Reel Indie

Movies in your local indie theaters.

reelindie2.png
Found Footage Festival. The lens of nostalgia has a peculiar way of tugging at the emotions, even if the memories aren't your own. Take a child on a sunny lawn, throw a gritty VHS tinge over it, and you've got yourself a universal image. The best part, this works for almost any emotion, and the guys behind the Found Footage Festival know time's power well. The Loft Cinema is hosting the ninth Found Footage Festival, featuring Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher (The Colbert Report), and a whole mountain of once-forgotten VHS tapes ready for a new life. Pickett and Prueher have scrounged thrift stores and garage sales for our cultural subconscious, and are showing the funny and confusing relics to audiences around the nation. This is a celebration of "all things found." 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $15. 

Alpha (Free screening). The University of Arizona School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences is hosting a screening of the 2018 historical adventure that tells of the formation of the unlikely bond between humans and canines. This survival film takes place in Paleolithic Europe some 20,000 years ago, and follows a young man in a small tribe of hunter-gatherers. Stay tuned after the film for an expert panel of UA faculty from the Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Animal & Comparative Biomedical Sciences and more. 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27. At the Gallagher Theatre, 1303 E. University Blvd. Free and open to the public. 

Precious Guru (free screening). This documentary tells of the life and legacy of Padmasambhava, the eighth-century Indian yogi who carried Buddhism over the Himalayas into Tibet. The story is told by people from three continents, and has been passed on for centuries. Once barely known outside of the Himalayas, Padmasambhava's story grew worldwide after the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959. Precious Guru is a "tribute to the resonance of Padmasambhava's realization." This screening is a rental of The Loft Cinema, presented by Arizona Friends of Tibet. This screening also includes a post-film Q&A with director Marc Wennberg. 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 1. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Free. 

Lives Worth Living. The University of Arizona's Disability Cultural Center is hosting a screening of this 2011 PBS documentary chronicling the disability rights movement from World War II until the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The film features archival footage and interviews with disability rights activists such as Judi Chamberlin and Fred Fay. This screening is presented by UA Disability Cultural Center and assistant professor of English Dev Bose. 11 a.m. to noon., Monday, March 2. At the UA Disability Resource Center, 1224 E. Lowell St.

La Bamba. As part of their Tuesday Night Classics series, Harkins Theatres is screening the film that celebrated the life and music of Chicano rock 'n' roll star Ritchie Valens. With a celebrated acting role from Lou Diamond Phillips, La Bamba is considered a standout of the "Hispanic Hollywood" film period of the late '80s and '90s. It should make sense the film carries such a legacy, as Valens himself (who died at only 17 years old!) has left such a massive impact on music in such a short amount of time. In 2017, La Bamba was even selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3. 5755 W. Arizona Pavilions Drive & 5455 S. Calle Santa Cruz. $5.

Ordinary People. The Loft Cinema is screening the directorial debut of Robert Redford, following a family being "torn apart by tension and tragedy" and based on Judith Guest's bestselling novel. Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore star as the upper-middle-class couple whose "ordinary" existence is irrevocably shattered by the death of their oldest son. This screening is co-presented by the UA's Care, Health & Society program, School of Sociology the UA Department of Psychology and The Loft Cinema. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $10.

By Film...

By Theater...