The Coolidge Corner Theatre

The 6th annual Coolidge Award allowed our audiences to double their pleasure! With Animation as the selected category for this year’s award, the planning committee was unanimous in the vote to choose our recipient. Without hesitation, the Quay Brothers, masters of exquisitely subjective puppet animation films, were the clear favorites, exemplifying the spirit of the Award – work that is consistently challenging and original.

The QB, identical twins, born in Philadelphia but living and working in London for 30 years, were gracious in their immediate acceptance of the invitation. Plans were made to keep the celebration events scheduled for May 5-7, in line with their low-key, informal preferences. Too modest to feel they warranted a gala evening of tributes from their stellar peers, they expressed their desire to accept the award during events focused on conversation with colleagues such as art critic and academic, Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, literature professor David Spolum, and long-time collaborator, editor and sound designer, Larry Sider. Audience participation was a key feature on their wish list. Our savvy, cultured, and inquisitive Coolidge community was happy to meet these artistic icons, asking thoughtful questions that furthered our understanding of the Quays’ work and process.

Kicking off on May 5th,, a welcome reception in honor of the Quay Brothers was held, celebrating their Dormitorium exhibition of puppet decors miniature film sets (running through May 21), held at the Fourth Wall Project Gallery on Brookline Avenue. A festive mood was created by our talented staff and volunteers, and enjoyed by all our guests. The same delightful atmosphere prevailed over the next two days of Award events at the Coolidge. More details and photos of all the Quay Brothers events appearing on this site soon!

Our first Coolidge Award was original and challenging in itself! Bestowing the Award on one of the world's most cinematic directors meant getting him from Beijing to Brookline and creating two days of events appropriate to a non-English speaking filmmaker of international renown. Thanks to a great team effort and enormous good will, the event was a wonderful success. Our outreach to the local Chinese community was enthusiastically received and our 600 seat theater was packed. We had a great turnout for the series of retrospective screenings and terrifically engaging seminars led by Professors Eileen Chow (Harvard University), Roy Grundmann (Boston University), and Xueping Zhong (Tufts University). At the culmination of the gala ceremony, Zhang Yimou accepted the Award with grace and sincere praise for the Coolidge. With the help of Brookline filmmaker Carma Hinton, who translated for him, he spoke eloquently about what it meant to him to receive this special honor from a theater that contributes so much to the local community as well as the larger film community. He also projected that in five or ten years, the Coolidge Award would be the prize "most sought after" by the world's filmmakers. Those words made everyone who worked on the Award program feel that our efforts were more than repaid. In addition to the Award ceremony, Mr. Zhang introduced a special advance screening of his epic film HERO and invited the audience to join him in an in-depth discussion about the production and issues raised by that film.

Planning for this year’s Coolidge Award got off to a later start than usual. The historic Writer’s Guild Strike made scheduling our events very challenging, as the entire industry came to a standstill in a nail-biting wait for a fair resolution to the dispute. Finally, in February, we were able to choose a category for this year’s program and proceed with an April timeframe, our traditional Coolidge Award month. As our Award category changes each year, and we’ve already honored a Foreign Language Director (Zhang Yimou), Cinematographer (Vittorio Storaro), Actress (Meryl Streep) and Film Editor (Thelma Schoonmaker), we were very interested in exploring the business of film, by celebrating the work of the Producer -- someone who bears the responsibility for carrying a film project from conception through production to distribution and promotion.

But which producer? We wanted someone whose films we would and have shown at the Coolidge, someone who is independent, as we are, someone who has impeccable taste, as we do, who is a master at bringing together the best teams of people to create memorable film experiences, as we do, and who perfectly balances the creative forces needed to make remarkable movies with the intelligent risk-taking and solid business acumen to stay solvent and strong. In short, we wanted a film producer who embodies the spirit of the Coolidge. And we found him!

Our fifth annual Coolidge Award recipient, veteran British film producer Jeremy Thomas graciously arranged to fly over from Europe, where he was in production on the new Wim Wenders film, The Palermo Shooting, starring Dennis Hopper, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith.

One of the joys of working on this year’s program was witnessing the high esteem in which those artists who’ve collaborated with Jeremy over the years hold him. We just had to describe what the Coolidge is and what we do, then drop Jeremy’s name in conjunction with the Coolidge Award, and high-caliber actors, directors, and writers immediately agreed to join us for the festivities, confounding the stereotypical reputation of the hard-nosed, cigar-stubbing, exploitive movie producer.

