Winter Fest to usher in 21 acclaimed films at the Dietrich

As Hollywood is in the midst of its award season, the historic Dietrich Theater in downtown Tunkhannock is gearing up for Winter Fest, a celebration of 21 acclaimed foreign, independent and art films in 21 days.

Starting on Feb. 17 and running through March 9, the 1930s art deco theater will showcase some of the most acclaimed movies that have been released in the past few months. These 21 movies combined have garnered 298 wins and 886 nominations in the award season to-date and on the festival circuit.

“This year’s Winter Festival features some of the year’s best and brightest films from the indie market,” said Ronnie Harvey, Dietrich Theater general manager and movie booker. “We have exceptional performances from leads in film like Brendan Fraser in ‘The Whale’ to Cate Blanchett in ‘Tár,’ films that celebrate the power of film itself like ‘Empire of Light’ and ‘The Last Film Show ‘and films that push the boundaries of art and entertainment like the star-making turn of a donkey in ‘EO’ or the heart pounding action packed Telegu epic ‘RRR.’ This year has a truly wide variety of entertainment from all over the world that will leave you inspired, thrilled and as always … entertained.“

To kick off Winter Fest, the Dietrich will be hosting an Opening Night Gala on Friday, Feb. 17, an evening of great films, snacks, popcorn, beer, wine and dessert. The first film featured that night will be ‘The Good House,’ starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline. Followed by dessert, and the second film will be ‘Living’ with Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor Bill Nighy. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Reservations can be made by calling the Dietrich at 570-836-1022 x3.

Other special events for Winter Fest 2023 include Preview Day. On Thursday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., the Dietrich will show the 21 movie trailers of the films featured in Winter Fest 2023. Attendees will be able to learn more about the films and see what hooked us and made us choose them. Admission is free and discounted concession will be available.

Another feature event of Winter Fest is the Post Festival Discussion. Facilitated by Harvey, participants will be able to share their thoughts about festival films they have seen and ask questions they may still have about the Winter Fest slate of movies. The Post Festival Discussion will be held on Friday, March 10, at 1 p.m. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Excluding opening night, tickets to Winter Fest films are $8.50 each.

The following are Winter Fest movie showtimes and synopses. They are also available at DietrichTheater.com.

Aftersun

Show times: Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 22 at 4:30 p.m., Feb. 28 at 2:30 p.m., March 4 at 2:15 p.m., March 7 at 4:30 p.m.

Rated: R

Runtime: 102 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Charlotte Wells.

Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hal

Winner of seven awards at the British Independent Film Awards, including Best British Film, Aftersun is a superb and searing emotional film about a rare time spent together between a father and daughter at a fading vacation resort. As a world of adolescence creeps into view, her father struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, her tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Show times: Feb. 21 at 5:00 p.m., Feb. 24 at 2:45 p.m., Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., March 3 at 2:15 p.m., March 7 at noon.

Rated: Not rated

Runtime: 113 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Laura Poitras

Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is an epic, emotional and interconnected story about internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.

Broker

Show times: Feb. 19 at 4:30 p.m., Feb. 24 at 4:45 p.m., Feb. 27 at noon, March 3 at 7 p.m., March 7 at noon, March 9 at noon.

Rated: R

Runtime: 129 minutes

Language: Korean with English subtitles

Directed by: Hirokazu Koreeda.

Starring: Song Kang-ho, Dong-won Gang, Bae Doon

Winner of Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, Broker follows two brokers who sell orphaned infants, circumventing the bureaucracy of legal adoption, to affluent couples who can’t have children of their own. After an infant’s mother surprises the duo by returning to ensure her child finds a good home, the three embark on a journey to find the right couple, building an unlikely family of their own along the way.

Corsage

Show times: Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 25 at noon, March 3 at 9:30 p.m., March 5 at noon.

Rated: not rated

Runtime: 113 minutes

Language: in German, French, English with English subtitles

Directed by: Marie Kreutzer.

Starring: Vicky Krieps, Colin Morgan, Ivana Urban

Corsage is a refreshingly irreverent spin on the period piece and follows Empress Elizabeth of Austria who is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. When she celebrates her 40th birthday, she must fight to maintain her public image by lacing her corset tighter and tighter. With her role reduced against her wishes to purely performative, her hunger for knowledge and zest for life makes her more and more restless. Facing a future of strictly ceremonial duties laid out in front of her, she rebels against the hyperbolized image of herself and comes up with a plan to protect her legacy.

Empire of Light

Show times: Feb. 19 at noon, Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 24 at noon, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m., March 2 at 2:30 p.m., March 5 at 4:30 p.m., March 9 at 7:15 p.m.

Rated: R

Runtime: 115 minutes

Language: in English

Directed by: Sam Mendes Starring: Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth

Nominated for Best Actress for Olivia Colman at the Golden Globes, also starring Colin Firth and directed by Academy Award winning director Sam Mendes, Empire of Light is a powerful and poignant story that follows the lives, loves and human connections between a group of cinema employees in a small English seaside town in the early 1980s.

