LA COCINA (2024)
Mexico, United States | Comedy-Drama
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios With: Raúl Briones, Rooney Mara, Anna Diaz, Motell Foster, Oded Fehr
Dur: 2:19 hrs. In English and Spanish with English subtitles Programmer: Elías Nahmías

La Cocina offers a raw and unflinching look into the lives of immigrant workers behind the
scenes of a bustling Times Square restaurant. Set during the chaotic lunch rush at "The Grill,"
the film delves into the personal struggles and aspirations of its kitchen staff, predominantly
undocumented immigrants. Central to the narrative is Pedro (Raúl Briones), a Mexican cook
entangled in a passionate affair with Julia (Rooney Mara), an American waitress. Drawing from
Arnold Wesker's 1957 play The Kitchen, director Alonso Ruizpalacios crafts a poignant
exploration of displacement, ambition, and the harsh realities of the food industry. The film's
expressionistic black-and-white cinematography further accentuates its gritty portrayal of labor
exploitation under unchecked capitalism. Following the film, there will be a discussion with Amy Cotler.

Donation:

Members $100
Non-members $150

I will be showing some of my paintings at the Edina Sagert Gallery at the Fabrica Aurora this Saturday, April 5, from 5-7pm on the Art Walk.

The gallery is on the main walkway on the left just past the Skot Forman gallery.

MODIGLIANI: THE ANGEL OF MELANCHOLY

“When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes”
“It is your duty in life to save your dream.”
Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)

Amedeo Modigliani gave his life to save his dream. In this presentation, Bea would like to give you a taste of his tragic passion for beauty, art and life.

Bea invites you to rediscover Amedeo Modigliani, the more than handsome Italian Jewish
sculptor and painter, usually drunk, high on drugs, or both in his latter years, ravished by
horrible coughing fits that could last for hours, so much so he had abandon sculpture for
painting because of his lungs and frail constitution.

He slept in trash bins but created unforgettable swan like necked portraits and swooning
elongated nudes, all exuding a kind of sadness, a melancholia whose vulnerability still
touches us today: “Happiness is an angel with a serious face,” he useed to say.

Bea will reveal to you so many things…

Be ready for yet another emotional journey into the life and art of an extraordinary artist!

Donation:

Members: $200
Non-Members $300

DOUBLE FEATURE: Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last (1923) and Charlie Chaplin’s THE CIRCUS (1928)

2 Great comedies of the Silent Era

HAROLD LLOYD’S SAFETY LAST (1923)
USA |Comedy
Dir: Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor
With Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis. Dur: 73 min.

Programmer: Elías Nahmías

“You’re Going to Explode With “Safety Laughs” when you see This Fun Bomb”

A classic silent comedy starring Harold Lloyd, known for its daring stunts and timeless humor.
The film follows a young man who moves to the city to make a better life and impress his
girlfriend. In a series of comedic mishaps, he finds himself scaling the side of a skyscraper in one
of cinema’s most iconic and thrilling sequences, famously dangling from a large clock face high
above the street. With its blend of physical comedy and genuine suspense, Safety Last! is a
testament to Harold Lloyd’s genius and the creativity of silent-era filmmaking.

THE CIRCUS (1928)
USA |Comedy. Dir: Charlie Chaplin
with: Charlie Chaplin and Merna Kennedy and Al Ernest Garcia Dur: 73 min.

Programmer: Elías Nahmías

“An early masterpiece from the great Chaplin”

The Circus is a classic silent comedy written, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin as his
iconic character, "The Tramp." The film follows the Tramp as he accidentally stumbles into a
circus and, through a series of mishaps, becomes its star attraction without realizing it. While
trying to win the heart of a beautiful circus performer, he faces comedic challenges and
misunderstandings. Known for its blend of slapstick humor and heartfelt emotion, The Circus
showcases Chaplin's genius as both a filmmaker and performer, filled with memorable gags and
touching moments. Following the films, there will be a discussion with Amy Cotler.

Donation:

Members $100
Non-Members $150

Please join us for our weekly international folk dance class.

“If you can walk you can dance.” Enjoy yourself and meet new friends. Dance is a universal language. Exercise and socialize to great music as you learn dances from around the world. No experience necessary.

Instructor Elliot Fine has performed Balkan dances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Alvin Ailey Theater. He has taught International and Israeli folk-dancing at Antioch College, in New York City as well as here in San Miguel de Allende.

Donation: $100 MXN. Pay at the door

Mark Rothko: The Power of Color - A Spiritual, Sensorial Path to Abstraction

Bea invites you to meet, feel, and understand Mark Rothko.
She will begin with a physiological and psychological study of colors,
without which, we cannot truly understand Rothko’s work.
Bea will tame for you, his signature style of hypnotic, transcendental, floating,
vibrating rectangles of color, hovering like a fuzzy mirage, into our retina and soul.

