THE EYS OF YOUR MOTHER & More Set for Borderline Films Retrospective

The New York-based independent film Production Company Borderline Films was founded in 2003 by NYU Tisch graduates Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, and Josh Mond. Their inventive and atmospheric films are marked by emotional intensity, strong visual style, and mesmerizing and revealing performances. This year, Borderline has received acclaim for Christine, starring Rebecca Hall in an unforgettable performance as Christine Chubbuck, the Florida news reporter who killed herself on air, and for The Eyes of My Mother, the one-of-a-kind horror film that was a standout at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Museum of the Moving Image will present a seven-film retrospective that will include all of Borderline's feature films, with the New York premiere of The Eyes of My Mother with director Nicholas Pesce in person and a special screening of Christine with star Rebecca Hall in person.

"With the critical acclaim around Rebecca Hall's performance and Antonio Campos's direction of the highly topical character study Christine, and the New York premiere of the mesmerizing thriller The Eyes of My Mother, this seemed like a good time to recognize the impressive body of work produced over the past decade by Borderline Films," said David Schwartz, the Museum's Chief Curator.

All screenings take place at Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, NY. Tickets for The Eyes of My Mother and Christine are $15 ($11.25 Museum members at select levels). Tickets for all other films are $12 with discounts for students and seniors and free for Museum members at select levels. See below for full descriptions and schedule. Advance tickets are available online at movingimage.us.

NEW YORK PREMIERE
The Eyes of My Mother
With Nicholas Pesce in person
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Nicholas Pesce. 2016, 76 mins. DCP. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures' Magnet Releasing. With Diana Agostini, Olivia Bond, Will Brill. In their secluded farmhouse, a mother, formerly a surgeon, teaches her daughter to understand anatomy and be unfazed by death. One afternoon, a mysterious visitor horrifyingly shatters the idyll of their family life, traumatizing the girl, but also awakening unique curiosities. Shot in crisp black-and-white, the haunting, and at times disturbing, compositions of The Eyes of My Mother contribute to the film's unique atmosphere. IndieWire called it "the discovery of this year's Sundance Film Festival."
Tickets: $15 ($11.25 Museum members/Free for Silver Screen and above.)

Two Gates of Sleep
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2:00 P.M.
Dir. Alistair Banks Griffin. 2010, 78 mins. Digital projection. With Brady Corbet, David Call, Ross Francis. Somewhere on the Mississippi-Louisiana border, brothers Jack and Louis prepare for their mother's imminent death. Their communication limited to glances, they hunt a gorgeous animal, cook a special meal, and share last moments of quiet intimacy with the woman who bore them. Once she dies, they ignore society's expectations and undertake an arduous journey to bury her along the riverbank. Ants swarm in the dirt, trees form a green cathedral, and the brothers step deeper into the muddy river. This visual meditation on nature, death, and tradition paints a shattering portrait of a family overcoming extraordinary circumstances to honor a final request.

Afterschool
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 4:00 P.M.
Dir. Antonio Campos. 2008, 120 mins. Digital projection. With Ezra Miller, Jeremy Allen White, Emory Cohen. Robert is a young American student at an elite East Coast preparatory school. When he accidentally captures on camera the horrific death of two girls, he is tasked with memorializing their lives in a film meant to help speed up the school's healing process. For some, this exercise only deepens the trauma.

Christine
With Rebecca Hall in person
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Antonio Campos. 2016, 115 mins. DCP. With Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracey Letts. "If it bleeds, it leads." It is this sentiment that Christine Chubbuck, a Sarasota, Florida news reporter, evoked when she committed suicide on live television on July 15, 1974. This richly nuanced and absorbing character study features a mesmerizing and richly textured performance by Rebecca Hall, who brings equal parts intensity and mystery to the role. "By turns coolly observed and disquietingly compassionate-qualities that also describe Rebecca Hall's brilliant central performance," wrote Justin Chang in The Los Angeles Times.
Tickets: $15 ($11.25 Museum members/Free for Silver Screen and above.)

James White
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 3:00 P.M.
Dir. Josh Mond. 2015, 85 mins. Digital projection. With Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi. James White stars Christopher Abbott in a frenetic coming-of-age story about a young New Yorker struggling to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Critic Scott Foundas wrote in Variety, "Mond's fraught portrait of a mother and son in crisis sports a pair of KNOCKOUT performances by Cynthia Nixon and Girls alumnus Christopher Abbott, and a vivid feel for wayward New York youths cocooned by upper-middle-class privilege."

Simon Killer
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 5:00 P.M.
Dir. Antonio Campos. 2012, 101 mins. Digital projection. With Brady Corbet, Mati Diop, Lila Salet. Recently heartbroken, Simon (Brady Corbet) travels to Paris to clear his head. After several days of wandering aimlessly, he finds himself drawn into a sex parlor and has an encounter with an exotic prostitute, Victoria (Mati Diop). The chemistry builds between the two until they find themselves in a serious relationship, one that leads to blackmail, betrayal, and the ultimate revelation of Simon's true nature.

Martha Marcy May Marlene
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Sean Durkin. 2011, 102 mins. Digital projection. With Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes. This spellbinding drama about a woman who escapes from a polygamous cult and struggles to reconnect with her family after years of abuse and estrangement was one of the year's most riveting independent films, an impressive feature debut by Sean Durkin. The remarkable ensemble cast is headed by Elizabeth Olsen's haunting performance, which is at once fierce and quietly mysterious.