Special Events

Friday, April 4, 3:30pm FREE!
Writing for the Screen and Stage: An Interdisciplinary Panel
Hear from a panel of Northwestern alumni and friends across the writing spectrum, including: Laverne McKinnon (President of Television Production, 50 Cannon Production and former Head of Drama Development for CBS), Barbara Dreyfus (Literary & Talent Representative, United Talent Agency), Tanya Palmer (Director of New Play Development at the Goodman Theatre), Wendy Goldberg (Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference) and more!

Friday, April 25, 5pm  FREE!
The Children of Leningradsky 
(Andrezj Celinski and Hanna Polak, 2005, Poland, 35 minutes, DVD) Q&A with Co-Director Hanna Polak
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject, The Children of Leningradsky takes an unblinking look at the reality of homeless children living in Russia today, in particular the ones who call the underground Leningradsky train station in Moscow home. Utilizing verité footage of over a dozen children who speak candidly about their lives, routines and lost dreams, the film captures the sobering reality of post-Soviet Russia, as kids are left behind, get booted out of their homes, turn into prostitutes, are abused, and run away.

Saturday, May 10
Bicycle Double Feature
In support of Northwestern University Library’s exhibition Life Turns on Two Wheels and the events surrounding the exhibition, Block Cinema presents two films about the bond between a man and his bicycle.
The Bicycle Thief 1 pm FREE!
(Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy, 93 minutes, 35mm)
Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neo-realist masterpiece, The Bicycle Thief is at once the simple story of Lamberto Maggiorani and an unflinching look at postwar Rome. Maggiorani, out of work for two years, finds a job putting up posters. The job requires a bicycle, and Maggiorani pawns the family linen to buy one, which is promptly stolen.

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure 3 pm FREE!
(Tim Burton, 1985, U.S., 95 minutes, 16mm)
Arguably the American adaptation of The Bicycle Thief, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure likewise looks through its plot at the surrounding landscape—the landscape of 1980s America in all its gaudy absurdity. (And, you guessed it, someone stole Pee-Wee’s beloved bicycle.) Where The Bicycle Thief is about a desperate reality and the bicycle as the transportation of the working poor, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure is about materialistic fantasies and the bicycle as an object of desire. Yet both are about the bicycle as a means to see the world.

Thursday, May 29, 5pm FREE!
Mechina: A Preparation
(Maital Guttman, 2008, Israel, 48 minutes, DVD)
Mechina: A Preparation, a documentary film by Maital Guttman and Madeline Sackler, is a powerful documentary whose subject is rarely seen in the United States. In Israel, military service is mandatory for all teenagers after high school graduation. The film follows six Israeli teens three months before they don the uniform, as they transition from students to soldiers.

Wednesday, June 4, 5pm FREE!
At the Death House Door
(Steve James and Peter Gilbert, 2008, USA, 94 minutes)
At the Death House Door follows the remarkable career journey of Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain to the infamous “Walls” prison unit in Huntsville, Texas. During that time he presided over 95 executions, including the very first lethal injection done anywhere in the world. After each execution, Pickett recorded an audiotape account of that fateful day. The film also tells the story of Carlos De Luna, a convict whose execution affected Pickett more than any other. Pickett firmly believed the man was innocent and two Chicago Tribune reporters turn up evidence that strongly suggests he was right. Filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert will be present for a post-screening Q&A.