Martha Coolidge: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The first ever film major at the Rhode Island School of Design, the first female president of the Directors Guild of America, and the first to cast Nicolas Cage as a lead in a feature film, the legendary Martha Coolidge will now be joining the American Cinematheque in-person for another iconic first: our first retrospective devoted to her work as a trailblazing filmmaker.

Coolidge made her initial foray into feature directing with the docudrama NOT A PRETTY PICTURE, inspired by her own experiences as a teenage survivor of sexual assault. Followed up by the cult classic rom-com VALLEY GIRL, in which L.A. teenager Julie reclaims her autonomy and receives her happy ending, Coolidge demonstrates a remarkable ability to capture the shades of experience within girlhood, subvert and embrace genre conventions, and elicit supremely engaging performances. Later films such as REAL GENIUS and THE PRINCE & ME solidify Coolidge’s elite comedy chops. The retrospective also includes screenings of her historical dramas, the Academy Award nominated RAMBLING ROSE and the first theatrical screening of a 35mm print of Emmy Award winning film, INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE, the story of the first black woman nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, which reveal Coolidge’s particular and profound sensitivity to the struggles of American women, as well as ANGIE, LOST IN YONKERS, and OUT TO SEA, whose prints have been graciously lent to the American Cinematheque from the filmmaker herself. Join us as Coolidge takes us on a professionally guided tour through the towering shelves of her own personal cinematic library.