Michael Almereyda: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The American Cinematheque is thrilled to welcome filmmaker Michael Almereyda for an in-person mini retrospective that begins with the West Coast premiere of his and Courtney Stephens’ new film JOHN LILLY AND THE EARTH COINCIDENCE CONTROL OFFICE.

In the course of forty years of independent filmmaking, Almereyda has explored themes of identity, technology, and the frequently absurd nature of the human condition, often leaning on genre and literary sources, approaching his characters’ stories through adventurous cinematic strategies and boundary-pushing formal choices.

Whether conjuring a vision of Count Dracula’s daughter wandering the streets of New York in a hypnagogic daze — in NADJA (1994) — or chronicling the comic strife of an eccentric midwestern family — in TWISTER (1989) — or documenting the radical experiments of real-life social scientist Stanley Milgram — in EXPERIMENTER (2015) — or presenting a future in which holographic projections of the dead are designed to console the living — in MARJORIE PRIME (2017) — Almereyda is engaged with stories about men and women coming to terms with their unstable lives, facing confusion about love, free will, and mortality.

TWISTER, based on Mary Robison’s 1981 novel Oh!, features Harry Dean Stanton as a Kansan patriarch presiding over a soda-pop empire and at odds with his ungrateful children, Crispin Glover and Suzy Amis. The comedy was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature. Production designer David Wasco will participate in a post-screening Q&A.

NADJA, executive-produced by David Lynch (who appears in a cameo) was shot in 35mm black-and-white alternating with Fisher-Price “Pixelvision” video. It features the suitably surreal presence of Elina Lowensohn as the titular vampire, matched by Peter Fonda as Van Helsing, her crazed nemesis. The film received Spirit Award nominations for Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography.

MARJORIE PRIME, adapted from the Pulitzer-nominated play by Jordan Harrison, is a chamber piece featuring Lois Smith, Jon Hamm, Geena Davis, and Tim Robbins, a meditation on memory and loss, with standout cinematography by Sean Price Williams. Geena Davis will appear with Almereyda for a post-screening Q&A.

Our retrospective also includes a selection of Almereyda’s shorts shot in various formats in and around Los Angeles (though never screened here), including his self-financed first film, “A Hero of Our Time” (1987), featuring a poignant performance by Dennis Hopper.