From iconic masterpieces and silent film gems to modern classics from recent film history: it’s De Cinema’s mission to present film classics as they should be experienced—restored, with live music, on 35mm,… Often contextualised with introductions, aftertalks and Q&As, or film lectures by experts and filmmakers. Our CLASSICS-series travels across continents to bring the rich history of film to the big screen.

HIGHLIGHTS

Former Marine and Vietnam vet Travis Bickle lives in New York City, where he suffers from insomnia and works as a taxi driver at night. When he meets campaign manager Betsy, she becomes a light in the darkness for him. TAXI DRIVER captures in a cinematographic masterpiece what ignorance, loneliness and isolation can do to a person. 5 May, film and art historian and professor Ruben Demasure (University of Antwerp) will give a lecture: ‘New Hollywood’. The screening of Sunday 17 May will be followed by a live podcast recording of Fokke van der Meulen’s FOKCAST.

MÉLODIE EN SOUS-SOL connects two generations of French film stars in a classic heist movie from the heyday of French cinema. Jean Gabin plays Charles, a criminal who, after years in prison, is determined to pull off one last big heist. In Cannes, he sets his sights on the Palm Beach Casino and enlists the help of young Francis, played by Alain Delon, a former cellmate with an arrogant attitude, striking cheekbones, and an unpredictable temperament.

While early city symphonies like BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A GREAT CITY were feverish odes to the metropolis that never sleeps, a certain fatigue set in by the end of the 20th century. In SLACKER, Richard Linklater paints a languid portrait of ‘his’ Austin, Texas—a place where the urban rush gives way to the aimless wander.