EO

Show times: Feb. 18 at noon, Feb. 21 at noon, Feb. 23 at 7:15 p.m., Feb. 26 at noon, March 1 at 5 p.m., March 4 at 4:30 p.m., March 8 at noon.

Rated: Not rated

Runtime: 86 minutes

Language: Polish, Italian, English with English subtitles

Directed by: Jerzy Skolimowski.

Starring: Sandra Drzymalska, Isabelle Huppert, Lorenzo Zurzolo

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and starring Isabelle Huppert, EO is a simple, moving and completely absorbing story told from the perspective of a grey donkey who along his journey meets good and bad people. EO experiences joy and pain, endures the wheel of fortune randomly turn his luck into disaster and his despair into unexpected bliss but not even for a moment does he lose his innocence.

Four Samosas

Show times: Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., March 3 at noon, March 8 at 2:15 p.m.

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 80 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Ravi Kapoor.

Starring: Venk Potula, Sonal Shah, Sharmita Bhattacharya.

Colorful and irreverent in its execution, Four Samosas follows an unmotivated wannabe rapper who learns his ex is engaged to marry his smarmy rival. He and three other misfit dreamers plan a heist on his ex’s father’s grocery store to steal her wedding diamonds and win her back.

Framing Agnes

Show times: Feb. 20 at noon, Feb. 24 at 7:15 p.m., Feb. 27 at 2:30 p.m., March 6 at noon.

Rated: Not rated

Runtime: 75 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Chase Joynt

The pseudonymous Agnes was a pioneering transgender woman who participated in an infamous gender health study conducted at UCLA in the 1960s. Her clever use of the study to gain access to gender-affirming healthcare led to her status as a fascinating and celebrated figure in trans history. In this innovative cinematic exercise that blends fiction and nonfiction, Framing Agnes uses Agnes’s story, along with others unearthed in long-shelved case files, to widen the frame through which trans history is viewed.

The Good House

Show times: Feb. 17 – Opening Night Gala, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m., Feb. 23 at 5 p.m., Feb. 28 at 7:15 p.m., March 4 at noon, March 6 at noon, March 9 at 5 p.m.

Runtime: 104 minutes

Language: in English

Directed by: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky.

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Morena Baccarin

Starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline, The Good House follows a wry New England realtor who loves her wine and her secrets. Her compartmentalized life begins to unravel as she rekindles a romance with her old high-school flame, and becomes dangerously entwined in one person’s reckless behavior. Igniting long-buried emotions and family secrets, she is propelled toward a reckoning with the one person she’s been avoiding for decades: herself.

Good Night Oppy

Show times: Feb. 18 at 2 p.m., Feb. 23 at noon, Feb. 25 at 4:45 p.m., March 2 at noon, March 9 at noon.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 105 minutes

Language: in English

Directed by: Ryan White

Good Night Oppy tells the inspirational true story of Opportunity, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ended up surviving for 15 years. The film follows Opportunity’s groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans millions of miles away. Good Night Oppy is a testament to dreaming, to cooperation, to pushing boundaries, and tapping into the vast potential of humanity.

Joyride

Show times: Feb. 21 at 7:15 p.m., Feb. 28 at noon, March 3 at 5 p.m., March 7 at 2:30 p.m.

Rated: Not rated

Runtime: 94 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Emer Reynolds

Starring: Olivia Colman, Charlie Reid, Lochlann O’Mearáin

Starring Olivia Colman and introducing Charlie Reid, Joyride follows 12-year-old Mully, who, after fleeing his father, steals a taxi and i s shocked to find a woman, in the back seat with a baby. She has decided to give her child away to a friend, and so two lovable rogues — a complicated middle-aged mother and a troubled adolescent — go on a journey across Ireland, gradually finding in each other the friendship, love and learning they never knew they needed.

Last Film Show

Show times: Feb. 20 at noon, Feb. 24 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 28 at 5 p.m., March 3 at 2:30 p.m., March 7 at 7 p.m.

Rated: Not rated

Runtime: 110 minutes

Language: in Gujarati with English subtitles

Directed by: Pan Nalin.

Starring: Bhavin Rabari, Richa Meena, Bhavesh Shrimali

The Last Film Show follows a 9-year-old boy living with his family in a remote village in India who discovers films for the first time and is mesmerized. Against his father’s wishes, he returns to the cinema day after day to watch more films, and even befriends the projectionist who lets him watch movies for free. Along with his wild gang of friends, they move heaven and earth to catch and project light to achieve a 35mm film projection. Together, they use an innovative hack and jubilantly succeed in making a film projection apparatus but sometimes following your dreams often means leaving things behind.

Living

Show times: Feb. 17 – Opening Night, Feb. 19 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 23 at 2:15 p.m., March 1 at 7 p.m., March 5 at 2:15 p.m., March 8 at 4:30 p.m.

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 102 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Oliver Hermanus.

Starring: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp

Nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor and starring screen legend Bill Nighy, Living is the story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful. Living, written by Nobel Prize winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, is a moving drama that celebrates learning how to live life, in all its fleeting beauty.

