Set in 1967, THE MIRACLE CLUB follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) of Ballygar, outside Dublin, who win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year. Just before their trip, their old friend Chrissie (Laura Linney) arrives in Ballygar for her mother’s funeral. The women set out on the journey that they hope will change their lives, with Chrissie, a skeptical traveler, joining in place of her mother. Along the way, old wounds are reopened, forcing the women to confront their pasts even as they travel in search of a miracle.
HOWARD BLACKBURN: GLOUCESTER’S MOST LEGENDARY FISHERMAN
Like countless Gloucester fishermen before and since, Howard Blackburn and Tom Welch were trawling for halibut on the Newfoundland banks in an open dory in 1883 when a sudden blizzard separated them from their mother ship. Alone on the empty North Atlantic, they battled towering waves and frozen spray to stay afloat. Welch soon succumbed to exposure, and Blackburn did the only thing he could: he rowed for shore. He rowed five days without food or water, with his hands frozen to the oars, to reach the coast of Newfoundland. 1623 Studios’ Kory Curcuru presents his new documentary for this encore event.
At the age of 5, in his native Mexico, he learned to play the violin. At 8, he developed a lifelong love for the guitar. At 14, he honed those guitar virtuoso skills and his performance style working a street musician, starting his own band long after, while still a teenager. And at 22 — just before his first album was released to acclaim — Carlos Santana became one of the major discoveries of Woodstock, anchoring the famous festival’s second afternoon on August 16, 1969. A music industry legend for 50 years and a 10-time Grammy-winning global sensation, as well as a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor and a Billboard Century award, Santana continues to be one of the music world’s premiere artists, blending jazz, blues, and the Mariachi sound with a rock n’ roll spirituality and a sense of connection to music’s primal connection to our deepest emotions. The electric documentary CARLOS utilizes new interviews with Santana and his family alongside extraordinary, never-before-seen archival footage — including home video recordings Santana himself made; concert footage; and behindthe-scenes moments — as two-time Emmy-winning director Rudy Valdez (The Sentence; Through Our Eyes; We Are: The Brooklyn Saints) creates an intimate, rich documentary about a man whose sound casts a spell on fans who love — as one of Santana’s famous titles says— “how his rhythm goes.”
THURS. OCT. 5 @ 7:00 PM NOSFERATU (WITH LIVE PETER KRASINSKI SCORE) The Cape Ann Community Cinema is proud to present world-renowned silent film accompanist Peter Krasinski playing a brilliantly improvised score to F.W. Murnau’s silent vampire classic. Part of CACC’s “4 Days O’ Fright” series, which runs weekly every Thursday in October.
THURS. OCT 12 @ 7:00 PM “Dracula” director Tod Browning’s legendary fright flick joins Cape Ann Community Cinema’s “4 Nights O’ Fright.” When trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) learns that circus midget Hans (Harry Earles) has an inheritance, she marries the lovesick, diminutive performer, all the while planning to steal his fortune and run off with her lover, strong man Hercules (Henry Victor). When Hans’ friends and fellow performers discover what is going on, they band together and carry out a brutal revenge that leaves Hercules and Cleopatra knowing what it truly means to be a “freak.”
THURS. OCT. 19 @ 7:00 PM Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget, by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, Night of the Living Dead, horror master George A. Romero’s killer career kick-off is a great story of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combining gruesome gore with acute social commentary and quietly breaking ground by casting a Black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Part of the Cape Ann Community Cinema’s “4 Nights O’ Fright.”
THURS. OCT. 26 @ 7:00 PM John Carpenter’s legendary 1978 low-budget horror chestnut wraps up Cape Ann Community Cinema’s “4 Nights O’ Fright” in style. On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith’s Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims. Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis made her memorable debut here in Carpenter’s masterpiece of thrift and tone, which ushered in the age of the modern slasher film.
OPENS THURS. NOV. 3
THE PERSIAN VERSION
Coming from two countries at odds with each other, Iranian-American Leila (Layla Mohammadi) strives to find balance and embrace her opposing cultures, while boldly challenging the labels society is so quick to project upon her. When her family reunites in New York City for her father’s heart transplant, Leila navigates her relationships at arm’s length in an effort to keep her “real” life separate from her family life. However, when her secret is unceremoniously revealed, so are the distinct parallels between her life and that of her mother Shireen (Niousha Noor). Punctuated by a bright color palette, snappy comedic relief, and vibrant dance numbers, “The Persian Version” delivers an honest portrayal of a woman who remains unapologetically herself, blended seamlessly into a heartfelt story about family, belonging, and the undeniable influence of pop music.
Winning both the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, writer-director-producer Maryam Keshavarz delivers a universal and timely story of the Iranian and the Iranian-American experience.
