Stratford Library to host "Great Movies You Missed"

Oscar Winners & Foreign Films Included in Series June 17-21, 2024

The Stratford Library will present its sixteenth annual film festival of little-seen movies, "Great Movies You Missed", beginning. The program is a continuation of the library’s specialized film series which attracts over 1,000 patrons annually. The series is free and open to the public.

"Great Movies You Missed" will highlight five recent, critically acclaimed films that – for whatever reason – did not reach a wide audience during their general release. The festival, which includes two foreign films and several Oscar nominees, will feature film critic Tom Holehan from the Connecticut Critics Circle for commentary prior to the screenings. The complete schedule for "Great Movies You Missed" is:

June 17: "Anatomy of a Fall": For the past year, Sandra, her husband Samuel, and their eleven-year-old son Daniel have lived a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether he was murdered or committed suicide. Samuel's suspicious death is presumed murder, and Sandra becomes the main suspect. What follows is not just an investigation into the circumstances of Samuel's death but an unsettling psychological journey into the depths of Sandra and Samuel's conflicted relationship. Winner of the 2024 Oscar for "Best Original Screenplay". 150 minutes, Rated R

June 18: "All of Us Strangers": One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam (Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal), which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As a relationship develops between them, Adam is preoccupied with memories of the past and finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and the childhood home where his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before. 105 minutes, Rated R.

June 19: "The Zone of Interest": The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp in this critically acclaimed film. Winner of the 2024 Oscar for "Best International Film". 106 minutes, Rated PG-13       

June 20: "Love Lies Bleeding": From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's criminal family. Kristen Stewart and Ed Harris star. 104 minutes, Rated R
               
June 21: "American Fiction": Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts the culture's obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who is fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish "Black" book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. Winner of the 2024 Oscar for "Best Adapted Screenplay". 118 minutes, Rated R

All movies will be shown uncut and in widescreen format at 12 noon each day. The film festival, recommended for adult audiences, will be held in the library’s air-conditioned Lovell Room.

Date: June 17 - 21, 2024.

Venue:
Stratford Library
2203 Main Street
Stratford, CT 06615

For further information, call the Stratford Library’s Public Relations and Programming Office at 203.385.4162 or check its updated website at: www.stratfordlibrary.org.