Every January finds our programming team in New York City for the annual Arts Presenters Conference, putting the final touches on the upcoming season – and getting a number of our bigger programs lined up for 2 or 3 years down the road. I usually try and sneak into town a few days early, to reconnect with my hometown roots, see a museum show or opera or two, and almost always to check out one of the indie film theaters to catch a worthy flic. Very often that turns out to be a film that you will see at a “Focus on Film” screening, often a film that may have passed our region by during its wider release. Such a film is In the Fade.
As you know from this year’s series devoted to his films, I think the German Director Fatih Akin is a leading light in today’s world cinema. Until In the Fade opened in 2017, I thought that Edge of Heaven, which we screened last fall, was his masterpiece. Now I am not so sure – and indeed In the Fade walked away with a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2018.
This film concludes our "Focus on Film" series for this season, with a 2pm matinee on April 28th. This is a very, very intense and dark film, and one that is, perhaps unfortunately, very much of this moment in time. It grapples with Islamophobia, resentments against immigrants, terrorism, and neo-Nazis. Viewing In the Fade will be one of those times in the theater that is provocative and stimulating, moving and intense, and I think, in some ways, uplifting, but quite bleak as well. I very much hope you will see it and that it will strike you as deeply as it resonated with me – but do come prepared for a level of intensity that comes out of the art of a deeply committed and passionate director and cast.
This is a free event but requires tickets. For more information and to reserve tickets, CLICK HERE.