DCist’s highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
The long collaboration between the Maysles brothers and larger-than-life artists Jeanne-Claude & Christo ended up producing six films, in which the iconic documentarians chronicled the often difficult paths the couple had to take to realize their massive environmental art projects. Umbrellas was the first of the two films done by Albert Maysles after the death of his brother David (the second being 2008’s The Gates. In it, Maysles’ camera observed as Jeanne-Claude & Christo undertook a project, six years in the making, that sought to erect 3100 huge, 20 foot tall, quarter-ton umbrellas, half of them near Japan’s Pacific coast, in blue, and the other set, in yellow, across the sea in California.
As was the normal format for these films, Maysles’ approach was to hang back during as much of the organization and implementation of the project as possible, showing the day-to-day drama that unfolded. The Maysles were unapologetic fans of the sometimes controversial pair, and that affinity comes through here, as it usually does in these films. Affection didn’t prevent them from showing some of the worst moments of the project, however, including the tragedy that unfolded after the umbrellas killed a California woman near the end of the exhibit’s planned duration. The artists decided to close the exhibit early, and during the dismantling, a Japanese worker was also electrocuted and killed.
Tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. Free.
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The Heart of the Sea: Kapolioka’ehukai
Rell Sunn is a legend in the surfing world, a prodigy of the waves who broke down perceptions that competitive surfing was a man’s game. Sunn helped found the Women’s Professional Surfing Association, and was the first female lifeguard ever in the state of Hawaii.
Following a diagnosis of breast cancer at the peak of her career, she became an icon of a different kind, working tirelessly to advance cancer research and promote prevention and early detection of the disease. Heart of the Sea (the translation of Sunn’s Hawaiian middle name, Ka-polioka’ehukai) was made in 1997, the year before Sunn’s death. The film is being presented at the Smithsonian’s American Indian Museum as part of their “Dinner and a Movie” series. The feature will be preceded by Haku Inoa: To Weave a Name, a short film in which director Christen Marquez (who will be on hand for a discussion) investigates the meaning of her Hawaiian name.
Saturday evening. Dinner is from 5-7 at the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe, and the film begins at 7 p.m. at the Smithsonian’s American Indian Museum. A-la-carte dinner for a fee. Film screening is free, but reservations are required.