Memories of My Father

Show times: Feb. 20 at 7:15 p.m., Feb. 23 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 27 at noon, March 2 at noon, March 6 at 2:15 p.m.

Rated: Not rated

Runtime: 136 minutes

Language: in Spanish, Italian, English with English subtitles

Directed by: Fernando Trueba.

Starring: Javier Cámara, Nicolás Reyes Cano, Juan Pablo Urrego

Memories of My Father follows the life of a doctor and human rights activist concerned with both his own children and the children of the underprivileged classes in the violent 1970s in Colombia. Driven by sadness and rage when a terrible illness takes the life of one of his daughters, he devotes himself to the social and political causes of the time, without regard to his personal safety. This is an intimate story seen through the eyes of his only son, one of the most outstanding writers in contemporary Colombia.

The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile

Show times: Feb. 23 at noon

Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m., March 1 at 2:45 p.m., March 2 at 7:45 p.m., March 9 at 2:30 p.m.

Rated: R

Runtime: 108 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Kathlyn Horan

Trailblazing country music legend Tanya Tucker defied the standards of how a woman in country music was supposed to behave. Decades after Tanya slipped from the spotlight, rising music star Brandi Carlile takes it upon herself to write an entire album for her hero based on Tanya’s extraordinary life, spurring the greatest comeback in country music history. The Return of Tanya Tucker follows Tanya’s richly creative and bumpy ride back to the top. Using rare archival footage and photographs to delve into Tanya’s history, this documentary is a rousing exploration of an unexpected friendship built on the joy of a perfectly timed creative collaboration.

RRR

Show times: Feb. 18 at 4 p.m., Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., Feb. 27 at 2:30 p.m., March 1 at 11:30 a.m., March 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Rated: Not rated

Runtime: 187 minutes

Language: in Telugu, English with English subtitles

Directed by: S.S. Rajamouli.

Starring: N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan Teja, Ajay Devgn

Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes, RRR centers around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, their fictional friendship and their fight against the British empire. Set in the 1920s, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country. The film while based on historical events is based on the imaginary relationship they could have had. RRR is a movie with big action, compelling twists, and endearing characters. By embedding real history and struggle within this epic saga, it takes on an elevated flair that stays with the viewer long after the credits have rolled.

She Said

Show times: Feb. 21 at noon, Feb. 25 at 9:45 p.m., Feb. 27 at 4 p.m., March 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Rated: R

Runtime: 129 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Maria Schrader.

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson

Starring two-time Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, She Said follows two New York Times reporters, who together with heroic women broke one of the most important stories in a generation—a story that helped propel the #Metoo movement, shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and altered American culture forever.

The Son

Show times: Feb. 22 at noon, Feb. 25 at 2:15 p.m., Feb. 28 at noon, March 4 at 7 p.m., March 6 at 2 p.m.

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 123 minutes

Language: in English

Directed by: Florian Zeller.

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby

Starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern and Sir Anthony Hopkins, The Son centers on Peter, whose hectic life is upended when his ex-wife appears at his door to discuss their son, who is now a teenager. The young man has been missing school for months and is deeply troubled. Peter strives to take care of his son as he would have wanted his own father to have taken care of him while juggling his new son, and an offer of a dream position in Washington. However by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto him in the present.

Tár

Show times: Feb. 19 at 7:15 p.m., Feb. 24 at noon, March 2 at 2:30 p.m., March 6 at 4:30 p.m., March 9 at 2:15 p.m.

Rated: R

Runtime: 158 minutes

Language: in English, German, Filipino with English subtitles

Directed by: Todd Field.

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss

Nominated for three Golden Globes including Best Picture and starring Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, Tár, follows a groundbreaking conductor of a major German Orchestra at the height of her career. As she prepares both a book launch and much-anticipated live performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, her life begins to unravel in a singularly modern way. The result is a searing examination of power, and its impact and durability in today’s society.

Triangle of Sadness

Show times: Feb. 18 at 9:30 p.m., Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 25 at 7 p.m., March 2 at 5 p.m., March 4 at 9:30 p.m., March 7 at 2:30 p.m.

Rated: R

Runtime: 147 minutes

Language: Akan, English, Swedish with English subtitles

Directed by: Ruben Östlund Starring: Woody Harrelson, Thobias Thorwid, Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Triangle of Sadness is a wicked comedy about social hierarchy and what happens when that is turned upside down, revealing the tawdry relationship between power and beauty. Celebrity model couple, Carl and Yaya, are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain. What first appeared instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival.

The Whale

Show times: Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m., Feb. 24 at 9 p.m., Feb. 28 at 2:30 p.m., March 3 at noon, March 5 at 7 p.m.

Rated: R

Runtime: 117 minutes

Language: in English

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky.

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins

Featuring a scene stealing performance from beloved actor Brendan Fraser and directed by Darren Aranofsky, The Whale follows a reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption. What transpires is a harrowing story of empathy, compassion and healing.