OUTDOOR CINEMA
AT SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
Wednesdays, July 15 - August 19, 2009

This annual outdoor festival of international films, live music, and food, celebrating the diversity of Queens, is presented by Socrates Sculpture Park in collaboration with the Museum of the Moving Image and Partnerships for Parks.

Socrates Sculpture Park is located at 32-01 Vernon Boulevard at Broadway, Long Island City. Pre-screening performances begin at 7:00 p.m. Free admission.


THE BETRAYAL
Wednesday, July 15

Laos/Thailand, 2008, 95 mins. Directed by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath. More than twenty years in the making, this extraordinary personal documentary is about a family's journey from wartorn Laos to the streets of New York. The film is both intimate and universal in its depiction of the immigrant experience. (Not rated)


CONTEMPT
Wednesday, July 22

France, 1963, 102 mins. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. With Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, Fritz Lang. With eye-popping widescreen photography, French New-Wave master Godard creates his most lavish and thoroughly enjoyable movie, an audacious meditation on modern moviemaking, literature, and marriage. (Not rated)


LOU REED'S BERLIN
Wednesday, July 29

United States, 2007, 85 mins. Directed by Julian Schnabel. With Lou Reed. Lou Reed's ambitious song cycle about a couple's drug- and violence-filled downward spiral was turned into a live concert experience designed by Julian Schnabel. The event was documented by the great cinematographer Ellen Kuras (director of The Betrayal). (Rated PG-13 for language)


WALTZ WITH BASHIR
Wednesday, August 5

Israel, 2008, 90 mins. Directed by Ari Folman. Dreamlike and personal, this unique and affecting animated feature (by one of the creators of the TV series In Treatment) looks at war through the memories of soldiers who fought as young men. Folman brilliantly uses animation as a window into the subconscious. (Rated R for violence, nudity and sexual content)


TULPAN
Wednesday, August 12

Kazakhstan, 2008, 100 mins. Directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy. Set in the wide-open steppes of Kazakhstan, this thrilling movie is a gorgeous mélange of tender comedy, ethnographic drama, and wildlife extravaganza. The film follows the adventures of a young dreamer who tries to win the hand of his alluring neighbor, the only eligible bachelorette for miles. (Not rated)

GOMORRAH
Wednesday, August 19

Italy, 2008, 135 mins. Directed by Matteo Garrone. With Toni Servillo. This gripping based-on-fact drama about the Italian crime underworld is both riveting and realistic. One of the most exciting Italian films in years, Gomorrah won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. (Not rated)



The 2009 Outdoor Cinema program is supported by funding from the New York City Council and The New York Times Company Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Special thanks to the City of New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, City Councilmember Eric Gioia, and the Department of Parks & Recreation, Commissioner Adrian Benepe.