2023 SCREENINGS
JULY 28th 2023 | LIBBEY BOWL
WEST COAST PREMIERE
GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI
FILMMAKERS IN ATTENDENCE
FRIDAY
7/28
7:30 PM
Directed by: Alejandra Vasquez, Sam Osborn • Produced By: James Lawler, Luis A. Miranda, Jr., Julia Pontecorvo • Director Of Photography: Michael Crommett • Sound Recordist: Charlie Vela • Editor: Daniela I. Quiroz • Associate Editor: Anna Laroche • Composers: Camilo Lara, Demian Galvez
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In a South Texas high school auditorium, trumpets ring out, thick guitarrón strings thrum, and violin bow hairs snap and swing wildly through the air. This is the world of competitive scholastic mariachi. This energetic documentary captures the highs and lows of Edinburg North High School’s Mariachi Oro as a green team strives for state championship. With tough love, finely tuned empathy, and a fiery passion for the music, Coach Abel Acuña guides the varsity band through a steep competition season and a fraught year in their adolescent lives. Team captains Abby, Marlena, and Bella prove the value of the skills taught in the band room as they navigate life’s challenges on and off the stage with grace, immutable work ethic, and total charm.
2022 | Running time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes | DOCUMENTARY
“This insightful and lively doc tracks the impact on students that come from the opportunity to belong to a collective creative endeavor.”
August 11th 2023 | LIBBEY BOWL
THE PRINCESS BRIDE
FRIDAY
8/11
7:30 PM
Directed by: Rob Reiner • Written by: William Goldman • Produced by: Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman • Music: Mark Knopfler • Producers: Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman • Cinematography: Adrian Biddle • Music: Mark Knopfler • Editor: Robert Leighton
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A fairy tale adventure about a beautiful young woman and her one true love. He must find her after a long separation and save her. They must battle the evils of the mythical kingdom of Florin to be reunited with each other. Based on the William Goldman novel "The Princess Bride" which earned its own loyal audience.
1987 | Running time: 1 Hour 38 Minutes | CLASSIC
“It has sweetness and sincerity on its side, and when it comes to fairy tales, those are major assets.”
AUGUST 25th 2023 | LIBBEY BOWL
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
FRIDAY
8/25
7:30 PM
Directed by: Gurinder Chadha • Written by: Sarfraz Manzoor, Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges • Produced by: Jane Barclay, Gurider Chadha, Jamal Daniel • Music: A.R. Rahman • Cinematography: Ben Smithard • Editor: Justin Krish
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Javed is a Pakistani teenager who experiences racial and economic turmoil while living in Luton, England, in 1987. He writes poetry to escape his hometown's intolerance and his traditional father's stubborn views. When a classmate introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels between the singer's powerful lyrics and his working-class environment. Springsteen's melodies soon inspire Javed to find his voice and follow his dreams.
2019 | Running time: 1 Hour 58 Minutes | INDEPENDENT
“Blinded by the Light at its best captures the experience being a fan, the pure exhilaration of it, and the sense of your vision opening out to vistas beyond your horizon.”
SEPTEMBER 8th 2023 | LIBBEY BOWL
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
FRIDAY
9/8
7:30 PM
Directed by: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly • Written by: Betty Comden, Adolph Green • Produced by: Roger Edens, Arthur Freed • Music: Lenny Hayton • Cinematography: Harold Rosson • Editor: Adrienne Fazan
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When the transition is being made from silent films to `talkies', everyone has trouble adapting. Don and Lina have been cast repeatedly as a romantic couple, but when their latest film is remade into a musical, only Don has the voice for the new singing part. After a lot of practice with a diction coach, Lina still sounds terrible, and Kathy, a bright young aspiring actress, is hired to record over her voice.
1952 | Running time: 1 Hour 43 Minutes | CLASSIC
“If you’ve never seen it and don’t, you’re bonkers.”
SEPTEMBER 22nd 2023 | LIBBEY BOWL
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
FRIDAY
9/22
7:30 PM
Directed by: Benh Zeitlin • Written by: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin • Produced by: Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald • Music: Dan Romer, Behn Zeitlin • Cinematography: Ben Richardson • Editor: Crockett Doob, Affonso Gonçalves
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Six-year-old Hushpuppy lives with her father, Wink, in a remote Delta community. Wink is a stern taskmaster, but he is preparing his young daughter for the end of the world. When Wink falls mysteriously ill, nature seems to fall ill with him. Temperatures rise, the ice caps melt and fearsome prehistoric beasts called aurochs run loose. Rising waters threaten to engulf their community, sending Hushpuppy in search of her long-lost mother.
2012 | Running time: 1 Hour 33 Minutes | INDEPENDENT
“Beasts of the Southern Wild is like outsider art: patched together with found materials, conjured up by untrained artists (the actors), and evocative of a truly American attitude of eccentricity, boldness, transcendence.”
OCTOBER 6th 2023 | LIBBEY BOWL
WILD LIFE
FRIDAY
10/6
7:30 PM
Directed by: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth, Chai Vasarhelyi • Produced by: Anna Barnkes, Jimmy Chin, Bob Eisenhardt • Music: Juan Luqui, Gustavo Santaolalla • Cinematography: Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin • Editor: Bob Eisenhardt, Adam Kurnitz
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Wild Life chronicles the close relationship of conservationist Kris Tompkins, the first CEO of outdoor brand Patagonia, and her husband Douglas Tompkins, an outdoorsman and entrepreneur who founded The North Face and co-founded Esprit. Together, spanning decades of work, they created national parks throughout Chile and Argentina and preserved one of the last wild places on Earth by making the largest private land donation in history.
2023 | Running time: 1 Hour 33 Minutes | DOCUMENTARY
“Wild Life is committed in equal measure to the formidable challenges of land preservation and self-preservation.”
APRIL 14th 2023 | OJAI RANCHO INN
SPECIAL SCREENING
FIREBALL:
VISITORS FROM DARKER WORLDS
FRIDAY
4/14
7:30 PM
Directed by Werner Herzog + Clive Oppenheimer
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Since before we existed, meteors have haunted our planet. Over billions of years, extraterrestrial bombardments have reshaped the very nature of our planet, causing species to perish or flourish — and perhaps even seeding the initial building blocks for life on Earth. Today we can still hear the echo of these meteor impacts ringing through culture, mythology, and scientific research. Fireball takes viewers into the mystery at the heart of these fallen stones, exploring their origins and their impacts on civilization.
2020 | Running time: 97 Minutes | PG | DOCUMENTARY
“Alive with jaw-dropping, soul-stirring beauty.”