National Gallery of Art Film Series

The free films at the National Gallery of Art East Building Auditorium are back - sort of. The series are intermittant - but an interesting slate of films has been scheduled for August.

Starting in August - Unearthed: Mining on Film features titles from the last 100 years about the environmental and community impacts of mining and other forms of natural resource extraction. Programmed in conjunction with the exhibition Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography.

Ken highly recommends the Pabst film on Sunday 9 August.

• Sat 8 Aug 1:00pm - Giant (1956, dir. George Stevens). Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict (played by Rock Hudson) meets Maryland socialite Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor) and brings her back to his ranch in Texas, where she meets ranch hand Jett Rink (James Dean). Registration required.
  

• Sun 9 Aug 2:00pm - Kameradschaft (1931, dir. G.W. Pabst). Excellent early talkie of trapped French mine workers rescued by German miners. Preceded by an 8-minute short made in 1933 Oil: A Symphony in Motion. Registration required.
  

• Sat 18 Aug 1:00 p.m. - Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award-winning Harlan County, USA unflinchingly documents a coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town. Registration Required.
  

• Sun 16 Aug 2:00pm - two short documentaries. The Miners' Hymns is an homage to the history of coal mining in northeast England.  It uses rarely seen archival footage of the city of Durham and its coalfield, showing the social, cultural, and political aspects of an extinct industry. Followed by Louisiana Story, Robert Flaherty’s iconic documentary feature whicxh follows the practice of midcentury oil extraction alongside the fictionalized day-to-day life of a young Cajun boy who bears witness to that unrelenting expansion. Registration Required.

More information at https://www.nga.gov/calendar/unearthed-mining-film