Starring: Brinsley Forde, Karl Howman, Trevor Laird, Brian Bovell, Victor Romero Evans, Archie Pool

Never-before released in North America, Franco Rosso’s incendiary Babylon had its world premiere at Cannes in 1980 but was banned that same year for “being too controversial, and likely to incite racial tension” (Vivien Goldman, Time Out). Raw and smoldering, it follows a young dancehall DJ (Brinsley Forde, frontman of landmark British reggae group Aswad) in South London as he pursues his musical ambitions, battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbors, police, and the National Front. Written by Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia) and shot by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges (The Killing Fields) with beautifully smoky cinematography that has been compared to Taxi Driver, Babylon is fearless and unsentimental, yet tempered by the hazy bliss of the dancehall set to a blistering reggae and lovers rock soundtrack featuring Aswad, Johnny Clarke, Dennis Bovell and more.

Starring: Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Moises Arias, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Parminder Nagra, Claire Forlani

Stella Grant (Haley Lu Richardson) is every bit a seventeen-year-old… she’s attached to her laptop and loves her best friends. But unlike most teenagers, she spends much of her time living in a hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. Her life is full of routines, boundaries and self-control — all of which is put to the test when she meets an impossibly charming fellow CF patient named Will Newman (Cole Sprouse). There’s an instant flirtation, though restrictions dictate that they must maintain a safe distance between them. As their connection intensifies, so does the temptation to throw the rules out the window and embrace that attraction. Further complicating matters is Will’s potentially dangerous rebellion against his ongoing medical treatment. Stella gradually inspires Will to live life to the fullest, but can she ultimately save the person she loves when even a single touch is off limits?

Starring: Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura

Kenji is a teenage math prodigy recruited by his secret crush Natsuki for the ultimate summer job – passing himself off as Natsuki’s boyfriend for four days during her grandmother’s 90th birthday celebration. But when Kenji solves a 2,056 digit math riddle sent to his cell phone, he unwittingly breaches the security barricade protecting Oz, a globe-spanning virtual world where millions of people and governments interact through their avatars, handling everything from online shopping and traffic control to national defense and nuclear launch codes. Now a malicious AI program called the Love Machine is hijacking Oz accounts, growing exponentially more powerful and sowing chaos and destruction in its wake.

Starring: Kana Kita, Yû Aoi, Miki Fukui

Budding genius Aoyama is only in the 4th grade, but already lives his life like a scientist. When penguins start appearing in his sleepy suburb hundreds of miles from the sea, Aoyama vows to solve the mystery. When he finds the source of the penguins is a woman from his dentist’s office, they team up for an unforgettable summer adventure!

Starring: Yasuo Yamada, Eiko Masuyama, Kiyoshi Kobayashi

The directorial debut of Studio Ghibli founder and Academy Award winning Hayao Miyazaki, The Castle of Cagliostro is a rousing caper starring comic book super-thief Lupin III, who’s out to steal the secret behind the world’s greatest counterfeiting ring, which lies deep in bowels of an impenetrable fortress on the island nation of Cagliostro.

The job gets complicated when he finds that the nation’s crooked regent, The Count, has kidnapped the royal family’s only remaining heir with the intent to marry her and solidify his claim to power. Never one to leave a girl in harm’s way, Lupin and his crew attempt to infiltrate the castle to save the girl, as well as cop a career-defining payday. All that stands in their way are trap doors, lasers, steel-reinforced ninja kill squads, and Lupin’s long-time rival, Interpol police officer Zenigata.

Loaded with wonderfully animated car-chases and shoot-outs, plus a slick 60’s motif, The Castle of Cagliostro is one of the most fun, romantic and exciting animated adventure movies ever put to film, an undersung gem in Miyazaki’s storied career.

Starring: Toshio Furukawa, Scott Weinger, Yuka Imoto

If the title sounds familiar, it is… but different. Metropolis (Metoroporisu) is an retro-futurist anime film loosely based on the 1949 manga, Metropolis, that was inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 classic silent film Metropolis. Got it? The film draws extensively from both sources, as well as from a century’s worth of science fiction classics, for a vision of the future that’s uniquely its own.

Taking place in a super-city teeming with humans and robots alike, the story follows a young boy out to find a mysterious robot girl. Out to find the secret behind her creation, trouble pops up for the pair when they uncover a dark secret that cuts to the core of the city’s ruling class.

A technical marvel, Metropolis was created by stars in the field: renowned anime director Rintario, Akira creater Katsuhiro Otomo (scriptwriter), plus powerhouse animation studios Madhouse studios and Tezuka Productions.

Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Ellen Corby, Henry Jones

Dismissed when first released, later heralded as one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films (and, according to Hitchcock, his most personal one), this adaptation of the French novel D’entre les morts weaves an intricate web of obsession and deceit. It opens as Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) realizes he has vertigo, a condition resulting in a fear of heights, when a police officer is killed trying to rescue him from falling off a building. Scottie then retires from his position as a private investigator, only to be lured into another case by his old college friend, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore).

