One Book/One Bucks Film Series

FILM SERIES

James A. Michener Art Museum
138 S. Pine St. 215-340-9800

Europa, Europa January 23, 3:00 PM
Award winning film directed by Agnieska Holland, 1990, 112 min.
With his mother’s parting words ringing in his ears, fourteen-year-old Solomon Perel set out from Nazi-occupied Poland hoping to find safety across the Soviet frontier. Like large numbers of other Jews fleeing the Germans, Perel faced staggering odds against his survival. What actually transpired was far different from what anyone could have imagined. By a startling twist of fate, the young Jew found unexpected refuge….as a student in an elite Hitler Youth School. With searing power and passion Europa, Europa recounts Solomon Perel’s harrowing struggle living a nightmare from which there seemed no escape.

Au revoir les enfants (Goodbye, children) February 13, 3:00 PM
A film by Louis Malle, in French with English subtitles, 103 mins.
Based on the director’s life, this film chronicles Malle’s experiences during the German occupation of France in World War II. Julien (Malle) is twelve-years-old, and the smartest boy in his class at boarding school when a new student appears. The two form a friendship even though Julien senses that there is something different about his new friend.

Night and Fog March 6, 3:00 PM
In French with English subtitles, 30 minutes
Director, Alain Resnais, producer, Edouard Muszka; based on the book Tragedie de la deportation by Olga Wormser and Henri Michel. Combines film footage and photos shot inside Nazi concentration camps and scenes of the death camps taken ten years after the war, with narration describing the horrors that took place there.

Into the Arms of Strangers: stories of the Kindertransport April 10, 3:00 PM
Warner Bros. Films presents a Sabine Films, Skywalker, produced with the cooperation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, producer, Deborah Oppenheimer; written and directed by Mark Jonathan Harris, 117 minutes.
The life-affirming tale of 10,000 children saved from Hitler’s grasp and placed with foster parents and hostels in Great Britain at the outbreak of World War II. Includes footage and decades later remembrances of both the rescuers and the rescued.

Chuck Jones – Extremes and In-Betweens, a Life in Animation, April 24, 3:00 PM
Jones is the best known of the Warner Brothers legendary animators. Winner of 3 Oscars and the Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, he is also the most honored. He redefined “character animation” creating the screen personas of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Road Runner and Pepe LePew. This documentary contains clips that span his career, from his Disneyesque cartoons to the post-Warners book adaptations of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Dot and the Line”. 90 minutes

Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked April 17, 2:00 PM
The History Channel, 100 mins
Industry insiders like Stan Lee and Neil Gaiman reflect on the way their colorful creations reflect society at large. Comics have spread from the pulpy pages of nickel comics to Saturday morning cartoons, the big screen and beyond. They have evolved from simple, All-American heroes to tortured, complicated characters reflecting the dreams, desires and fears of modern society. From Superman to The Sandman, Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked is a fascinating, feature-length look at the evolution of an art form that has proved remarkable adaptable and enduring.

Stan Lee: ComiX-Man May 1, 2:00 PM
The History Channel (Biography), 50 minutes
He is the man behind comic legends like Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and the X-Men. His revolutionary approach transformed comic books forever. Stan Lee might not be a household name, but his creations are. The man who rose from a functionary in a distant relative’s publishing house to become editor-in-chief and chairman of the board of Marvel Comics invented some of the most famous superheroes of all time. And by giving them human failings and weaknesses, he rewrote the rules for his industry. The film chronicles the life of the real superhero of the comic world. Interviews with artists who drew Lee’s characters and other employees capture the magic of Marvel’s heyday. Includes classic original art from some of the most significant comics.

Lost Childhood: the story of the Birkenau boys May 15, 2:00 PM
SVE & Churchill Media, produced by Rich Newberg and Mike Mombrea, written and narrated by Rich Newberg, 48 mins.
A group of Holocaust survivors – some of the 89 Jewish boys spared by Dr. Joseph Mengele to live as slave laborers in the Birkenau death camp – return to Europe fifty years later. They recount their experiences in the camp, their survival tactics and coping mechanisms, and the emotional scars they still carry.

Bucks County Free Library
Levittown Branch Library
7311 New Falls Rd.
215-949-2324

Unbreakable April 20, 6:30 PM
Touchstone Pictures, produced by Barry Mendel and Sam Mercer, written and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, 1 hr.47mins.
David Dunn is the sole survivor of a horrific train crash that killed 131. Everyone, especially David, is wondering how that could be possible. Soon, David is approached by comic book specialist Elijah Prince, who confronts David with an incredible theory that just might explain the situation. Rating:PG-13

American Splendor April 27, 6:30 PM
HBO Films in association with Fine Line Features presents a Good Machine production, film by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, produced by Ted Hope; written and directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman. Starring Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, Judah Friedlander. Based on the comic book series “American Splendor” by Harvey Pekar and “Our Cancer Year” by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner.
Pekar is a frustrated file clerk working at the local V.A. Hospital. He is also a comic book fan who befriends the young illustrator Robert Crumb and is soon inspired to create comic books based on his own life. Along his bumpy journey he meets, marries and fall in love with Joyce, an admiring comic book seller. Rating - R

Comic Book Confidential May 11, 6:30 PM
Sphinx Productions, film by Ron Mann; producers, Ron Mann, Don Haig, Martin Harbury, Charles Lippencott; director Ron Mann, 1 hr. 25 mins. Special features: Artist bios; interview with Ron Mann; Comic book archive: a story by each featured artist.
Combines historical footage, interviews, animation and live action to trace the history of comic books from 1933 to 1988. Twenty-two significant comic artists and writers are discussed: Lynda Barry, Charles Burns, Sue Coe, Robert Crumb, Will Eisner, Al Feldstein, Shary Flenniken, William m. Gaines, Bill Griffith, Jaime Hernandez, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, Stan Lee, Paul Mavrides, Frank Miller, Victor Moscoro, Francoise Mouly, Dan O’Neill, Harvey Pekar, Gilbert Shelton, Spain, Art Spiegelman