The Coolidge Award program kicked off again this year with a month-long retrospective screening series. Our audiences were thrilled to see big screen presentations from this amazing filmography. The Last Emperor (which one 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture for Jeremy Thomas), Bad Timing (the first film on which Jeremy collaborated with director Nicolas Roeg), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (set in a WW2 prison of war camp, starring David Bowie and Japanese music star, Ryuichi Sakamoto), The Great Rock ‘N’Roll Swindle (Julien Temple’s raucous depiction of the seminal British punk band, The Sex Pistols), and Sexy Beast (a dazzling black comedy/brilliant character study/heist film with jaw-dropping performances by Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone).

The official Coolidge Award events took place April 16, 17. Jeremy Thomas arrived with his son, Jack, a talent agent in London, who carries on the long family tradition as movie industry insider. Joining them on the flight was ground-breaking director Nicolas Roeg (Performance, Walkabout, Don’t Look Now, Eureka, Insignificance, The Witches).

Though we’ve experienced wacky New England weather patterns in past Coolidge Award years –two years in a row of snow in April, this year, the gods were smiling on us. Maybe they took pity on a planeload of Brits who live in a beautiful country but one with a perpetually damp climate... this year, every day boasted perfectly warm and sunny spring weather.

On Wednesday, April 16, the festivities began with our gala Coolidge Award Ceremony. At 8:00 after the traditional red carpet walk into the theater, Jeremy took his place among the audience. Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation’s Board Chair, Malli Gero and Executive Director Joe Zina welcomed everyone and set the tone for the night of tribute and entertainment. Clips from Jeremy’s outstanding body of work were projected at intervals throughout the event, introduced by on-stage presentations by some of his illustrious colleagues: directors Nicolas Roeg and Julien Temple, actors Tim Roth, and Debra Winger, and screenwriter Mark Peploe

In planning each year’s events, we ask our Award-winner what type of entertainment they’d prefer during the ceremony. Usually the response is a general category: opera, dance, popular music. This year, we got an immediate and surprising request: music from Mali with fusion influence. For producers, specifics are essential!
We set about this unusual quest (Mali? Massachusetts? ) excited about the challenge, and were more than a little relieved to find after some concentrated detective work, a wonderful band, Group Spirit, led by acclaimed Malian musician and griot, Balla Tounkara. During the band’s short set, audience members were dancing in their seats. We were glad to play a role in introducing a new audience to this wonderful music.

Letters were read from colleagues who were unable to attend the event due to schedule conflicts, including a great actor and friend of Jeremy’s since they were teenagers, John Hurt. Sony Pictures Classics executives Michael Barker and Tom Bernard sent a quirky humorous video salute to Jeremy, which was screened to the audience’s amusement.

Nick Paleologos, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Film Office, long-time admirer of the Coolidge, once again bestowed the marquee-shaped Coolidge Award on Jeremy at the event’s finale. Jeremy’s acceptance speech was thoughtful, witty, and heartfelt. The evening felt warm and intimate, and very much like a celebration of someone whose genuine passion for cinema has contributed to the expansion of the art form,

The next day, Thursday, April 17h, audience members were treated to a brilliant one-on-one conversation between Jeremy Thomas and local resident, Nicole Guillemet, who has been Co-Director of the Sundance Institute, a Director of the Sundance Festival, and head of the Miami International Film Festival. Discussing Jeremy’s interest in adapting some of his favorite books to the big screen, the conversation informatively and eloquently provided those lucky enough to be present with a real insider’s view of international film production on a very high level. Jeremy took the trouble to compile a reel of film clips to illustrate the points he wanted to make about the issues involved in film adaptation. The audience had an opportunity to ask questions, allowing the conversation to be opened up to everyone.

Thursday evening, all the celebrity participants in the Coolidge Award ceremony (except Julien Temple who had to catch a plane back to England where he was being feted himself at the Sheffield Film Festival) came back to the theater to take part in a lively panel discussion. Harvard’s J.D. Connor acted as moderator, no mean feat with so many strong speakers who each have a long and close relationship with Jeremy. A hot topic for the panel was technology and the formats on which people are now watching films. Big screen vs. hand held? What are the implications for the filmmakers? To most people’s surprise, including the other guests on the panel, veteran big-screen director Nicolas Roeg (who started as a cinematographer, most famously on the 70mm Lawrence of Arabia) took the lead in advocating for new technology. His message, ardently articulated, was that there’s nothing to be afraid of. People have always found new ways to tell stories and always will.

