December 4 - December 13, 2025 Gus Van Sant: An American Cinematheque Retrospective Series | GOOD WILL HUNTING, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, TO DIE FOR, DEAD MAN’S WIRE, DRUGSTORE COWBOY
ABOUT THE SERIES: Marking the 40th anniversary of Gus Van Sant’s filmmaking career, the American Cinematheque is honored to present an advance screening of his newest film, DEAD MAN’S WIRE — a dynamic crime caper that blends taut storytelling with unexpected flashes of humor and humanity. Following the screening, Gus Van Sant and screenwriter Austin Kolodney will join us in person for a Q&A. In celebration of this milestone, the Cinematheque will also revisit some of the films that cemented Gus Van Sant’s status as one of modern cinema’s most distinctive and bold storytellers. Van Sant’s cult classic sophomore feature DRUGSTORE COWBOY will screen following the Q&A. The film, which follows a group of drug addicts in the Pacific Northwest, won four Independent Spirit Awards including Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. A master storyteller, Gus Van Sant balances and moves freely between the comic and the bleak, the heartfelt and the tragic. Leading up to our screening of DEAD MAN’S WIRE, we’ll revisit some of the films that have made him a legend of both independent and mainstream cinema. Our retrospective begins with GOOD WILL HUNTING, starring Matt Damon as a troubled young mathematical genius who begins to open up under the mentorship of a compassionate therapist (Robin Williams). Next, the River Phoenix–Keanu Reeves two-hander MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, a heartbreaking, drifting tale of two hustlers that set the stage for the New Queer Cinema movement, followed by TO DIE FOR, in which an airheaded but ambitious journalist (Nicole Kidman) manipulates a group of high school slackers (Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck) into murdering her husband.