It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Lawrence Stires, age 93, on June 10, 2023. He leaves behind his partner of 50 years, Paul Pellerin, and two nieces, Susan Elliott and Kimberly Matlack. Larry was the Director of the Language Laboratories at Trinity College in Hartford. He also was the faculty mentor to the Trinity Film Society and taught highly sought-after courses on filmmaking. Larry was a driving force behind the creation of Cinestudio. Founding directors James Hanley and Peter McMorris have expressed that Connecticut’s premiere art cinema would never have existed without his guidance and support. Larry transitioned from the Language Department to working at Cinestudio, involved in everything from programming films to the day-to-day work of a busy theater. He shared his eclectic and encyclopedic knowledge of cinema, enthusiastically passing on his love for everything from silent German films to Fred Astaire to France’s New Wave. Most importantly, he generously offered kindness and friendship to the generations of students and volunteers lucky enough to have known him. Cinestudio is planning to honor the legacy of Larry this coming fall, which will be shared in the coming months.

ASTEROID CITY

June 23 - July 6

Aficionados of Wes Anderson, who gave us Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Fantastic Mr. Fox!, are to be rewarded with a new movie just in time for summer! Described at Cannes as a “comedy-science fiction-love story-drama,” Asteroid City is also a meditation on the meaning of life. It all begins in a Western desert town circa 1955, as the Junior Stargazer Convention invites five brainy student inventors and their parents for a scholastic competition. But with a in real life Alien sighting, the eclectic group is quarantined until the government sees fit. Anderson’s dazzling ensemble cast only begins with Jason Schwartzman, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston and Margot Robbie. “On our confusing planet with random causes to despair, a shy child finding their first peer or an artist searching the cosmos for a connection, simply making contact is so much more than enough.” - Charles Bramesco, The Decider.com.

BIOSPHERE

July 7 - July 12

A mysterious and hilarious new comedy has arrived just in time to kick off the summer with a satisfying edge. The first film written and directed by Seattle’s indie celebrity Mel Eslyn is a buddy film like no other. First, Biosphere has only two characters, brilliantly performed by Sterling K. Brown (Black Panther, This Is Us) and Mark Duplass (Humpday, The Mindy Kaling Show). Secondly, the two men live in a small bio-dome after a catastrophe has annihilated the rest of humankind, where try to keep up normality by cooking, gardening, and playing Super Mario Bros. And lastly, the realization they may be the last two specimens of our species is made blindingly clear by the power of evolution and the arrival of… [the filmmaker specified no spoilers!].

THE BLUE CAFTAN

Thursday, July 13

One Night Only

 In Arabic with English Subtitles

Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco's oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man. Morocco's official entry for Best International Film at the 95th Academy Awards.

THE LEAGUE

July 14 -July 20

Based on the book The Negro Baseball Leagues by Bob Motley and Byron Motley. Baseball is known as America’s pastime, but before trailblazer Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, non-white players were excluded. The essential new film by Academy Award-nominated director Sam Pollard (4 Little Girls) and musician/producer Questlove (Summer of Soul) celebrates the dynamic style of Black baseball – from screwballs to stolen bases -that defines the way the game is played today. With previously unseen archival footage, this buzz-generating documentary pays witness to the legendary Negro Leagues. Born out of segregation, the Leagues thrived from 1920-1948, creating nation-wide community and pride. Some of the greats interviewed are Satchel Paige and Buck O'Neil, as well as Hall of Famers players Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, who started out in the League. Along with great footage of some of the greatest athletes ever to play the game, The League honors Newark Eagle’s

OPPENHEIMER

July 21 - August 3

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer is an IMAX®-shot epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.

The film stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife, biologist, and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer. Oscar® winner Matt Damon portrays General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Downey, Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Academy Award® nominee Florence Pugh plays psychiatrist Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie plays theoretical physicist Edward Teller, Michael Angarano plays Robert Serber, and Josh Hartnett plays pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence.

It has been an exciting cinematic journey this past year; we are so glad you came along. Thank you again for everything you do to support Cinestudio! Please consider making a gift as we close out our books for this fiscal year. Please help us ensure a strong start to the next year as we look to program many more exciting films and events. Your tax-deductible donation is very much appreciated.

-Your Friends At Cinestudio

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