Fall screenings range from Chaplin to Champlain

Scene Here

September 11, 2011|By Loren King, Globe Correspondent

“Movies Matter’’ is the series that launches ArtsEmerson’s fall film program, but it’s also a fitting title for the entire slate of fall film events, series, and festivals at venerable venues including the Brattle Theatre, Harvard Film Archive, Museum of Fine Arts, and Coolidge Corner Theatre. These stalwart screens are now joined by the welcome additions of Emerson College’s Paramount Theatre and Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre, offering rich and diverse programming that in the coming months will feature Chaplin’s silent classics, animated and experimental shorts, and films from an important period in Italy’s history.

The fall film season traditionally kicks off with the Boston Film Festival, now comfortably nestled in the downtown Stuart Street Playhouse; this 27th season brings to audiences six world premieres, a host of visiting filmmakers, and special events such as Boston Filmmakers Night on Sept. 19.

Mark your calendars now for these noteworthy film events on tap for the fall season:

■ SEPT. 16-18, Movies Matter, ArtsEmerson: A weekend celebration with New York Times critic Dave Kehr, who will appear at Emerson College’s Paramount Center Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. Kehr’s four-film series begins with two rare Raoul Walsh films: “Sailor’s Luck’’ (Sept. 16 and 18); “Me and My Gal’’ (Sept. 17); and also on Sept. 17, Walter Hill’s “The Driver’’ (1978) and Wim Wenders’s “The American Friend’’ (1977). www.artsemerson.org

■ SEPT. 16-22, Boston Film Festival, Stuart Street Playhouse: Opens with “Certainty’’ Sept. 16 at 6:45 p.m. with director Peter Askin and writer Mike O’Malley on hand, followed at 8:45 p.m. by “After Fall, Winter’’ with director-writer-producer Eric Schaeffer. Other filmmakers attending include Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side’’) with his baseball documentary “Catching Hell,’’ and Emmy-winner Michael W. King with his documentary “The Rescuers,’’ about diplomats who helped save tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. www.bostonfilmfestival.org

■ SEPT. 16-30, Viva I’talia! The Risorgimento on Screen, Harvard Film Archive: Films depicting military and political events from the crucial decades in the middle of the 19th century when the Italian state took shape, such as Luchino Visconti’s “Senso’’ (1954) on Sept. 16, “Allonsanfan’’ (1974) from Vittorio and Paolo Taviani on Sept. 18, and Rossellini’s “Paisan’’ (1946) on Sept. 23. http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa