Abington Journal

Dietrich Theater’s Winter Fest 2018 set for Feb. 16 through March 8

TUNKHANNOCK — This year’s Winter Fest at the Dietrich Theater, set for Friday, Feb. 16 through Thursday, March 8, aims to bring relevancy to the screen.

“Film is a great representation of the microcosm of our society and how we deal with tough issues and conflicting ideas,” said Ronnie Harvey, Dietrich film booker, in a news release. “This year’s Winter Fest is a shining reflection of our society and the issues we are grappling with as a nation. Whether it be the refugee crisis in ‘Human Flow,’ the climate change debate in ‘Bill Nye: The Science Guy,’ the women’s movement in ‘Dolores and The Divine Order,’ or racism and its effect on our society in ‘Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri,’ our Winter Fest films offer a glimpse into those realities and how best to deal with them in an inescapable politically charged future.”

Winter Fest will kick off with the Opening Night Gala on Friday, Feb. 16, the only part of the festival for which reservations are needed. They can be made by calling by calling the Dietrich at 570-996-1500.

The evening will feature two movies, along with beer, wine, cheese and crackers, fruit, popcorn and the theater’s signature brownie dessert. The opening night films are “Lady Bird,” the acclaimed mother and daughter story starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” starring Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson. These and the other 19 foreign and independent films will have multiple showings during the 21-day event.

A Post Festival Film Discussion is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, March 9, at which Harvey will give everyone a chance to talk about their favorites.

The Winter Fest 2018 schedule is as follows. Movies are in English, unless otherwise noted.

“Aida’s Secret “

Show times: 2:30 p.m. Feb. 20, 2:15 p.m. Feb. 27 and 12 p.m. March 3

Rating: NR

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Alon & Shaul Schwarz

In this documentary, the discovery of records from WWII sparks a family’s quest for answers, as two brothers separated as babies reunite with each other and their elderly mother, who hid more from them than just each other.

“Bill Nye: Science Guy”

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 21, 12 p.m. March 2 and 5 p.m. March 5

Rating: NR

Runtime: 101 minutes

Directed by: David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg

Bill Nye pledged his life to science and was a popular voice to kids of the 90s with his science show “Bill Nye: The Science Guy.” In this new documentary, Bill sets out to accomplish the task of his inspiration Carl Sagan, to enlighten and teach people about science.

“Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story”

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 22, 12 p.m. Feb. 28, 2:15 p.m. March 2 and 2:45 p.m. March 4

Rating: NR

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Alexandra Dean

Starring: Nino Amareno, Charles Amirkhanian, Jeanine Basinger

Hedy Lamarr, the screen siren who was called “the most beautiful woman in the world,” starred alongside Hollywood giants like Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable. Her impact, however, was far greater than that due to her invention of a wireless form of communication called “frequency hopping,” which helped create a secret radio system that allowed Allied forces to torpedo Nazi U-Boats.

“Breathe”

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 19, 12 p.m. Feb. 23, 4:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and 7:15 p.m. March 5

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 118 minutes

Directed by: Andy Serkis

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville

The true love story between Robin and Diana Cavendish, an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease when Robin is struck down by polio at the age of 28.

“Call Me By Your Name”

Show times: 7 p.m. Feb. 18, 2:15 p.m. Feb. 21, 9:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 7 p.m. Feb. 25, 2:30 p.m. March 1, 7:30 p.m. March 6 and 4:30 p.m. March 7

Rating: R

Runtime: 132 minutes

Language: English and Italian

Directed by: Luca Guadagnino

Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg

A precocious 17-year-old American-Italian spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa in northern Italy. When a charming American scholar arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father, the two discover the beauty of desire.

“Darkest Hour”

Show times: 7 p.m. Feb. 17, 2 p.m. Feb. 19, 5 p.m. Feb. 21, 12 p.m. Feb. 23, 7 p.m. Feb. 27, 4:30 p.m. March 2, 7 p.m. March 4, 12 p.m. March 6 and 4:30 p.m. March 8

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 125 minutes

Directed by: Joe Wright

Starring: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas

The dramatic story of the four weeks in 1940 during which Winston Churchill’s courage to lead changed the course of world history.

“The Divine Order”

Show times: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 12 p.m. March 2 and 2:15 p.m. March 6

Rating: NR

Runtime: 96 minutes

Language: German with English subtitles

Directed by: Petra Biondina Volpe

Starring: Marie Leuenberger, Maximilian Simonischek, Rachel Braunschweig

Nora is a young housewife and mother who lives with her husband and two sons in a quiet Swiss village in 1971. The village and family peace begins to waver when Nora finds her inspiration and puts her in the middle of a revolution for women’s rights.

“Dolores”

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 22, 12 p.m. Feb. 27, 12 p.m. March 1 and 2:15 p.m. March 7

Rating: NR

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Peter Bratt

Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized.

“Faces Places”

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 20, 2:15 p.m. Feb. 28, 2:30 p.m. March 2, 12 p.m. March 5 and 12 p.m. March 7

Rated: PG

Runtime: 89 minutes

Language: French with English subtitles

Directed by: Agnès Varda & JR

Legendary filmmaker and photographer travel the French countryside and encounter people and places that become the subjects of their public art installations. The projects consist of photographic portraits that depict the towns’ inhabitants in a positive and unifying way, and their honest curiosity provides an overarching message about art’s potential to bring people together.

