UCLA theater offers wide variety of films

  UCLA Film and Television Archive "Great Lie," directed by
Edmund Goulding, is one of the many movies that will be screened
this fall by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

It’s not easy to find a theater in Los Angeles playing
movies such as a 1950s independent film by a renowned Italian
director, a Japanese director’s film of sexual exploration,
or an award-winning documentary on big tobacco companies.

But right here on campus in James Bridges Theater, the UCLA Film
and Television Archive will give Bruins the opportunity to see
unique films like these and others throughout the fall. The theater
continues to show a diverse selection of classics, foreign flicks,
silent films and other movies that are relatively unknown to the
area.

“Our general philosophy of programming is to bring films
to Los Angeles which wouldn’t be seen here otherwise,”
said David Pendleton, program coordinator for the archive.

This fall, the Film and Television Archive will feature major
programs centering around Italian director Ermanno Olmi, modern
Hong Kong action films and the legendary Japanese director Kon
Ichikawa. Each of these programs will consist of a series of films
and occasionally a chance for audiences to meet and talk with some
of the filmmakers.

“We’re obviously striving for diversity, so we try
to provide a diverse set of programs,” said Kelly Graml, head
of public affairs and marketing at the UCLA Film and Television
Archive. “This fall we’ve got Italian, we’ve got
Japanese, contemporary Hong Kong, silent films, a German American
director, and more.”

Aside from diversity and quality, convenience also played a role
in the selection of these particular series. Films by directors
Ermanno Olmi and Kon Ichikawa were both obtained as touring
packages put out by other companies.

“As in the case of Olmi, (Kon Ichikawa) was a touring
series … once again this is the opportunity now that these films
are in the country and available for a short window of time,”
Pendleton said.

“We’re obviously striving for diversity, so we try
to provide a diverse set of programs.” Kelly
Graml UCLA Film and TV Archive

Another special series, titled “Hong Kong Neon” will
showcase numerous Hong Kong action films, none of which have ever
been shown in Los Angeles.

“Even though we are here in the shadow of Hollywood, we
like to try and expose Los Angeles audiences to the kinds of
filmmaking that go on in a lot of other places,” Pendleton
said. “”˜Hong Kong Neon’ is a mini-festival, if
you will, of recent films to come out of Hong Kong.”

Along with these special programs, the Film and Television
Archive also has a number of ongoing series including
“Archive Treasures,” “Academy/Contemporary
Documentaries” and occasionally they organize free sneak
previews for upcoming films.

  UCLA Film and Television Archive The film "Victim" will
be screened in the James Bridges Theater later this fall. The
“Archive Treasures” for fall include a film by an
influence of Quentin Tarantino, Samuel Fuller. His 1963 film,
“Shock Corridor,” tells the story of a journalist who
hopes to catch a murderer by pretending to be crazy and enrolling
in a mental institution.

“”˜Archive Treasures’ is an ongoing series that
we have,” Graml said. “That’s where we recreate a
classic night at the theater by showing quality films and then we
present them in the way that people originally saw them. You went
to a theater and they built up the anticipation for the feature by
showing these other short things first.”

This fall, a free sneak preview of a highly anticipated animated
film, Richard Linklater’s (“Dazed and Confused”)
“Waking Life” will also take place at James Bridges
Theater.

“It looks more like painting than animation … There are
like 30 different animators, and each one is working in their own
style,” Graml said. “The film’s getting a lot of
attention, it’s very creative and it’s very ground
breaking. And it’s free!”

This fall, the UCLA Film and Television Archive will provide the
UCLA community with a wide variety of renowned films.

“I think it’s a great resource,” Graml said.
“It’s on the level of the Museum of Modern Art in New
York … and it’s right here in our backyard, and these are
films you can’t see anywhere else.”