By As the dawn of summer begins proper, American theaters are still in a state of limbo under the global pandemic. Good thing the Criterion Channel is chugging along!
Featuring an array of LGBT films in celebration of Pride Month, the Channel remains committed to remaining current despite its primarily-archival leanings. A critical role in curating appreciation of older films, I think, is relating them to contemporary audiences, and the Criterion Channel excels at bunching their updated roster together in appealing ways, as well as highlighting films already available.
** indicates programming available only in the U.S.
June 1
Art-House America: Film Streams
City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
Black Girl (Ousmane Sembène, 1966)
Dont Look Back (D. A. Pennebaker, 1967)
Memories of Underdevelopmen
(Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968)
Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982)
Exclusive streaming premiere
Zombie Child (Bertrand Bonello, 2019)
With And When I Die, I Won’t Stay Dead (2015) Billy Woodberry
June 2
Short + Feature: Italy Uncloseted
The Red Tree (Paul Rowley, 2018) and A Special Day (Ettore Scola, 1977)
Featuring a new introduction by The Red Tree director Paul Rowley
June 3
Directed by Cheryl Dunye
The Watermelon Woman (1996)
The Owls (2010)
With short films Janine (1990)
She Don’t Fade (1991)
Vanilla Sex (1992)
An Untitled Portrait (1993)
The Potluck and the Passion (1993)
Greetings from Africa (1996)
June 4
Criterion Collection Edition #277
My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)
June 5
Double Feature: A Pair of Jeans
The Talk of the Town (George Stevens, 1942) and The Whole Town’s Talking (John Ford, 1935)
June 6
Saturday Matinee
Spellbound (Jeffrey Blitz, 2002)
June 7
Directed by Chantal Akerman
Featuring a 2015 program on Akerman’s work
Hotel Monterey (1972)
Je tu il elle (1975),
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
News from Home (1976)
Les rendez-vous d’Anna (1978)
Dis-moi (1980)
One Day Pina Asked . . . (1983)
Golden Eighties (1986)
Histoires d’Amérique: Food, Family and Philosophy (1989)
From the East (1993)
Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman (1997)
South (1999)
La captive (2000)
From the Other Side (2002)
Down There (2006)
Almayer’s Folly (2011)
No Home Movie (2015)
With the shorts Saute ma ville (1968) and La chambre (1972)
June 8
The Eyes of Orson Welles (Mark Cousins, 2018)
June 9
Exclusive streaming premiere
Synonyms (Nadad Lapid, 2019)
Short + Feature: Queer Through the Years
Call Your Father (Jordan Firstman, 2016) and Parting Glances (Bill Sherwood, 1986)
Featuring a new introduction by Call Your Father director Jordan Firstman
June 10
But I’m a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit, 1999)
June 11
Criterion Collection Edition #1029
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Husbands (John Cassavetes, 1970)
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Observations on Film Art #37: Ozu’s Space Adventures—Editing in Passing Fancy
June 12
Double Feature: Cities of Shadows
The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948) and In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
Featuring an introduction by filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie
June 13
Saturday Matinee
Into the West (Mike Newell, 1992)
June 14
Queersighted: Turn the Gaze Around
Featuring a new conversation between guest programmer Michael Koresky and food and film writer Mayukh Sen
Orpheus (Jean Cocteau, 1950)
Purple Noon (René Clement, 1960)
Querelle (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1982)
My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears, 1985)
My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)
The Watermelon Woman (Cheryl Dunye, 1996)
Water Lilies (Céline Sciamma, 2007)
June 15
Original Cast Album: “Company” (D.A. Pennebaker, 1970)