For those of us on the board and staff of the Coolidge, it was a joy to get to know Jeremy Thomas and our other guests, and to provide another opportunity ‘to entertain, educate and build community - around film.’ We’re very thankful to all those who helped support the Coolidge Award program this year: Patricia Larsen Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Elizabeth Driehaus Scott Rosenberg , Susan and Robert Stoller, Tim and Corinne Ferguson, Chobee Hoy Associates, LEF/New England , and the Criterion Collection. We’re looking forward to planning next year’s program.

See you at the movies!

Our fourth annual Coolidge Award recipient, veteran film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, took Boston by storm. Everyone lucky enough to have tickets to the events that took place at the Coolidge on April 11th and 12th got a crash course in the collaboration process of a gifted editor with her director, screenwriter, composer, sound designer, and special effects department, that is necessary to shape a film. In Thelma's case, of course, we're not talking about any flash-in-the-panning-shot movies, but real treasures like Raging Bull, GoodFellas, The Aviator, and The Departed. She's worked closely with Martin Scorsese for 40 years and their creative partnership has given us some of the greatest movie moments in American cinema.

The Coolidge Award program kicked off again this year with a month-long retrospective screening series. Starting in March, we showed The Aviator, GoodFellas, The King of Comedy, and Raging Bull on the giant screen and a guest speaker introduced each film.

On Wednesday, April 11, Thelma Schoonmaker arrived in Boston after completing some last minute work in her editing suite in New York. As she arrived for her private tour of the theater, Grammy award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin (www.sharonisbin.com) was on stage rehearsing the medley she would perform at the Award Ceremony later that evening. Sharon is featured on five songs on the soundtrack of The Departed. Composer of The Departed and Berklee alum, Howard Shore (The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Lord of the Rings, History of Violence) had specially written parts for two guitars, which Sharon and her accompanist would play for Thelma and our audience. Howard was also here to pay tribute to Thelma during the ceremony, and to take part in a panel discussion the following night, about the making of The Departed.

At 8:00 pm, after the traditional red carpet walk into the theater, Thelma took her place among the audience. Coolidge Executive Director Joe Zina and Board Chairwoman Malli Gero welcomed everyone and introduced the first selection of film clips from Thelma's outstanding body of work. Other testimonials were given by Howard Shore, Loren King, President of the Boston Society of Film Critics, and Coolidge Advisor, Dr. Thomas Gutheil, a forensic psychologist, who graciously stepped in at the last moment when Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers had to cancel due to ill health. Appropriately, Dr. Gutheil introduced a selection of clips featuring Robert DeNiro in some of his most maniacal roles.

Letters were read from colleagues who were unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts. Those sending their good wishes were actors Daniel Day Lewis, Lorraine Bracco, and Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as screenwriters Nicholas Pileggi and Jay Cocks. Thelma was visibly moved to hear such heartfelt tributes.

Nick Paleologos, newly appointed Executive Director of the Massachusetts Film Office, and long-time fan of the Coolidge, bestowed the marquee-shaped Coolidge Award on Thelma at the event's finale. Her acceptance speech was gracious, warm, and eloquent. She made a point, as previous Coolidge Award recipients have done, of encouraging people to support independent theaters like the Coolidge and that we should count ourselves lucky to be able to see cinematic work of high quality from around the world in so beautiful a theater.

At 11:00 am on Thursday, April 12th, reporters and photographers were treated to a lively press conference. Bob Shuman and his great staff at Zaftig's provided delicious brunch goodies. Thelma modestly gave credit at every turn to director Martin Scorsese, and talked in depth about their working relationship, which has garnered her three Academy Awards.

The packed audience for the 2:00 pm Master Class was overjoyed to experience Thelma's tour-de-force, consisting of clips that she put together herself, commentary and a generous question-and-answer session.

The film clips were not only from her own work, but also from films by her late husband, the influential British director, Michael Powell (The Red Shoes, Peeping Tom) and even an excerpt from a rarely seen silent film. One of the high points of the seminar was a fascinating in-depth look at the elements that went into the extraordinary fight scenes in Raging Bull, with Thelma particularly pointing out the work of sound designer Frank Warner. Apparently, Warner used the sound of horses shuddering, elephants roaring, fruit exploding, and many other ingenious effects to create a brilliant and indelible aural palette.

