Big Ears 2020 Film Lineup: Rare Experiments from International Auteurs
The Public Cinema at Central Cinema: ‘Varda by Agnès’
Bigger Than Big Ears: Public Cinema’s Month-Long Installation Program
By Andrew Swafford If Arts Knoxville’s film coverage has been a little quiet over the past couple months, it’s partly due to the fact that Public Cinema has been practically radio silent. After programming extensive slates of three-dimensional cinema…
Preview: The Historical Absurdism of ‘Zama,’ Courtesy of Public Cinema
By Andrew Swafford Zama was one of the most widely celebrated films of last year’s festival circuit, but early reviews gave an intimidating impression: it was sold as a challenging, masterful film by a challenging, masterful filmmaker. I’d argue…
Big Ears 2018 Review – Film Program Embraces Abstraction
Over the course of this year’s Big Ears Festival, I watched 11 feature films and 19 shorts. Only 5 of the films—all features—had what you might recognize as a narrative. As far as the others — “What was it about?”…
Big Ears 2018 – Additions to the ‘Immersive’ Experience Feature the Intersection of Music and Film
Anyone who has attended one of the previous Big Ears Festivals will vouch for the thought-altering qualities of the “immersive” experience. What does that even mean, you ask? There is something quite indescribable that takes place when one is drawn…
Preview: Roger Beebe’s Films for 1-8 Projectors, a Performance in Celluloid
Roger Beebe doesn’t just make short films–he performs them. Projectors are his instruments, and he lines up eight of them in the back of a theater in order to cast multiple distinct images on screen at once, stacking snippets of sampled celluloid to create a dizzying collage of movement and color.
Preview: Public Cinema Screens Korean Drama ‘On the Beach at Night Alone’
You need to know a little tabloid gossip before watching ‘On the Beach at Night Alone’: South Korean director Hong Sang-soo and star Kim Min-hee are apparently in love. Standing between them is a 21-year age difference, Hong’s wife of 30 years, and a scornful Korean press.
Preview: Public Cinema Screens Indie Comedy ‘Person to Person’ with Producer Q&A
‘Person to Person’, which plays in Knoxville this Wednesday thanks to The Public Cinema, is a New York character piece about crime and passion—but not in the way you might think.