Featuring a new conversation with the cast and writers of Documentary Now!’s “Original Cast Album: Co-Op” episode, including John Mulaney, Seth Meyers, Richard Kind, Paula Pell, Alex Brightman and Renée Elise Goldsberry, plus director Alex Buono and composer Eli Bolin
Criterion Collection Edition #424
Mafioso (Alberto Lattuada, 1962)
June 16
Short + Feature: The Duke Abides
A Bundle of Blues (Fredd Waller, 1933) and Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959)
June 17
Directed by Bette Gordon
Featuring a new introduction by Gordon
Variety (1983)**
Luminous Motion (1998)
And the shorts Michigan Avenue (Bette Gordon and James Benning, 1973)
I-94 (Bette Gordon and James Benning, 1974)
The United States of America (Bette Gordon and James Benning, 1975)
Empty Suitcases (Bette Gordon, 1980)
Anybody’s Woman (Bette Gordon, 1981)
June 18
Three by Gregg Araki
Featuring a new introduction by Araki
The Living End (1992)
Totally F***ed Up (1993)
Mysterious Skin (2004)
June 19
Double Feature: Queer Britannia
Another Country (Marek Kanievska, 1984) and Maurice (James Ivory, 1987)
June 20
Saturday Matinee
The Count of Monte Cristo (Rowland V Lee, 1934)
June 21
Directed by Mike Leigh
Meantime (1984)
High Hopes (1988)
The Short and Curlies (1987)
Life Is Sweet (1990)
Naked (1993)
Secrets & Lies (1996)
Career Girls (1997)
All or Nothing (2002)
Vera Drake (2004)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Another Year (2010)**
June 22
Exclusive streaming premiere
Tarnation (Jonathan Caouette, 2003)
Criterion Collection Edition #962
Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti, 1971)
June 23
Jazz Shorts 1929–1939
Black and Tan (Dudley Murphy, 1929)
St. Louis Blues (Dudley Murphy, 1929)
I Surrender Dear (Mack Sennett, 1931)
A Rhapsody in Black and Blue (Aubrey Scotto, 1932)
A Bundle of Blues (Fred Waller, 1933)
Sing, Bing, Sing (Babe Stafford, 1933)
Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho (Fred Waller, 1934)
Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (Fred Waller, 1935)
Artie Shaw’s Class in Swing (Leslie M. Roush, 1939)
Hoagy Carmichael (Leslie M. Roush, 1939)
Short + Feature: I Second That Stop Motion
The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer (Stephen and Timothy Quay, 1984) and Alice (Jan Švankmajer, 1988)
June 24
Olivia (Jacqueline Audry, (1951)
Featuring an archival interview with director Jacqueline Audry
June 25
Criterion Collection Edition #1030
Scorsese Shorts (Martin Scorsese, 1963–78)
June 26
Double Feature: Figures in Landscapes
Museum Hours (Jem Cohen, 2012) and Columbus** (Kogonada, 2017)
June 27
Saturday Matinee
Born Free (James Hill, 1966)
June 28
Czechoslovak New Wave
Something Different (Vera Chytilová, 1963)
Black Peter (Miloš Forman, 1964)
Courage for Every Day (Evald Schorm, 1964)
Diamonds of the Night (Jan Němec, 1964)
Intimate Lighting (Ivan Passer, 1965)
Loves of a Blonde (Miloš Forman, 1965)
The Shop on Main Street (Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, 1965)
Closely Watched Trains (JiÅ™í Menzel, 1966)
Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966)
Pearls of the Deep (JiÅ™í Menzel, VÄ›ra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, Jan NÄ›mec, and Evald Schorm, 1966)
A Report on the Party and Guests (Jan Němec, 1966)
The Firemen’s Ball (Miloš Forman, 1967)
Return of the Prodigal Son (Evald Schorm, 1967)
Capricious Summer (Jirí Menzel, 1968)
All My Good Countrymen (Vojtech Jasný, 1969)
The Cremator (Juraj Herz, 1969)
The Joke (Jaromil Jireš, 1969)
The Ear (Karel Kachyňa, 1970)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Jaromil Jireš, 1970)
And the shorts Uncle (Jaromil Jireš, 1959)
Footprints (Jaromil Jireš, 1960)
The Hall of Lost Footsteps (Jaromil Jireš, 1960)
The Junk Shop (Juraj Herz, 1965)
A Boring Afternoon (Ivan Passer, 1968)
June 29
The Loft Cinema Presents
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, 2017)
June 30
Short + Feature: When Cyber Eyes Are Prying
Dirt Daughter (Marnie Ellen Hertzler, 2019) and Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006)
The Criterion Channel’s June 2020 Lineup [Criterion]