Walker Art Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Dialogue and Retrospective Series with Christopher Nolan: Moving Through Time May 5-24, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS, March 24 2015—The Walker Art Center is pleased to announce special offerings and events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Walker Dialogue and Retrospective series, including Christopher Nolan: Moving Through Time, a full career retrospective May 7-24 and dialogue with Christopher Nolan and Variety chief film critic Scott Foundas on May 5 in the Walker Cinema.
“For 25 years the Walker Dialogue and Retrospective program has presented some of the most innovative and influential filmmakers of our time. Starting with Clint Eastwood in 1990, over sixty guests—Ang Lee, Joel and Ethan Coen, Jane Campion, Steve McQueen, and Jodie Foster to name a few—have discussed their love of cinema with leading critics, writers, and historians,” said Sheryl Mousley, Senior Curator, Film/Video at the Walker. “We are thrilled and honored to celebrate this milestone with Christopher Nolan whose unique vision will play out as we screen all of his feature films, and all from 35mm prints.”
In addition to Christopher Nolan: Moving Through Time, the Walker website will launch a new landing page dedicated to the Dialogue and Retrospective history, a Walker-produced documentary about the program will be on view in the Lecture Room, and a series of crowd-sourced films from past programs will screen in the Walker Cinema this summer. Also, the current exhibition Art at the Center: 75 Years of Walker Collections, celebrating the Walker’s 75th anniversary as a public art center, will feature a special gallery space to view excerpts of the past 25 years of Dialogues.
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: MOVING THROUGH TIME
Exploring universal themes of family, love, and loss as well as the implications of more concretely physical phenomena—gravity, matter, and time—Christopher Nolan is a director whose work is renowned by audiences, critics, and fellow filmmakers alike. First gaining attention in the United States in 2001 with the independent film and Sundance hit Memento, he has maintained his distinctive perspective with his recent films while also enjoying enormous popular attention. He investigates sleep and memory disorders as well as the world of dreams not only through the inner lives of his characters but in the form of parallel or nonlinear narratives (Insomnia, Memento, Inception).
Other films question the illusory nature of reality and, often at the same time, explore the boundaries of the human mind and the physical world (Inception, Interstellar). His nod to film noir (Following) and the early, illusory days of cinema (The Prestige) show him to be a well-known advocate of celluloid. The Walker is pleased to run a full career retrospective of his work on 35mm, plus a stimulating Walker Dialogue between Nolan and Variety chief film critic Scott Foundas.
All films are directed by Christopher Nolan and screened in the Walker Cinema. Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $9 ($7 Walker members, students, and seniors). View all three films in The Dark Knight Trilogy: $20 ($15 Walker members, seniors and students).
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: MOVING THROUGH TIME
May 5-24, 2015
Walker Art Center
FOLLOWING
Thursday, May 7, 7 pm FREE
“A mind-bending psychological journey.” —Criterion Collection
In Nolan’s first feature film, a black-and-white noir thriller, a struggling writer wanders the streets of London searching for inspiration for his novel. Obsessed with fueling his creativity, he ends up entangled in a life of crime after meeting a burglar and accompanying him on his robberies. Nolan originally shot on 16mm stock and used mostly non-actors, carefully rehearsing scenes to limit the amount of takes and film costs. He successfully rendered his nonlinear narrative—a reoccurring device in his later work—on a micro budget. 1998, 69 minutes.
MEMENTO
Friday, May 8, 7 pm
“A brilliant feat of rug-pulling . . . a triumph of mind in the absence of matter.” —New York Times
Suffering from short-term memory loss, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) sets out to unearth his wife’s murderer, taking Polaroid photos and tattooing his progress on his body to track his quest. Each time Shelby has to retrace his steps, so does the audience. While he forgets what has already happened, the viewers must work their way back from the end, putting everyone adrift in time and evoking a new state of mind. 2000, 113 minutes.
INSOMNIA
Saturday, May 9, 7 pm
“Intensely sharp-witted.” —New York Times
Nolan’s first studio feature follows an L.A. detective, Detective Dormer (Al Pacino), to a town in Alaska to solve the murder of a teenage girl during the midnight-sun time of year. Under investigation in his hometown for an undisclosed work conflict and after a foggy accident involving his partner, Dormer starts to mentally unravel and lose sleep during the unending sunny nights. He is more shaken when the girl’s suspected killer (Robin Williams) calls claiming he’s witnessed the accident. 2002, 118 minutes.
THE PRESTIGE
Thursday, May 14, 7 pm FREE
“A thrilling valentine to the art of illusion made by one of the master illusionists of our time—arguably Nolan’s most personal film.” —Film Society Lincoln Center
Two rival magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) in 19th-century England work together as fake audience “volunteers” for a popular stage illusionist. When one makes a terrible mistake that affects the other, a lifelong hatred begins. As they search for the secret to the “Transported Man” trick, the audience must decide who is being deceived. 2006, 130 minutes.
INCEPTION
Friday, May 15, 7 pm
“An astonishment, an engineering feat.” —New Yorker
Master thief Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) leads a team in breaking into the minds of their enemies with a new dream technology. When the head of a Japanese energy company (Ken Watanabe) asks Cobb to go a step further and implant a new idea into the mind of a rival, Cobb agrees so that he can return to his two children in America. But as the crew delves deeper into varying levels of the subconscious, everyone starts to question whether this is reality. 2010, 148 minutes.
