The first and last films of any filmmaker’s oeuvre serve as fascinating signposts of their work — sometimes they feel like acute demonstrations of their progress as filmmakers throughout the years, others feel like elliptical representations of the same themes and images they’ve been obsessed with their whole career. A bold debut can mellow into more assured, mature work in later years; sometimes, it can herald a deliberate change in style.
In keeping with this fascination, the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago is running a monthlong screening series in August called “Entrances & Exits,” showcasing the first and final films from ten beloved filmmakers, all in 35mm. Their rules for the series are simple: no posthumous films (their last film must be released while still alive), all features, and solo directorial efforts.
You can get series tickets here; this series is also eligible for the Siskel Summer Pass, which you can purchase here.
The ten filmmakers, and their films, include the following:
August 1: Agnes Varda (“La pointe courte,” “The Beaches of Agnes“)
August 4: Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane,” “F for Fake“)
August 5: Marlon Riggs (“Ethnic Notions,” “Color Adjustment”)
August 9: Vera Chytilová (“Something Different,” “Pleasant Moments”)
August 11: Satyajit Ray (“Pather Panchali,” “The Stranger”)
August 12: Ingmar Bergman (“Crisis,” “Saraband“)
August 18: Edward Yang (“That Day, on the Beach,” “Yi Yi“)
August 19: Francois Truffaut (“The 400 Blows,” “Confidentially Yours”)
August 24: Peter Bodganovich (“Targets,” “The Great Buster: A Celebration”)
August 29: Larisa Shepitko (“Heat,” “The Ascent”)