Elster’s wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), has been possessed by a spirit, and Elster wants Scottie to follow her. He hesitantly agrees, and thus begins the film’s wordless montage as Scottie follows the beautiful yet enigmatic Madeleine through 1950s San Francisco (accompanied by Bernard Herrmann’s hypnotic score). After saving her from suicide, Scottie begins to fall in love with her, and she appears to feel the same way. Here tragedy strikes, and each twist in the movie’s second half changes our preconceptions about the characters and events.

Starring: Steve Bannon, Nigel Farage, Jérôme Rivière, Giorgia Meloni, Filip Dewinter, Kent Ekeroth

Join us for a special preview screening of the recent Sundance Film Festival fly-on-the-wall documentary on Steve Bannon, The Brink, before it’s released in theaters. Director Alison Klayman and producer Marie Therese Guirgis will be here for a discussion following the feature.

When Steve Bannon left his position as White House chief strategist less than a week after the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017, he was already a notorious figure in Trump’s inner circle, and for bringing a far-right ideology into the highest echelons of American politics. Unconstrained by an official post — though some say he still has a direct line to the White House — he became free to peddle influence as a perceived kingmaker, turning his controversial brand of nationalism into a global movement.

The Brink follows Bannon through the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States, shedding light on his efforts to mobilize and unify far-right parties in order to win seats in the May 2019 European Parliamentary elections. To maintain his power and influence, the former Goldman Sachs banker and media investor reinvents himself — as he has many times before — this time as the self-appointed leader of a global populist movement. A keen manipulator of the press and gifted self-promoter, Bannon continues to draw headlines and protests wherever he goes, feeding the powerful myth on which his survival relies.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, DUST and Nitehawk again present THE FUTURE IS FEMALE, a screening of sci-fi short films directed by women. Proceeds benefiting Women Makes Movies and their continued support of female filmmakers.

THE GARDEN
Directed by Natalia Iyudin
14 mins, English
When in 2089 humans become an out-of-date concept, rebellious Luc would rather die than integrate into A.I. But when she meets robot Azul, the idea of upgrading herself suddenly sounds tempting.

EINSTEIN-ROSEN
Directed by Olga Osorio
9 mins, Spanish (English Subtitles)
Summer of 1982. Teo claims he has found a wormhole. His brother Óscar does not believe him… at least not for now

REMEMBERER
Directed Nadege Dumont – Carl Murphy
9 mins, English
In a war-ravaged world recognisable as the ruins of our own, a woman is haunted by memories of a better time. But she lives in an era that has chosen to forget its history, and remembering is a crime.

TO GIVE AND TAKE
Directed by Anna Hopkins
10 mins, English
When eleven year old Amy finds an old eighties video game magazine she dials the phone number displayed on the back, and in a strange cosmic glitch gets connected to Caesar Spinone, a video game call center employee in the year 1989.

INDIGO
Directed by Jody Wilson
22 mins, Japanese (English Subtitles)
After years of waiting for a signal from home, Takumi and his toy robot companion receive a message that they will be returning to their home planet. Suddenly he’s faced with a choice to follow his cosmic destiny or pursue the love of his life here on earth.

MULTIVERSE DATING FOR BEGINNERS
Directed by Kelly Tatham
13 mins, English
Ivy and Dave are totally hitting it off… until she says the wrong thing and completely freaks him out. Typical. But tonight’s no ordinary night. There’s a glitch in the Matrix, déjà vu in the air, and Ivy gets the chance to see how things will turn out if she plays the dating game differently.

DUST is the first multi-platform destination to experience stunning visions of the future from filmmakers of tomorrow. They feature the best sci-fi short films, series, and innovative content that cuts through the present to invite the future. With vivid special effects, complex characters, and captivating plots, prescient themes are explored and tantalizing questions asked. Whether it’s a utopia worth striving for, an apocalypse to avoid, or a truth about the ways technology is changing the human experience – DUST amplifies the voices and visions that will shape the future through imagination.

Starring: Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurðarson, David Thor Jonsson, Magnus Trygvason Eliasen

Halla is a fifty-year-old independent woman. But behind the scenes of a quiet routine, she leads a double life as a passionate environmental activist. Known to others only by her alias “The Woman of the Mountain,” Halla secretly wages a one-woman-war on the local aluminum industry. As Halla’s actions grow bolder, from petty vandalism to outright industrial sabotage, she succeeds in pausing the negotiations between the Icelandic government and the corporation building a new aluminum smelter. But right as she begins planning her biggest and boldest operation yet, she receives an unexpected letter that changes everything. Her application to adopt a child has finally been accepted and there is a little girl waiting for her in Ukraine. As Halla prepares to abandon her role as saboteur and savior of the Highlands to fulfill her dream of becoming a mother, she decides to plot one final attack to deal the aluminum industry a crippling blow.