Brought to Light: Recent Acquisitions to the PFA Collection showcases the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive's role as a repository of rare and endangered film and video

Berkeley, CA, May 11, 2010-(Download a PDF version of this press release.) Film lovers from all over the Bay Area, and many more from around the world, know the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) for its extensive and diverse film programming. What many are less aware of is the institution's crucial role as a film archive. BAM/PFA cares for more than 15,000 films and videos, from the rare and endangered works of American avant-garde and independent filmmakers to historical international films, including a large collection from Japan as well as rare Soviet silents and films from Central Asia. BAM/PFA recently completed an ambitious project, relocating all of these precious holdings to a new temperature- and humidity-controlled vault, thereby helping to ensure their continued care for generations to come. To bring attention to this important milestone, BAM/PFA proudly presents the month-long film series Brought to Light: Recent Acquisitions to the PFA Collection, opening on May 29, 2010, at PFA Theater.

Brought to Light offers a sampling of recent film and video acquisitions to demonstrate the rich diversity of the PFA Collection. From international classics that include Lola Montez and Le bonheur and contemporary documentaries such as Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, to classic anime (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
), monster (The Host) and action movies (The Valiant Ones), Brought to Light offers something for filmgoers of every stripe.

“On average, ten percent of the films we screen from year to year are drawn from the PFA Collection,” says BAM/PFA Senior Film Curator Susan Oxtoby. “Yet managing our collection, acquiring new films, and restoring endangered ones comprises a large part of what we do. We hope Brought to Light brings greater awareness to these important activities, while giving patrons the opportunity to enjoy some of the treasures in our PFA Collection on the big screen.”

Brought to Light: Recent Acquisitions to the PFA Collection
May 29 through June 23, 2010

Saturday, May 29
8:50 p.m. The Valiant Ones
King Hu (Hong Kong, 1975) New Print
A righteous husband-and-wife swordfighting duo is called to protect China from the machinations of Japanese pirates and corrupt officials in Hu's masterly work, presented in a new print. (92 mins)


Sunday, May 30
5:00 p.m. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Hayao Miyazaki (Japan, 1984) New Print
A new print of an animated classic, with all the hallmarks of Miyazaki: a resourceful heroine, spectacular aerial scenes, and strong environmental themes. English-subtitled print; recommended for ages ten and up. (116 mins)


Sunday, May 30
7:15 p.m. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Alex Gibney (U.S., 2005)
This Oscar-nominated film chronicles the rise and spectacular fall of a corporate giant, and the government policies that made disaster possible. “A chilling, completely fascinating documentary that reveals the face of unregulated greed.”-L.A. Times (113 mins)


Thursday, June 3
7:00 p.m. Aventurera
Alberto Gout (Mexico, 1949)
Cuban-born rumba queen Ninón Sevilla stars in an irresistible fusion of pulsating musical and noirish melodrama. “Breathlessly paced and acted with nostrils in full flare, Aventurera is as entertaining as it is shamelessly excessive.”-N.Y. Times (99 mins)


Saturday, June 5
8:00 p.m. Lola Montez
Max Ophuls (France/Germany, 1955) New Print
In Max Ophuls's audacious final film, a life of passion becomes the stuff of carnival. “The ultimate cinephilic object: a color-and-CinemaScope dream.”-Boston Phoenix (116 mins)


Sunday, June 6
5:00 p.m. La Pointe Courte
Agnès Varda (France, 1954) New Print
Made on a shoestring budget in a small fishing village, Varda's first feature helped usher in the French New Wave. (90 mins)


Thursday, June 10
7:00 p.m. Le bonheur
Agnès Varda (France, 1965) New Print
Varda's strikingly colorful, lyrical film examines a love triangle within a circular structure. (85 mins)


Saturday, June 12
5:00 p.m. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Judy Irving (U.S., 2005)
Judy Irving and Mark Bittner in Person
Irving's very San Franciscan story of a once-homeless man and the birds he befriended “seduces you with its easy rhythm and unexpected dramatic potency . . . beguiling, moving, and just plain fun.”-Baltimore Sun (83 mins)


Friday, June 18
9:15 p.m. The Host
Bong Joon-ho (South Korea, 2006)
“A horror thriller, a political satire, a dysfunctional family comedy, and a touching melodrama, The Host is also one helluva monster movie.”-Chicago Sun-Times (119 mins)


Saturday, June 19
9:15 p.m. Payday
Daryl Duke (U.S., 1972)
Rip Torn gives the performance of a lifetime as a country singer on tour through the South, and on the road to ruin. (102 mins)

Wednesday, June 23
7:00 p.m. Forest of Bliss
Robert Gardner (U.S., 1985) New Print
Ethnographic filmmaker Gardner offers a mesmerizingly beautiful portrayal of Benares, India, where daily life is permeated by the rituals of death. (90 mins)

Adult (18-64) General Admission: $9.50
UC Berkeley Staff, Seniors (65+), Disabled Persons, Youth (17 & under), and Non-UC Berkeley Students: $6.50
BAM/PFA Members and UC Berkeley Students: $5.50

Pacific Film Archive Theater
2575 Bancroft Way near Bowditch Street
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 642-1124 / bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries

About BAM/PFA
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) is the visual arts center of the University of California, Berkeley, one of the nation's leading research universities. BAM/PFA aims to inspire the imagination and ignite critical dialogue through contemporary and historical art and film, engaging audiences from the campus, Bay Area community, and beyond. One of the largest university art museums in the United States in both size and attendance, BAM/PFA presents fifteen art exhibitions and five hundred film programs each year. The museum's collection of more than 15,000 works, distinguished by artistic excellence and innovation, intellectual exploration, and social commentary, includes exceptional examples of mid-twentieth-century painting,
including important works by Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, Eva Hesse, and Mark Rothko, as well as historical and contemporary Asian art, early American painting, Conceptual and contemporary international art, and California and Bay Area art. The PFA film and video collection now includes the largest group of Japanese films outside of Japan, as well as impressive holdings of Soviet silents, West Coast avant-garde cinema, seminal video art, rare animation, Central Asian productions, Eastern European cinema, and international classics.

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