The Detroit Institute of Arts

Welcome to the 2008 Detroit Film Theatre
For 2008, we're pleased to present one of the most exciting and wide-ranging lineups in our history, featuring a number of extraordinary new breakthrough works discovered at film festivals worldwide, as well as a selection of superbly restored classics from both the recent and distant past. While some of the most exciting discoveries were created by directors whose names are not yet widely known (an example being the brilliant Persepolis, co-directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud), many of the world's most celebrated directors are represented here too — including Jonathan Demme, Barbet Schroeder, Werner Herzog, John Sayles, Charles Burnett, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Alain Resnais, Jacques Rivette and Charles Chaplin.

Additionally, we're honored to be presenting a four-feature retrospective of classics by Senegalese master Ousmane Sembène, who died last year at the age of 84. Sembène's visit to the Detroit Film Theatre in 1993 will long be remembered as an extraordinary event; he touched many lives in those few days, and his films came as a revelation to the large audiences that were enthralled by them day after day.

Sembène was a longshoreman and a union organizer, then a novelist of considerable repute before becoming a filmmaker. His background was a major influence on his films, which reflect a unique mixture of sophistication and directness, and an often-controversial avoidance of simplistic notions regarding post-colonial Africa. Sembène's career has evidenced a remarkable mastery of a wide range of styles and modes, including semi-documentary (Black Girl), satire (Xala), historical epic (Ceddo), and biting social commentary (Moolaadé). His nine feature films and various short films tended to focus on identity problems encountered by Africans caught between Africa and Europe, tradition and modernization. All are among the most fascinating films of the modern era.

Click here to download the current DFT schedule in PDF format.