IU Cinema will be screening the work of New York-based writer and director Nia DaCosta this weekend.
The screenings are part of the cinema’s Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Program, a series where film screenings are accompanied by appearances and talks with the filmmakers. Previous visiting filmmakers include Ava DuVernay, Werner Herzog, Boots Riley and others.
DaCosta’s debut feature film, “Little Woods,” premiered in April 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the Nora Ephron Award, given to a female writer or director.
“Little Woods” follows two sisters, played by Tessa Thompson and Lily James, living in a small town in North Dakota in the shadow of the opioid epidemic and unpaid bills. It will be shown twice, at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 and at 4 p.m. Feb. 2. Tickets are $4 for IU students and $7 for non-students.
The Tribeca jury said that the film embodied the “spirit and boldness” of Ephron’s films. IU Cinema named the film series “Nia DaCosta: Spirited and Bold Storytelling” after that description.
DaCosta will be present for an on-stage interview at 4 p.m. Feb. 1 to discuss her work. The talk is free, and no ticket is required.
Two films not directed by DaCosta will also be screened as part of the series.
“Summer Hours,” a 2008 award-winning French movie by filmmaker Olivier Assayas, follows three siblings deciding what to do with their mother’s inheritance. The film will be screened at 7 p.m. Feb. 1.
DaCosta will be present for the screening of “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days." The film tells the story of two female college roommates in the final days of communism in Romania making arrangements for an illegal abortion for one of them. It will be shown at 10 p.m. Jan. 31.
