Pickford Film Center | more than movies

Apollo 11

“The most perfect movie that will ever be made about its subject, Apollo 11 takes the purest documentary idea imaginable—telling the story of the first journey to the moon and back using only the footage captured in the moment—and rides it all the way home. Conceptually, it’s a masterstroke: Other films have leaned into narration or interviews, while Damien Chazelle’s brooding First Man took a somewhat incidental leap into personal grief.

But by mining a trove of NASA’s archival footage (much of it unseen since 1969 or ever), disciplined filmmaker Todd Douglas Miller places an unmistakable emphasis on the thousands of people who toiled in quiet synchronicity, pulling off America’s greatest mission without a hitch. Apollo 11 will bring you to tears—it’s a reminder of national functionality, of making the big dream happen without ego or divisiveness.” Joshua Rothkopf for Time Out.

Echo in the Canyon

Echo in the Canyon celebrates the explosion of popular music that came out of LA’s Laurel Canyon in the mid-60s as folk went electric and The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and The Mamas and the Papas gave birth to the California Sound.

Featuring Jakob Dylan, the film explores the beginnings of the Laurel Canyon music scene. Dylan uncovers never-before-heard personal details behind the bands and their songs and how that music continues to inspire today. Echo in the Canyon contains candid conversations and performances with Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr, Michelle Phillips, Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Roger McGuinn and Jackson Browne as well as contemporary musicians they influenced such as Tom Petty (in his very last film interview), Beck, Fiona Apple, Cat Power, Regina Spektor and Norah Jones.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Open Caption Wednesday screenings: July 17 at 1:00 PM and 8:25 PM, and July 24 at 6:00 PM.

Jimmie Fails dreams of reclaiming the Victorian home his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. Joined on his quest by his best friend Mont, Jimmie searches for belonging in a rapidly changing city that seems to have left them behind. As he struggles to reconnect with his family and reconstruct the community he longs for, his hopes blind him to the reality of his situation.

A wistful odyssey populated by skaters, squatters, street preachers, playwrights, and other locals on the margins, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a poignant and sweeping story of hometowns and how they’re made—and kept alive—by the people who love them.

The Art of Self-Defense

Open Caption Wednesday screening: July 24 at 6:15 PM.

After a brutal mugging, a man takes up karate to better defend himself but soon falls under the spell of the dojo’s enigmatic leader.

Armstrong

Armstrong is a dramatic and emotional documentary that features never-before-seen family home-movie footage, along with still and moving images that chronicle Neil Armstrong’s incredible life. With the support of the Armstrong family, including his two sons Rick and Mark, the film details his near-death experiences as a fighter pilot in Korea, his test pilot days, the drama and excitement of the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions, and the challenges that followed his extraordinary fame. Narrated by Harrison Ford.

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love tells the beautiful yet tragic love story of Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. Their love began on the idyllic Greek island of Hydra in 1960 as part of a bohemian community of foreign artists, writers, and musicians. The film follows their relationship from the early days on Hydra, a humble time of “free love” and open marriage, to how their relationship evolved when Leonard became a successful musician.