Film Previews: Coming Soon to Hopewell Theater

The recently renovated Hopewell Theater is now offering a carefully-curated programming schedule that will showcase independent films, some followed by Director Q&A or paired with a reading or concert, and live music on a weekly basis performed by local and regional singer-songwriters.

Here are the films coming to Hopewell Theater in winter 2018:

19th Annual Animation Show of Shows

The ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS presents 16 exceptional and inspiring animated shorts from around the world, representing the work of artists from eight countries, including nine women. Funny, moving, engaging, and thought-provoking, the ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS not only has something for everyone, but is a remarkable and insightful microcosm of our world. For 19 years, the ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS has been presenting new and innovative short films to appreciative audiences at animation studios, schools and, since 2015, theaters around the world. Over the years, 36 of the films showcased in the ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS went on to receive Academy Award® nominations, with 10 films winning the Oscar®.

16 animated short films presented in order of appearance –

• Can You Do It – Quentin Baillieux, France
• Tiny Big – Lia Bertels, Belgium
• Next Door – Pete Docter, U.S.
• The Alan Dimension – Jac Clinch, UK
• Beautiful Like Elsewhere – Elise Simard, Canada
• Hangman – Paul Julian and Les Goldman, U.S.
• The Battle of San Romano – Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland
• Gokurosama – Clémentine Frère, Aurore Gal, Yukiko Meignien, Anna Mertz, Robin Migliorelli, Romain Salvini, France
• Dear Basketball – Glen Keane, U.S.
• Island – Max Mörtl and Robert Löbel, Germany
• Unsatisfying – Parallel Studio, France
• My Burden – Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Sweden
• Les Abeilles Domestiques (Domestic Bees) Alexanne Desrosiers, Canada
• Our Wonderful Nature: The Common Chameleon – Tomer Eshed, Germany
• Casino – Steven Woloshen, Canada
• Everything – David OReilly, U.S

Showing on Dec. 29, Dec. 30, Dec. 31, Jan. 2, Jan. 3, Jan. 4.

The Divine Order

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film at the Tribeca Film Festival, The Divine Order is set in Switzerland in 1971 where, despite the worldwide social upheavals of the previous decade, women were still denied the right to vote. When unassuming and dutiful housewife Nora (Marie Leuenberger, winner of a Best Actress award at Tribeca) is forbidden by her husband to take a part-time job, her frustration leads to her becoming the poster child of her town’s suffragette movement. Her newfound celebrity brings humiliation, threats, and the potential end to her marriage, but, refusing to back down, she convinces the women in her village to go on strike…and makes a few startling discoveries about her own liberation. Uplifting and crowd-pleasing, this charming, captivating film is a time capsule that could not be more timely.

Showing on Jan. 5, Jan. 7, Jan. 9, Jan. 10, Jan. 11

Gods Own Country

Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor) works long hours on his family’s remote farm in the north of England. He numbs the daily frustration of his lonely existence with nightly binge-drinking at the local pub and casual sex. But when a handsome Romanian migrant worker (Alec Secareanu) arrives to take up temporary work on the family farm, Johnny suddenly finds himself having to deal with emotions he has never felt before. As they begin working closely together during lambing season, an intense relationship starts to form which could change Johnny’s life forever. Captivating and broodingly beautiful, God’s Own Country is the award winning debut feature from writer/director Francis Lee. Bracingly open hearted, this is a thrillingly romantic story set in the heart of rural Yorkshire. Both poignant and moving, this finely crafted British film features a host of standout performances, making it as an absolute must see.

Showing on Jan. 19, 21, 23, 24, 25

The Breadwinner

Based on the bestselling middle-grade novel by Deborah Ellis, and produced by Angelina Jolie, The Breadwinner is an animated feature film about eleven-year-old Parvana and her family set in 2001 in Kabul, Afghanistan. When her father is arrested without warning by the Talibans for being an intellectual, Parvana’s mother is left alone to care for their three children. Banned from going out in public without a man, Parvana’s mother risks arrest as she travels to the local prison and demands her husband’s release, only to end up being beaten and turned away. As the family becomes desperate for food, Parvana cuts off her hair and disguises herself as a boy so that she can venture out in public and become the breadwinner for her family. As war encroaches on Kabul and with all the resolve she has left, Parvana treks to the prison and, with the help of a sympathetic Talib guard, works to free her father once and for all.