cowboys. Their foray into filmmaking is being celebrated in the media and debated on television, even though Anwar Congo and his friends are mass murderers. Medan, Indonesia. When the government of Indonesia was overthrown by the military in 1965, Anwar and his friends were promoted from small-time gangsters who sold movie theatre tickets on the black market to death squad leaders. They helped the army kill more than one million alleged communists, ethnic Chinese, and intellectuals in less than a year. As the executioner for the most notorious death squad in his city, Anwar himself killed hundreds of people with his own hands.

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A once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness two of Russia's greatest singers performing in their homeland.

Anna Netrebko is one of the world's most highly regarded opera singers. Acclaimed baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky appears regularly on the world's greatest stages. Appearing for the first time together in Red Square, Netrebko and Hvorostovsky will perform for one night only in front of an audience of 7500 people. The exciting program will include popular arias and duets from some of the world's best-loved operas, including Tosca, Eugene Onegin, and Il trovatore. The two Russian singers will be accompanied by conductor Constantine Orbelian, Russia's State Academic Symphony Orchestra 'Evgeny Svetlanov' and a large chorus. Director Frank Hof (whose work includes the memorable Anna Netrebko, Placido Domingo, and Rolando Villazon performance at Berlin's Waldbuhne), will faithfully capture every detail of the event with its stunning backdrop of Red Square, using 18 high definition cameras and 5.1 cinema surround sound.

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Rocket Sci-Fi Matinee

Admission: $2

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A group of 18th-century scientists, led by Dr. Murdock, have remained young after all these centuries by using electricity to suck the life out of young women. If one of the scientists misses a treatment, his skin hardens to the toughness of stone. A female prisoner discovers why so many of her fellow inmates are disappearing, and attempts to stop them with the aid of a prison psychiatrist.

Interesting Tidbit:

Columbia Pictures released this film on a double bill with The Dead That Walk with the tag line: "Warning - This is the Most Shocking Horror Bill Ever Shown!"

There was a time, as recently as the 1980s, when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade.

In 2010 filmmakers Faythe Levine, coauthor of Handmade Nation, and Sam Macon began documenting these dedicated practitioners, their time-honored methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship. Sign Painters, the first anecdotal history of the craft, features stories and photographs of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States. With a foreword by legendary artist (and former sign painter) Ed Ruscha, this vibrant book profiles sign painters young and old, from the new vanguard working solo to collaborative shops such as San Francisco’s New Bohemia Signs and New York’s Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals.

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Rocket Sci-Fi Matinee

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The city is stricken by a wave of self-mutilations performed by beautiful women who seem to be in a hypnotic trance. The authorities suspect a stage hypnotist with a popular act, but the stakes are raised when the hypnotist sets his sights on the girlfriend of the detective investigating the case. What is the hypnotist's secret, and why does it seem to involve his beautiful assistant?

Interesting Tidbit:

The actresses on stage were actually falling into hypnosis. They had been hypnotized earlier and given post-hypnotic triggers that would cause each of them to drop into a trance on cue. The hypnotist was standing off camera and gave each girl a cue that would trigger the suggestion.