INTERSTELLAR
Saturday, May 16, 7 pm
“An exhilarating slalom through the wormholes of Christopher Nolan’s vast imagination.” —Variety
From Christopher Nolan comes the story of a team of pioneers undertaking the most important mission in human history. Academy Award®-winner Matthew McConaughey stars as ex-pilot-turned-farmer Cooper, who must leave his family and a foundering Earth behind to lead an expedition traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars.
BATMAN BEGINS
Friday, May 22, 7 pm
“Batman Begins at last penetrates to the dark and troubled depths of the Batman legend” —Roger Ebert
In Nolan’s reboot of the infamous Batman franchise, he takes us out of Gotham to Asia to learn the real story of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). From his parentless childhood to an equally lonely adulthood wandering the world, Wayne unites with Asian guru Ra’s al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), who transforms him into a member of the League of Shadows. In this notably grittier Batman film, Wayne grapples with the burden of donning several masks, as he begins his one-man battle against crime. 2005, 140 minutes
THE DARK KNIGHT
Saturday, May 23, 7 pm
“They don’t make superhero franchises much darker than this.” —New York Magazine
Nolan’s second installment of the Batman franchise introduces the most disturbing Joker (Heath Ledger) that Gotham City has ever seen. While the other criminals are terrified to act in the dark, the Joker is not. He is freakishly open and evil, forcing his enemies to experience moral dilemmas, while his cackle and dialogue hint at terrible wounds in his past. He repeatedly places Batman (Christian Bale), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in situations that put their ethical decisions to the ultimate test. 2008, 152 minutes.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Sunday, May 24, 2 pm
“A film of grand ambitions and epic achievement.” —TIME
The grand finale in The Dark Knight Trilogy weaves together real-world issues of terrorism, political anarchy, and economic instability as a group of nuclear-armed enemies led by Bane (Tom Hardy) threatens the existence of Gotham City. Batman has been living in reclusion until a sultry Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) lures him into the open when she steals from his mansion. 2012, 165 minutes.
WALKER DIALOGUE: CHRISTOPHER NOLAN WITH SCOTT FOUNDAS
Tuesday, May 5, 8 pm
$30 ($25 Walker members, students and seniors)
Join us in the Walker Cinema to celebrate 25 years of Walker Film Dialogues with acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan. Truly one of the most innovative directors working today, we are pleased to present the retrospective in 35mm along with this illuminating discussion with Variety chief film critic Scott Foundas.
Ticket on-sale date for Retrospective film screenings:
Walker Film Club, Walker Members, and General Public: March 24, 11 am
Ticket on-sale dates for Dialogue:
Walker Film Club: April 7, 11 am
Walker Members: April 14, 11 am
General Public: April 21, 11 am
Tickets are available to Walker Film Club by calling 612-375-7641.
Tickets are available to Walker Members and General Public at walkerart.org/tickets or by calling 612.375.7600.
CROWD-SOURCED SCREENINGS
Summer Nights/Cool Cinema
July 8 – August 12, 2015
The Walker Dialogue and Retrospective 25th anniversary celebration continues in July and August, when a weekly screening series of highlights from past programs will feature many incredible films played at the Walker. The public will choose the screening lineup by voting here now through April 15: http://bit.ly/1MHfZKE.
IN THE GALLERY
Walker Dialogues: 25 Years
Opens May 2, 2015
Watch memorable Walker Dialogue clips starting with Clint Eastwood in 1990 through Steve McQueen in 2013. On three monitors presented in Dan Graham’s sculpture New Space for Showing Videos, this installation, within the exhibition Art at the Center: 75 Years of Walker Collections, is scheduled to run through December 2015.
FREE FILM ON VIEW
WALKER DIALOGUES: A HISTORY
March 31 – April 30, 2015
Lecture Room
Screens daily from 11 am
The Walker-produced documentary is perfect preparation for the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Walker Dialogues, in a conversation between current Film/Video curator Sheryl Mousley and former curator Bruce Jenkins. Starting in 1990 with veteran actor/director Clint Eastwood and up to the most recent, director Steve McQueen in 2013, this piece represents the wide range of talent that has come to the Walker. From worldwide visitors Wim Wenders and Abbas Kiarostami, to animators Timothy and Stephen Quay (The Brothers Quay), to Agnés Varda of the French New Wave, and storytellers Joel and Ethan Coen—the Dialogues offer a unique chance to hear how the 60 guests each contribute to filmmaking. 2014, video, 66 minutes.
Major support to preserve, digitize, and present the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection is generously provided by the Bentson Foundation.
ON THE WEBSITE
In May 2015, the Walker Cinema website will launch an enhanced area devoted to the history of the Walker Dialogues and house the documentary Walker Dialogues: A History. Over fifty Walker-produced brochures and commissioned essays by leading critics and scholars will also be available online, where users will have the ability to search the programs, view past schedules and artist filmographies.
WALKER GALLERY HOURS AND ADMISSIONS
$14 adults; $12 seniors (65+); $9 students (with ID)
Free to Walker members and children ages 18 and under.
Free with a paid event ticket within one week of performance or screening.
Free to all every Thursday evening (5–9 pm) and on the first Saturday of each month (10 am–5 pm).
Enjoy free gallery admission on Thursday nights from 5 to 9 pm.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 11 am–5 pm
Thursday, 11 am–9 pm
Closed Mondays
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Walker Dialogues and Film Retrospectives were launched with support from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and sustained over the past 25 years with generous support from the Regis Foundation and Anita and Myron Kunin.