Jonathan Demme: Heart of Gold

Demme at work on The Manchurian Candidate. Photo: Paramount Pictures/Photofest

by Lindsay Brayton

Jonathan Demme: Heart of Gold is the most comprehensive retrospective to date of the late director’s work. The series showcases the depth of Demme’s cinematic genius with screenings of his classic films, such as the Talking Heads concert-documentary Stop Making Sense (screening Aug 18—24) and the Academy Award-winning The Silence of the Lambs (Aug 12), along with a number of Demme’s lesser-known documentaries.

When asked which of his films he felt was underappreciated, Demme responded Cousin Bobby (Aug 17), his 1992 documentary about his Harlem-based, politically passionate, Episcopalian minister cousin with ties to the Black Panthers. It’s a film about political awakening and crusading for civil rights—but with Demme’s trademark gentle touch.

A Portrait of Pina (in 35 Objects)

In 1984, Tanztheater Wuppertal made its New York debut at BAM, performing what would become the two most iconic works of Pina Bausch’s extraordinary repertoire—Café Müller and The Rite of Spring. More than three decades later, the company returns with a landmark restaging of that historic double bill this fall as part of the 35th annual Next Wave Festival.

How fitting, then, that back in 2012 we asked illustrator Nathan Gelgud to illustrate a list of 35 objects that evoke her and her work—portraiture by association. Peruse the pictographs below, but be sure to let us know if we left anything out!