Donation:

Members $200
Non-Members $300

Nine Lives (2005)
USA | Drama, Director: Rodrigo García
With: Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Robin Wright, Elpidia Carrillo
Dur: 1:55 hrs. In English with English subtitles

Programmer: Elías Nahmías

Nine Lives is an intimate and deeply moving portrait of nine women, each captured in a single
continuous shot as they navigate moments of quiet revelation and emotional upheaval. Rodrigo
García crafts a rich tapestry of interconnected stories, exploring themes of love, loss,
motherhood, and personal resilience. Through subtle yet powerful performances, the film
offers a window into the complexity of human relationships and the fleeting nature of life’s
pivotal moments. With its unique storytelling structure and evocative cinematography, Nine
Lives is a meditation on the beauty and fragility of existence. Following the film, there will be a
discussion with Amy Cotler.

Donation:

Members $100
Non-members $150

Please join us for our weekly international folk dance class.

“If you can walk you can dance.” Enjoy yourself and meet new friends. Dance is a universal language. Exercise and socialize to great music as you learn dances from around the world. No experience necessary.

Instructor Elliot Fine has performed Balkan dances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Alvin Ailey Theater. He has taught International and Israeli folk-dancing at Antioch College, in New York City as well as here in San Miguel de Allende.

Donation: $100 MXN. Pay at the door

Russell Kaback’s “25044” - A Jewish Grandson’s Musical History of the Holocaust

A solo musical story, written and performed by Russell Kaback, based on the life of his grandfather Szyjek Magier, a Jewish Polish teenager who spent four years in the Nazi labor and concentration camps.

Presented in Russell’s theatrical storytelling style, weaving together songs on guitar, characters, sounds and gestures, “25044” incorporates interviews, testimonies, research and imagination, reminding us that hope endures.

Don’t miss this incredibly impactful performance during its one-time appearance in San Miguel de Allende at the JC3!

Russell Kaback is a musician and educator based in Maine. He received the 2016 Abromson Award and the 2018 Maine Arts Commission Project Grant in support of bringing earlier iterations of this musical story into schools in Maine. It has been performed in Maine and Massachusetts since 2014, and in his grandfather’s hometown of Bendzin, Poland in 2018.  In 2022 he began collaborating with storyteller Antonio Rocha to create the one-man musical storytelling version of the show, titled “25044”.

Doors open at 6:30 for sociaiizing. Wine and refreshments will be available for purchase.

Donation:

Members: $150 + 20 if paying by CLIP
Non-Members $250 + 20 if paying by CLIP

When paying by CLIP, please note that donations are in pesos. Be sure to add your name, the event, the date of the event and number of tickets on the description field to ensure proper booking. Please bring either a printed or digital receipt on your phone with you to the event.

 https://clip.mx/@chesmaac

Wednesday Mornings with Bea: History of Color

WHAT IS COLOR?

(Isaac Newton)

WHERE DOES COLOR COME FROM?
(animal, vegetal, mineral pigments, to synthetic lab-made colors)

Today we press on a tube and premixed color oozes out. Ready to use

But…

BEFORE THE TUBE…

Bea will give you a brief history of color from Prehistorical times until today, and throughout different cultures too (Mayan, Ancient Egypt, Greco-Roman, the Americas, India, and more)

You will learn about tempera, encaustic, oil, watercolor, acrylic. We think we know it all, but Bea is pretty sure you’ll learn a few things in this fascinating historical, scientifical, technological COLOR JOURNEY!

Donation:

Members 170 pesos 150 pesos cash
Non-Members 270 pesos 250 pesos cash

When paying by CLIP, please note that donations are in pesos . Be sure to add your name, the event, the date of the event and number of tickets on the description field to ensure proper booking. Please bring either a printed or digital receipt on your phone with you to the event.

 https://clip.mx/@chesmaac

DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES (1988)

UK | Drama, Director: Terence Davies
With: Freda Dowie, Pete Postlethwaite, Angela Walsh
Dur: 1:25 hrs. In English with English subtitles

Programmers: Elías Nahmías, Amy Cotler

Terence Davies' Distant Voices, Still Lives is a poignant, impressionistic portrait of working-class
life in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool. Told through a series of fragmented memories, the film
explores themes of family, trauma, and resilience, weaving together moments of joy and
sorrow with evocative use of music and poetic imagery. Anchored by deeply personal
storytelling, Davies captures the tensions within a household dominated by a tyrannical father,
as well as the communal spirit that sustains his family. A masterpiece of British cinema, Distant
Voices, Still Lives is an elegiac reflection on the passage of time and the indelible power of
memory. Following the film, there will be a discussion with Amy Cotler.

Donation:

Members $100
Non-members $150