5:30, 7:30 PM  Tickets

(2009) dir Tze Chun, w/Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu, Cindy Cheung [86 min]
One of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” writer-director Tze Chun makes his feature film debut with one of the most-awarded and best-reviewed films of 2009. Shot in and around Boston, CHILDREN OF INVENTION is by turns humorous and heartbreaking, an “edge-of-your-seat family drama” (Spout) that’s both “powerfully moving and rigorously intelligent.” (Boston Phoenix).

After being evicted, hardworking single mom Elaine Cheng (Cheung) tries to maintain a normal life for her children, Raymond and Tina. Elaine juggles a number of jobs, including working for a questionable pyramid scheme. When Elaine doesn’t return home one night, nobody knows the kids are home alone, and they are left to fend for themselves. As the days pass, Raymond, a budding inventor, realizes he needs to come up with a plan to take care of his little sister.

Reminiscent of recent, acclaimed features like Nobody Knows and Treeless Mountain, CHILDREN OF INVENTION is nonetheless rooted in contemporary America where the mortgage meltdown and jobs crisis force a harsh reality. Director Chun brings a delicate beauty to his poignant subject matter. Featuring gifted child actors, CHILDREN OF INVENTION is "as close to cinematic purity as one is likely to see this year" (Film Society of Lincoln Center), a timely drama about the influence of the adult world on children and resilience in hard times.

CHILDREN OF INVENTION made its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and has won 15 film festival awards including the Grand Jury Prizes for Best Narrative Feature at the 2009 Independent Film Festival Boston.

Related Links
Official Site

Reviews/Articles
"(3 Stars) Naïveté and the single mom," by Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe
"(B+) Hub-set family saga a moving 'Invention'," by James Verniere, The Boston Herald
"(3 Stars) Powerfully moving and rigorously intelligent," by Peter Keough, The Boston Phoenix

10:00 PM  Tickets

(2009) dir Lars Von Trier, w/Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg [104 min]
A loose and tangential exploration of the story of Adam and Eve, this four-part film stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg in tour-de-force performances as the unnamed “He” and “She.” After the tragic death of their child, She suffers a mental collapse and He, a psychotherapist, tries to treat her. They retreat to their “Eden,” a cabin in the woods that, despite its bucolic location, fills her with fear, guilt, and sexual neurosis. Uncanny events unfold and He begins to share her feelings toward the natural world that surrounds them. The film builds to a mind-bending confrontation between His hubris and Her crippling guilt. Von Trier’s “horror” film is certainly horrifying and disturbing, but is also playful, absurd, and disarmingly beautiful. Not to be missed on the big screen.