Critically Acclaimed Films this Spring at the Katharine Cornell Theatre...(scroll down please)


The Cats of Mirikitani

Saturday, June 7
at 8:00 p.m.

Katharine Cornell Theatre
Spring Street

$8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening

Watch the trailer - click here



A profoundly gripping film, with a cumulative impact that may well wipe you out.
---- Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

What begins as a straightforward docu on an elderly homeless artist in New York City winds up as an indictment of US internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII in Linda Hattendorf's startlingly timely "The Cats of Mirikitani".
--- Ronnie Scheib, Variety

Ms. Hattendorf's is truly and profoundly a "found film," and it is deeply moving enough to be fondly remembered at year's end - and long after.
--- Andrew Sarris, The Observer

"Make art not war" is Jimmy Mirikitani's motto. This 85-year-old Japanese American artist was born in Sacramento and raised in Hiroshima, but by 2001 he is living on the streets of New York with the twin towers of the World Trade Center still ominously anchoring the horizon behind him. What begins as a simple verite portrait of one homeless man will become a rare document of daily life in New York in the months leading up to 9/11.

The tales spill out in a jumble -- childhood picnics in Hiroshima, ancient samurai ancestors, lost American citizenship, Jackson Pollock, Pearl Harbor, thousands of Americans imprisoned in WWII desert camps, a boy who loved cats... As winter warms to spring and summer, she begins to piece together the puzzle of Mirikitani's past. One thing is clear from his prolific sidewalk displays: he has survived terrible traumas and is determined to make his history visible through his art.

2007 * 74 mins. * Documentary * Rated PG-13 * English & Japanese with English subtitles

Under Our Skin

Saturday, June 14
at 8:00 p.m.

Katharine Cornell Theatre
Spring Street

$8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening

Watch the trailer - click here


Producer-director-writer Andy Abrahams Wilson takes a creative, humanistic approach that makes the complex material dramatic and visually interesting.
--- Alissa Simon, Variety

"Wilson's careful study and expert storytelling provide a compelling, informative, and emotional experience of one of the most mysterious and important-but least discussed- diseases currently plaguing our country."
--- Aaron Dobbs, Tribeca Film Festival

"A very important and timely work, not to mention an extraordinarily cinematic piece."
--- Sky Sitney, Silverdocs AFI/Discovery Film Festival

In the early 1970's, a mysterious ailment was discovered among children living around the town of Lyme, CT. What was first diagnosed as isolated cases of juvenile arthritis, eventually became known as Lyme disease, an illness triggered by spiral-shaped bacteria, similar to the microorganisms that cause syphilis. Today, many of those untreated will suffer chronic debilitating illness. Some unknowingly will pass the disease on to their unborn children. Many will lose their livelihoods, and still others, their lives.

Yet Lyme disease is one of the most misunderstood and controversial illnesses of our time. Difficult to test accurately, tens of thousands of people go undiagnose- or misdiagnosed with such conditions as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, autism, MS and ALS. The Centers for Disease Control admits that more than 200,000 people may acquire Lyme disease each year, a number greater than AIDS, West Nile Virus, and Avian Flu combined. And yet, the medical establishment-with profound influence from the insurance industry-has stated that the disease is easily detectable and treatable, and that "chronic Lyme" is some other unrecognized syndrome or a completely psychosomatic disorder.

UNDER OUR SKIN is a powerful and often terrifying look not only at the science and politics of the disease, but also the personal stories of those whose lives have been affected and nearly destroyed. From a few brave doctors who risk their medical licenses, to patients who once led active lives but now can barely walk, the film uncovers a hidden world that will astound viewers. While exposing a broken health care and medical research system, the film also gives voice to those who believe that instead of a crisis, Lyme is simply a "disease du jour," over diagnosed and contributing to another crisis: the looming resistance of microbes and ineffectuality of antibiotics. As suspenseful and hair-raising as any Hollywood thriller, UNDER OUR SKIN is sure to get under yours.

2008 * 104mins. * Documentary * Not-Rated

DINNER & MOVIE NIGHT AT THE OUTERLAND, PRESENTED BY THE MV FILM SOCIETY

Across The Universe

Friday, June 20
at 8:00 p.m.

The Outerland
MV Airport Road

$8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members





Dinner & Movie begins with a casual pub-style menu prepared specifically for the occasion by OUTERLAND. Come early, dine cabaret style from 6-8 pm on the main dance floor.

FOR DINNER RESERVATIONS CALL 508-693-1137 ext.13

For those who would like to just drop-in for the film only, please try to arrive before 8 pm to find seating and grab a beverage either on the main floor or on the mezzanine level - a great vantage point to watch this dynamic film, taking great advantage of the Outerland's surround sound system and large stage screen.

Watch the trailer - click here



Across the Universe captured my heart, and I realized that falling in love with a movie is like falling in love with another person. Imperfections, however glaring, become endearing quirks once you've tumbled.
--- Stephen Holden, New York Times

[A] visionary attempt to wed a story of young love and 1960s war protest to the Lennon-McCartney catalog.
--- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The experience of the movie is joyous.
--- Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times



An original musical film, Across The Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock and roll. At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool.
A combination of live action and animation, the film is paired with many songs by The Beatles that defined the time.

Throughout the film, characters burst into classics from the Beatles: frat boys sing "With a Little Help from My Friends," while Uncle Sam bursts from a recruitment poster with strains of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." U2's Bono makes a cameo as a counterculture leader and croons "I Am the Walrus," and actor-comedian Eddie Izzard provides a trippy rendition of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite." Though the performances are strong, it's Taymor's gifted direction that makes ACROSS THE UNIVERSE so fascinating to watch. As in FRIDA and Broadway's THE LION KING, she proves herself an artist with creativity few can match.

2007 * 130 mins. * Feature * Rated PG-13

2008 Festival Dates - 11-14 September
Presenting over 50 films from 20+ countries

Presented by the Martha's Vineyard Film Society
Supported in part by a grant from the Martha's Vineyard Cultural Council, a local
agency of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

 

For additional information about the Martha's Vineyard Film Society or upcoming films, please contact Richard Paradise at 508-696-9369 or e-mail to rich@mvfilmsociety.com