New 35mm Essential Cinema Series, ‘Surrealist Love Goddesses’, Starts June 9

Our next Essential Cinema series, Surrealist Love Goddesses, begins June 9. Over the course of four weeks we will examine the bold, daring lives and careers of four of the most magnetic personalities ever to grace the screen. All screenings are 35mm. Watch the trailer!

First, on June 9, is G.W. Pabst’s bizarre, silent melodrama DIARY OF A LOST GIRL (1929), starring the luminous, non-conformist expat American actress Louise Brooks as a young woman who rejects the hypocritical double standards of the middle class.

The next week, June 16, Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong seizes the screen as a nightclub dishwasher who becomes the toast of London’s Soho district when she becomes a headlining entertainer in PICCADILLY (1929). This silent screening features live vinyl accompaniment by DJ Ms. 45s.

Then, on June 23, the iconic Greta Garbo stars as MATA HARI (1931), one of her most popular roles, and one that showcases her glamorous languor and idiosyncratic acting style to excellent effect.

Finally on June 30 there is Marlene Dietrich in Josef Von Sternberg’s high-kitsch masterpiece THE SCARLET EMPRESS (1934), perhaps the most decadent film ever made, and one that would deserve an ‘R’ rating even today.