Friends,

Not only is Amherst Cinema the place for all things film, but it’s also a place to gather, learn new things, and engage in thoughtful discussion. And we’re especially missing that in-person togetherness right now.

Though there’s no substitute for being at the Cinema, we hope our digital programming offers you and your loved ones a source of conversation and connection when it's needed most. Read on for this week’s inspiring film lineup. 

Wishing you all the best,
Your friends at Amherst Cinema
In celebration of Pride Month, we’re thrilled to share triple feature PIONEERS OF QUEER CINEMA , now playing in Virtual Cinema. And scroll down for this week’s Amherst Cinema At-Home Selections, offering streaming picks that elevate LGBTQ+ voices and narratives.
Science on Screen's PICTURE A SCIENTIST , which chronicles the researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists , opens today. Join directors S haron Shattuck and Ian Cheney for a live YouTube Q&A moderated by Radiolab's Molly Webster next Wednesday, June 17.
Following her hit Zoom seminar on CASABLANCA, film expert Nina Kleinberg returns to discuss SALT OF THE EARTH, the only feature film ever purposely suppressed by the Federal government at every stage of production.  Click here to learn more and buy a ticket for Wednesday, June 24.
Our Summer Membership Drive is back! Join or renew by August 31 and receive a free film pass, valid once we reopen.
Now playing via Virtual Cinema

During our temporary closure, we're excited to bring you opportunities to watch new release titles on your home screen while directly supporting Amherst Cinema. When you watch these films at home, the cost of the digital "ticket" is split between the film distributor and Amherst Cinema - just like when you buy a ticket at the box office.
New title!
This 1955 French caper, made in exile by a blacklisted American director, is one of cinema's greatest and most groundbreaking heist films. Don't miss this essential restoration.
New title!
Celebrate Pride Month with new restorations of three early queer classics: VICTOR AND VICTORIA (1933), MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM (1931), and MICHAEL (1924).
New title!
This documentary is told from the perspective of a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy, struggling to balance his traditional upbringing with an oppressive state education. A New York Times Critic's Pick!
SCIENCE ON SCREEN:
New title!
This inspiring documentary chronicles the researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists.
New title!
A Scrabble-obsessed patriarch (Bill Nighy) investigates an online player who might be his estranged son.
Held over
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after taking in a young couple. Elisabeth Moss stars in the newest from Josephine Decker.
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN: VAN GOGH: A NEW WAY OF SEEING
Held over
Delve deep into Van Gogh's fascinating world with this award-winning documentary.
Held over
Over the course of a decade, Mara and Jo navigate the ups and downs of life, never losing their powerful connection despite Jo's growing instability.
Held over
Explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet.
Held over
Willem Dafoe delivers a career best as the title character, an older American expat living in Rome with his young wife and their daughter. A New York Times Critic's Pick!


In celebration of Pride Month, we’re recommending streaming picks that elevate LGBTQ+ voices and narratives.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN
dir. Cheryl Dunye, 1996
THE WATERMELON WOMAN is a landmark of personal filmmaking in which director Cheryl Dunye threads a self-deprecating look at interracial lesbian dating in the 1990s with a pointed critique of the history of African American representation on-screen. The director herself stars as Cheryl, a twenty-something lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s Black film actress popularly known as the Watermelon Woman. While uncovering the meaning of Richards’s life, Cheryl simultaneously experiences a total upheaval in her own when she embarks on an affair with a white woman (Guinevere Turner).

THE WATERMELON WOMAN is part of a block of films Criterion Channel has made available to all, in an effort to highlight films that focus on Black Lives. No subscription needed is needed to watch these films.
CIRCUS OF BOOKS
dir. Rachel Mason, 2019
In 1976, Karen and Barry Mason had fallen on hard times and were looking for a way to support their young family when they answered an ad in the Los Angeles Times.  Larry Flynt  was seeking distributors for Hustler Magazine. What was expected to be a brief sideline led to their becoming fully immersed in the LGBT community as they took over a local store, Circus of Books. A decade later, they had become the biggest distributors of gay porn in the US. The film focuses on the double life they led, trying to maintain the balance of being parents at a time when LGBT culture was not yet accepted.

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON
dir. David France, 2017
Victoria Cruz investigates the mysterious 1992 death of Black gay rights activist and Stonewall veteran, Marsha P. Johnson, using archival interviews with Johnson and new interviews with Johnson's family, friends and fellow activists.


Looking for streaming selections from our staff, board, and volunteers? Check out our archive of At-Home Cinema Selections and look for more in upcoming e-newsletters throughout our temporary closure.
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