“The Florida Project”

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 17, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 19, 4:30 p.m. Feb. 22, 5 p.m. Feb. 26, 9:15 p.m. March 3, 2:15 p.m. March 5 and 12 p.m. March 8

Rated: R

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Sean Baker

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite

The story of a precocious 6-year-old and her ragtag group of friends, whose summer break is filled with childhood high-jinks and a sense of adventure, while the adults around them struggle with hard times.

“Goodbye Christopher Robin “

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 18, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 22, 7 p.m. Feb. 24, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and 12 p.m. March 8

Rated: PG

107 minutes

Directed by: Simon Curtis

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Kelly Macdonald

A glimpse into the relationship between beloved children’s author A. A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin, whose toys inspired the magical world of Winnie the Pooh.

“Human Flow”

Show times: 2:15 p.m. Feb. 20, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 26 and 12 p.m. March 4

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 140 minutes

Directed by: Ai Weiwei

Featuring intimate testimonials from displaced citizens from all around the world, this film captures the global refugee crisis.

“Jane”

Show times: 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17, 12 p.m. Feb. 19, 7 p.m. Feb. 22, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 25, 12 p.m. March 1, 7 p.m. March 2, 12 p.m. March 6 and 2:30 p.m. March 8

Rated: PG

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Brett Morgen

A portrait of Jane Goodall, a trailblazer who defied the odds to become one of the world’s most admired conservationists. The story of a woman whose chimpanzee research challenged the male-dominated scientific consensus of her time and revolutionized understanding of the natural world.

“Lady Bird”

Show times: Opening Night on Feb. 16, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 18, 2:15 p.m. Feb. 22, 4:30 p.m. Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26, 4:30 p.m. Feb. 28, 7 p.m. March 1, 5 p.m. March 3, 2:30 p.m. March 5 and 7:15 p.m. March 8

Rating: R

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Odeya Rush

Christine, a senior at a Catholic high school, argues all the time with her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mother.

“Loving Vincent”

Show times: 2:30 p.m. Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 24, 12 p.m. Feb. 26, 5 p.m. March 1, 5 p.m. March 4 and 2:30 p.m. March 8

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman

Starring: Douglas Booth, Jerome Flynn, Robert Gulaczyk

The world’s first fully oil painted feature film brings the artwork of Vincent van Gogh to life in an exploration of his complicated life and controversial death.

“Lucky”

Show times: 9:30 p.m. Feb. 17, 4:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 12 p.m. Feb. 27 and 7 p.m. March 3

Rating: NR

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: John Carroll Lynch

Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Ron Livingston

The spiritual journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his desert town.

“Novitiate”

Show times: 5 p.m. Feb. 20, 12 p.m. Feb. 24 and 12 p.m. March 5

Rating: R

Runtime:123 minutes

Directed by: Margaret Betts

Starring: Melissa Leo, Dianna Agron, Margaret Qualley

Raised by a non-religious, single mother in rural Tennessee, a scholarship to Catholic school soon finds Cathleen drawn into the mystery of a life devoted to the servitude of God.

“The Paris Opera”

Show times: 12 p.m. Feb. 20, 12 p.m. Feb. 25 and 2:15 p.m. March 1

Rating: NR

Runtime: 110 minutes

Language: French with English subtitles

Directed by: Jean-Stéphane Bron

An intimate look at what goes on backstage at one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world.

“The Shape of Water”

Show times: 7 p.m. Feb. 23, 9:30 p.m. Feb. 24, 12 p.m. Feb. 26, 9:15 p.m. March 2 and 2:30 p.m. March 6

Rated: R

Runtime: 123 minutes

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon

An other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War-era America. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa is trapped in a life of isolation. Her life is changed forever when she and a co-worker discover a secret classified experiment.

“The Square”

Show times: 4:30 p.m. Feb. 19, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 2:15 p.m. Feb. 26 and 4:30 p.m. March 6

Rated: R

Runtime: 142 minutes

Directed by: Ruben Östlund

Starring: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West

Christian is the respected curator of a contemporary art museum in Sweden, who drives an electric car and supports good causes. But sometimes it is difficult to live up to your own ideals – Christian’s attempts to retrieve his stolen cellphone drag him into many comic and dramatic situations.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Show times: Opening Night on Feb. 16, 4:30 p.m. Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21, 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25, 7 p.m. Feb. 28, at 2:15 p.m. March 3 and 7:15 p.m. March 7

Rating: R

Runtime: 115 minutes

Directed by: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell

After months have passed without an arrest in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed to the town’s revered chief of police.

‘Lady Bird,’ a mother and daughter story starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, is one of two films to be featured at the Dietrich Theater’s Winter Fest Opening Night Gala on Friday, Feb. 16.
https://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ABJ-Film-Fest-1.jpg.optimal.jpg‘Lady Bird,’ a mother and daughter story starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, is one of two films to be featured at the Dietrich Theater’s Winter Fest Opening Night Gala on Friday, Feb. 16. Submitted photo
‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,’ starring Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, is one of two films to be featured at the Dietrich Theater’s Winter Fest Opening Night Gala on Friday, Feb. 16. The film is a darkly comic drama, in which, after months have passed without an arrest in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed to the town’s revered chief of police.
https://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ABJ-Film-Fest-2.jpg.optimal.jpg‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,’ starring Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, is one of two films to be featured at the Dietrich Theater’s Winter Fest Opening Night Gala on Friday, Feb. 16. The film is a darkly comic drama, in which, after months have passed without an arrest in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed to the town’s revered chief of police. Submitted photo
Dietrich Theater’s Winter Fest 2018 set for Feb. 16 through March 8