November 4 - November 28, 2023 Terence Davies: An American Cinematheque Retrospective Series | DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES, THE LONG DAY CLOSES, THE DEEP BLUE SEA, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH and BENEDICTION
ABOUT THE SERIES: Born in Liverpool in 1945, renowned British screenwriter and filmmaker Terence Davies was widely known for his intimate, often autobiographical portraits of mid-century England. Himself a child of the Second World War, Davies’ work is characterized by the close attention paid to period details and the function of collective trauma and memory in the creation of today’s society. Davies’ first feature, DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES (1988), a diptych of community life in 1940s and 50s Liverpool, is known as one of the greatest British films of all time. Aside from autobiography, however, Davies’ filmography boasts a celebrated collection of adaptations, from THE NEON BIBLE (1995) to THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (2000), for which Gillian Anderson won Best Actress at the British Independent Film Awards, and THE DEEP BLUE SEA (2011). Davies’ final film, BENEDICTION (2021), follows war poet Siegfried Sassoon, a queer World War I veteran who converted to Catholicism late in life, on his journey to personal acceptance and spiritual salvation.