The Blair Witch Project

Found video footage tells the tale of three film students (Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams) who’ve traveled to a small town to collect documentary footage about the Blair Witch, a legendary local murderer. Over the course of several days, the students interview townspeople and gather clues to support the tale’s veracity. But the project takes a frightening turn when the students lose their way in the woods and begin hearing horrific noises.

Onibaba

Forced to murder lost samurai and sell their belongings for grain, a mother and daughter-in-law dump the corpses down a deep, dark hole and live off of their meager spoils. Driven by primal emotions, dark eroticism, a frenzied score by Hikaru Hayashi, and stunning images both lyrical and macabre, Kaneto Shindo’s chilling folktale Onibaba is a singular cinematic experience.

Possession

Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Żuławski’s stunningly choreographed nightmare of a marriage unraveling is an experience unlike any other. Professional spy Mark returns to his West Berlin home to find his wife Anna insistent on a divorce. As Anna’s frenzied behavior becomes ever more alarming, Mark discovers a truth far more sinister than his wildest suspicions.

Possession

Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Żuławski’s stunningly choreographed nightmare of a marriage unraveling is an experience unlike any other. Professional spy Mark returns to his West Berlin home to find his wife Anna insistent on a divorce. As Anna’s frenzied behavior becomes ever more alarming, Mark discovers a truth far more sinister than his wildest suspicions.

Clean Shaven

A compelling headfirst dive into the mindscape of a schizophrenic as he tries to track down his daughter after he is released from an institution. Kerrigan’s film brilliantly uses sound and image to lead audiences into a terrifying subjectivity. No one is left unscathed.

Clean Shaven

A compelling headfirst dive into the mindscape of a schizophrenic as he tries to track down his daughter after he is released from an institution. Kerrigan’s film brilliantly uses sound and image to lead audiences into a terrifying subjectivity. No one is left unscathed.

Return To Reason

The four films Man Ray directed between 1923 and 1929 represent a high watermark of early European avant-garde cinema, a seminal nexus of experimental technique, surrealist narrative, and playful abstraction as suffused with dark eroticism.

Brick and Mirror

When a mysterious woman abandons a baby in the backseat of his cab one night, Tehran taxi driver Hashem is launched on a journey through the city’s unfeeling bureaucracy as he attempts to find a home for the infant—a situation that soon puts him in conflict with his nurturing girlfriend Taji.

From The Archives

Curated by MFA candidate Tom Dixon, this program will feature 16mm prints from the UWM Film Department’s Cinema Arts Archive.