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Level 16

Starring: Katie Douglas, Celina Martin, Sara Canning

Having spent their entire lives trapped in a prison-like school, the teenage girls of Vestalis Academy must follow a strict educational system that enforces conforming to “The Feminine Virtues.” They are forced to follow the school’s rules for fear of extreme punishment – with the light at the end of the tunnel being adoption to a loving upper class family. Sixteen-year-olds Vivien and Sophia, who have reached the final level of the school are on the cusp of adoption, until they learn the horrifying truth about the academy.

Canadian filmmaker Danishka Esterhazy crafts a cold female-centric satire featuring striking imagery of a dystopian society. Loaded with charismatic performances, LEVEL 16 is an intense and cerebral experience like no other. Sure to get under your skin by the finale, Esterhazy will take you on a journey through the past, complete with characters named after classic Hollywood stars to express a sharp, feminist critique.

Knife + Heart

Starring: Vanessa Paradis, Kate Moran, Nicolas Maury

Known for productions like Anal Fury and Homocidal, successful gay porn producer Anne (Vanessa Paradis) takes her skin flicks as seriously as the most greatness-minded auteur would his or her own prestige dramas. But Anne isn’t the only one who’s infatuated with her company’s films—one by one, and in an exceedingly brutal fashion, someone is butchering Anne’s actors. As she tracks down the killer, Anne begins recreating the murders as part of an elaborate new project, all while losing track of what’s real, who’s dead, and who’s next on the chopping block.

Shot on 35mm and featuring a killer retro score from M83, Yann Gonzalez’s Knife + Heart is an ultra-stylish and blood-soaked ode to ’70s-era De Palma, Argento, and Friedkin. The kills are impeccably staged and gruesome, the performances are campy and spot-on, and the whodunit twists are relentless. Take note, slasher and giallo fans: This will be your new obsession.

Night of the Living Dead

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman

NEW YORK PREMIERE! New 35mm print struck from the 2016 4K digital restoration by MoMA and the Film Foundation, taken from the original camera negative and overseen by George A. Romero. Print courtesy Image Ten.

What can be said about George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead? Not only did it give birth to the modern notion of what a “zombie” is and provided a socio-political context in which we can view the zombie (and horror film as a genre) but it is also one of the most important films of the 20th century. A true case of underground filmmaking capturing the current climate, Night of the Living Dead shows what happens when seven strangers wind up in a barnhouse during the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. And while the dead are rising, it’s the alive ones they really have to worry about.

This screening features the new digital restoration by MoMA and The Film Foundation. Drawing upon the original camera negative, which was carefully guarded over the years by the members of Image Ten, the Pittsburgh partnership that originally produced it, MoMA and The Film Foundation have returned the film to its full, original glory.

Hour of the Wolf

Starring: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh

While vacationing on a remote Scandanavian island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.

Mandy

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Bill Duke, Richard Brake

Part of our recipe book series NITEHAWK CINEMA PRESENTS. Show your ticket at the bar after the movie to buy a copy of the book for only $20!

Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.

Mon Oncle

Starring: Jacques Tati, Jean-Pierre Zola, Adrienne Servantie, Lucien Frégis

Monsieur Hulot’s brother-in-law is the manager of a factory where plastics are manufactured. His nephew grows up in a house where everything is fully automated and the boy is raised in a similar fashion. To take away the influence of the uncle on his son, his brother-in-law gets Hulot a job in his factory.

I Stand Alone

Starring: Philippe Nahon, Blandine Lenoir, Frankie Pain

A horse meat butcher’s life and mind begin to breakdown as he lashes out against various factions of society while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

Kevin Geeks Out About David Cronenberg

Comedian Kevin Maher hosts a two-hour video variety show celebrating the work of David Cronenberg (Videodrome, A History of Violence, The Fly). The evening includes a close look at his early films, his television directing, his work as an actor and much more. It’s a night of body horror, transhumanist biomech and film footage that’s bold and bizarre. Long live the new flesh!

with special guests:

Amber Dextrous (from Kevin Geeks Out About Famous Monsters)

Matt Glasson (editor, filmmaker)

Bill Scurry (filmmaker and Podcaster)

Caroline Symons (writer, SUSAN VAGINAHANDS: ATTORNEY AT LAW)

Camila Jones (Mistress of Ceremonies)

Marcus Pinn (creator of Pinnland Empire website and co-host of the ZEBRAS IN AMERICA podcast)

plus John Cribbs & Christopher Funderburg (creators of the website ThePinkSmoke.com)

See why BestNewYorkComedy.com called the show “ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS IN NYC” and SyFy.com called Kevin an “insane genius.”

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise

Starring: Leo Morimoto, Mitsuki Yayoi, Aya Murata, Kazuyuki Sogabe, Minoru Uchida

“One of the most ambitious of all anime productions, a visually sensational two-hour extravaganza…” – Roger Ebert
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In a world eerily similar to our own, war between the Kingdom of Honneamise and its archrival, The Republic, seems inevitable. But even as the two nations’ rapidly evolving technology creates new ways to wage greater and more deadly forms of warfare, a small group seeks to use those same advances to propel mankind forward into the future and into space in their world’s first manned spaceflight program.
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FLCL

Starring: Jun Mizuki, Mayumi Shintani, Izumi Kasagi, Suzuki Matsuo, Kôji Ohkura

Naota Nandaba is an ordinary sixth grader living in a city where nothing amazing ever seems to happen. After his brother Tasuku leaves town to play baseball in America, Naota takes it upon himself to look after everything Tasuku left behind—from his top bunk bed to his ex-girlfriend Mamimi Samejima, who hasn’t stopped clinging to Naota since Tasuku left.

Little does Naota know, however, that his mundane existence is on the verge of being changed forever: enter Haruko Haruhara, a Vespa-riding, bass guitar-wielding, pink-haired psychopath whose first encounter with Naota leaves him with tire tracks on his back and a giant horn on his head. Though all he wants is some peace and quiet, when Haruko takes up residence at his parents’ home, Naota finds himself dragged into the heart of the greatest battle for supremacy that Earth—and quite possibly the entire universe—has ever seen.