Some Kind of Heaven is currently available to watch at FACETS Virtual Cinema until February 4. For an interesting double feature, we suggest Jasper Mall, the new documentary about a slowly dying mall in the small town of Jasper, Alabama.   Some Kind of Heaven Directed by Lance Oppenheim Director Lance Oppenheim’s debut feature Some Kind of Heaven explores life inside America’s largest retirement community, The Villages. Known as the “Disneyland for Retirees,” this planned colony is home to over 130,000 mostly white seniors, who are provided with every medical convenience and a utopian vision of the American yesteryear: safe streets, manicured lawns, and countless activities—including canasta games

Savage State is currently available to watch at FACETS Virtual Cinema until January 21. For a captivating double feature, we suggest Meek’s Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt’s 2010 Western with a star studded cast who give career defining performances. Savage State Directed by David Perrault French director David Perrault’s sophomore feature takes place in 1863, St. Louis, Missouri and follows a French family, attempting to abide by Napoleon’s strict rule of neutrality in the American Civil War. When American soldiers occupy the city and new laws disrupt the family’s ability to remain impartial, they make the difficult decision to return to France. Eschewing conventional Civil War narratives that

Watch newly released independent and international films at FACETS Virtual Cinema here. If you’ve ever found yourself scrambling to watch the year’s best films before it’s over and award season sneaks up, you might ask yourself, “how in the world did I miss this many great films?” When every critic releases a Best of the Year list and deems a handful of new films essential, it’s no wonder the recommendations can pile up. Even in 2020, where we spent a majority of the year inside planted in front of a screen, the amount of great films available could tend to feel overwhelming for

Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-liang’s 1998 film, The Hole, is an eerie analog to the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. It is available to watch until October 1 at the FACETS Virtual Cinema.  As we predicted not too long ago, the COVID-19 crisis is already beginning to produce a number of films directly inspired by the ongoing global pandemic. Hollywood is reopening and producers simply don’t know what to do with themselves. A heist film/romantic comedy starring Anne Hathaway called Lockdown? Why not! What is perhaps more interesting and assuredly less depressing than observing the modern state of quarantine filmmaking is exploring what came before

Before the Fire is a tense and personal portrait of life during a pandemic for our heroine, Ava. It is currently available to rent from the FACETS Virtual Cinema until August 27.  In March, when the COVID-19 induced stay-at-home orders began, two distinct groups of people emerged: those who watched Contagion immediately, and those who avoided it like the plague (pun intended).  Other pandemic films came before it, sure, but Steven Soderbergh’s meticulous 2011 epic seems to have eerily predicted the coronavirus pandemic about a decade in advance, leading to its go-to status for many Americans. It explores the global political implications

Watching The Wolf House is a strange, singular experience, but film history is full of surreal animation. So we’ve put together a watchlist featuring films that influenced The Wolf House for you to check out after seeing the film. Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña’s feat of animation and political filmmaking, The Wolf House (2018), was shot entirely at art galleries and museums, allowing patrons to witness the creation of this surrealist masterpiece. The anti-colonialist allegory is fully realized by the young directors through its unique blend of artistic mediums. (Learn more about the filmmakers’ process in this free Q&A hosted by the