The Cape Ann Community Cinema at 21 Main Street in Gloucester will host two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker John Sayles and his partner, Maggie Renzi, on Wednesday, December 28th at 7:30pm. Sayles and Renzi will personally present their new film, “Amigo,” and stay for a Q&A after the film, hosted by local film producer Sarah Green.
This is the 17th feature film from Sayles, and it stars legendary Filipino actor Joel Torre as Rafael, a village mayor caught in the murderous crossfire of the 1899 Philippine-American War. When U.S. troops occupy his village, Rafael comes under pressure from a tough-as-nails officer (Chris Cooper) to help the Americans in their hunt for Filipino guerilla fighters. But Rafael’s brother (Ronnie Lazaro) is the head of the local guerillas, and considers anyone who cooperates with the Americans to be a traitor. Rafael quickly finds himself forced to make the impossible, potentially deadly decisions faced by ordinary civilians in an occupied country. A powerful drama of friendship, betrayal, romance and heartbreaking violence, ‘Amigo’ is a page torn from the untold history of the Philippines, and a mirror of today’s unresolvable conflicts.
Sayles’s past films include “Return Of The Secaucus 7” (1979), “The Brother From Another Planet” (1984), “Matewan” (1987), “Eight Men Out” (1988), “Passion Fish” (1992), “The Secret Of Roan Inish” (1994), “Lone Star” (1996), “Limbo” (1999), “Sunshine State” (2002) and “Honeydripper” (2007).
Tickets for this special event are $12.50, $10.00 for Cinema members, available at the Cinema or online at www.CapeAnnCinema.com.
Thursday the 22nd through Sunday the 25th at 5:00pm (plus a 2:30pm show on Sat. Dec. 24), the Cinema concludes its annual holiday tradition of “The Nutcracker,” this year featuring the Bolshoi Ballet’s presentation. Tickets are $15.00 adults, $12.50 for Cinema Members and $10.00 for children up to age 12. Tickets are available at the Cinema box office and on the Cinema’s website at www.CapeAnnCinema.com.
The main feature for Christmas weekend is “The Hedgehog,” the touching dramatic film based on Muriel Barbery’s best-selling novel about a morbid little girl and the unexpected friends she makes out of her neighbors in her luxury Paris apartment building. The film opens Friday the 23rd at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, with additional shows Sunday the 25th through Tuesday the 27th at 7:30pm, and Wednesday and Thursday the 28th and 29th at 5:00pm.
The full line-up for the week is as follows:
THURS. DEC. 22: Earthwork @ 2:30pm; The Nutcracker (Bolshoi) @ 5:00pm; Making The Boys @ 7:30pm
FRI. DEC. 23: The Hedgehog @ 2:30pm; The Nutcracker (Bolshoi) @ 5:00pm; The Hedgehog @ 7:30pm
SAT. DEC. 24: The Whale @ 12:00pm; The Nutcracker (Bolshoi) @ 2:30pm & 5:00pm
SUN. DEC. 25: The Nutcracker (Bolshoi) @ 5:00pm; The Hedgehog @ 7:30pm
MON. DEC. 26 & TUES. DEC. 27: Earthwork @ 2:30pm; Revenge Of The Electric Car @ 5:00pm; The Hedgehog @ 7:30pm
WED. DEC. 28: Revenge Of The Electric Car @ 2:30pm; The Hedgehog @ 5:00pm; Amigo (with John Sayles & Maggie Renzi Q&A) @ 7:30pm
THURS. DEC. 29: Revenge Of The Electric Car @ 2:30pm; The Hedgehog @ 5:00pm; Amigo @ 7:30pm
The Cinema’s schedule through January 31 is posted at www.CapeAnnCinema.com.