[FILM] Pere Portabella - A Survey

Francisco Rabal and Silvia Pinal in Luis Buñuel's VIRIDIANA.  Credit: Janus Films.  Playing 4/24 - 4/30.

In conjunction to the retrospective of the painter Joan Miró, the Tate Modern in London is showing a survey of films by the Catalan director Pere Portabella. His films, many made alongside his frequent collaborator Luis Buñuel, are distinct, revolutionary testaments to individual freedom and liberty in the ugly face of tyranny–namely General Francisco Franco.  "Portabella's radical experimentation with the limits and conventions of image, sound and genre is echoed in his eloquent critique of state repression and political indifference. His use of structural materialist devices to loosen the bond between image and referent serves to focus the viewer's attention on their role in the political and cultural processes of the circulation of meaning." On view at the Tate Modern until July 31, 2011. www.tate.org.uk

Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams

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Victor Brauner, Romania/France 1903–66, Loup-table (Wolf-table) 1939, 1947, Wood and taxidermied fox

This June marks the beginning of a unique, expansive exhibit of surrealist artwork in Queensland, Australia. The Gallery of Modern art in Queensland, a land far from the birth of surrealism, is borrowing "the core" of one of the finest and largest collections held at the The Musée national d’art moderne in at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Its a rare occasion in that the collection rarely leaves Paris.  The exhibition presents more than 180 artworks by 56 artists, including paintings, sculptures, ‘surrealist objects’, films, photographs, drawings and collages. Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams is on view June 11 to October 2 at the The Gallery of Modern Art in Queensland - www.qag.qld.gov.au.

Deneuve

BAMcinématek Deneuve

Stunningly beautiful, mysterious, ageless, and possessed by a peerless elegance, Catherine Deneuve is one of the most legendary actresses in all of cinema. Over the course of her 40 year career—from early work with film giants like Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Roman Polanski, Agnès Varda, and Jacques Demy to later films with celebrated contemporary cineastes like François Ozon, Arnaud Desplechin, Raoul Ruiz, and more—Deneuve has played muse for Europe’s greatest filmmakers, channeling her remarkable beauty and compelling eroticism to create some of cinema’s most iconic roles. Presented in collaboration with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Institut Francais, a 25-film tribute to the actress being held at the Brooklyn Academy represents only a sliver of the over 100 films she has appeared in during her career. Deneuve runs from March 4 to March 31.  www.bam.org