Spring Film Series begins in February

The Churchill Arts Council begins its Spring Film Series next month with “K-19: The Widowmaker” at Barkley Theatre, Oats Park Art Center.

Kathryn Bigelow directed all three movies, big box-office hits.

The box office, Art Bar and galleries open at 6 p.m. with the movie beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7, members; $10 nonmembers. A movie special offers the three movies for $18 members and $27 for nonmembers. Tickets are available at the box office on the night of screening or call CAC at 775-423-1440.

“K-19: The Widowmaker” (2002), Friday, Feb. 8: Reminiscent of such submarine dramas as Das Boot, a real-life historical incident became the basis for this military thriller.

From director Kathryn Bigelow and starring Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and Peter Sarsgaard, the film is about the first of many disasters that befell the nuclear Soviet missile submarine K-19 at the height of the Cold War. The screenplay was adapted by Christopher Kyle, based on a story written by Louis Nowra, based on real life events depicted in a book by Peter Huchthausen, and was internationally co-produced between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.

“The Hurt Locker” (2008), Friday, Feb. 15: Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, this war thriller stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce.

The film follows an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are targeted by insurgents, and shows their psychological reactions to the stress of combat, which is intolerable to some and addictive to others. Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to write the screenplay.

The Hurt Locker was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, making it the first Best Picture winner by a female director; Bigelow also became the first female director to win Best Director.

“Zero Dark Thirty” (2012), Friday, Feb. 22: This political-thriller dramatizes what was billed as “the greatest manhunt in history,” the nearly decade-long international manhunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 attacks. This search eventually leads to the discovery of his compound in Pakistan and the military raid that resulted in bin Laden’s death in 2011.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, and starring Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, James Gandolfini and Kyle Chandler, the film received widespread critical acclaim and appeared on 95 critics’ top ten lists of 2012. It was nominated in five categories at the 85th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Chastain, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Editing.

The film also earned Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, with Chastain winning the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.