The Coolidge Award events culminated with another SRO event, a panel discussion on the movie that took home the Academy Award for Best Picture this year, The Departed. Thelma and Howard Shore introduced the film at the screening that preceded the discussion and the audience went wild to find seated on the panel, not only Thelma Schoonmaker, Howard Shore, and screenwriter William Monahan, but iconic director Martin Scorsese, who had driven up from New York in the middle of production to honor his dear friend and editor. Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr did an excellent job moderating the discussion and taking questions from as many audience members as time would allow. It was really a night that the Coolidge will treasure for many years to come.

There's no question -- Thelma's visit to the Coolidge inspired us all with her abiding passion for cinema. Now we all know a little more about what it takes to create it. For those of us on the board and staff of the Coolidge, it was so gratifying to be able to provide this opportunity to entertain, educate and build community - around film. We're very thankful to all those who helped support the Coolidge Award program this year. We're looking forward to planning next year's program and in the meanwhile, rest assured we're looking after your cinematic well-being. See you at the movies!

Our third annual Coolidge Award program exceeded everyone's already high expectations, in terms of visibility, star-power, community outreach, and membership appreciation. Through a charmed confluence of hard work, determination, networking, and good karma, the award events honoring the work of super-luminary and all round great human being , Meryl Streep, brought joy to everyone who participated.

Our month-long series of retrospective screenings featured THE DEER HUNTER, KRAMER VS. KRAMER, SOPHIE'S CHOICE, SILKWOOD, OUT OF AFRICA, THE HOURS, THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN, MANHATTAN, and DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, providing ample opportunity to watch Meryl Streep embody those original and challenging qualities the Award celebrates.

In the weeks of run-up to the Award ceremony we also presented a series of seminars. Led by respected film academics and industry veterans, these presentations focused on varied aspects of Ms. Streep's career, including her choice of roles in filmed adaptations of established literary works, her range of comedic parts, and what she brought to her early roles that mapped the socio-political landscape of the 1970s.

Selected to win the Coolidge Award in the category of English Language Actress, Ms. Streep arrived in Boston by train on an unexpectedly snowy day in April, along with her illustrious colleagues, including the late, great, independent director, Robert Altman, actors Kevin Kline and John C. Reilly. The two day celebration presented a panel on the creative processes behind the film ADAPTATION, a special sneak preview of A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, introduced by Mr. Altman, and a dazzling SRO Award ceremony. In what can only be described as sooo Coolidge, Meryl Streep and the other stars of the evening, including long time Coolidge favorite Chris Cooper, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, author Susan Orlean, New York Times critic Janet Maslin, and musical performer Patty Larkin, arrived at the theater via the red carpet, not in gas-guzzling limos, but in a fleet of Toyota hybrid cars.

The ensuing Award Ceremony was a combination toast and roast, with a tone-setting welcome from Coolidge Executive Director Joe Zina, a brief recap of Coolidge Award history by founder Rikk Larsen, endearing testimonials from all the celebrity guests including A.R.T. icon Robert Brustein, musical performances by Larkin as well as BSO violinist Sheila Fiekowsky, and students from the Brookline Music School. The good vibe was modeled by the recipient herself, who not only picked up the Coolidge Award but the award presenter, Susan Orlean. In her acceptance speech, displaying her genuine warmth, humor, and total lack of narcissism, Ms. Streep stressed the importance of preserving theaters like the Coolidge, and referring to our current Capital Campaign, joked, "How about these seats, people? I'm certainly kicking in!" Our major building renovations began the following week. Needless to say, we can't wait to invite Meryl Streep back to the Coolidge to try out the most comfortable theater seats in town.

Jonathan Demme began his film career in the early 1970s working with producer Roger Corman. Throughout that decade he is credited as a co-writer and producer for several of Corman’s productions and as director of three films (Caged Heat, Crazy Mama and Fighting Mad). In 1980 Demme directed Melvin and Howard and received widespread critical acclaim. Throughout the ‘80s he went on to direct movies celebrating both critical and commercial success, including Swing Shift, Something Wild and Married to the Mob. During that same period he also directed the groundbreaking Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense and the Spaulding Grey performance film Swimming to Cambodia. In 1991 Demme won the Academy Award for Best Director (Silence of the Lambs), which also swept the Oscars that year taking all the major categories – Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Actor. Two years later he released Philadelphia, which won star Tom Hanks the Best Actor Oscar. His feature films also include the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate and Rachel Getting Married (2008).

Throughout his prolific film career, Jonathan Demme has also established himself as a committed documentary filmmaker. Off of the creative success of Stop Making Sense and Swimming to Cambodia, Demme went on to make Haiti: Dreams of Democracy, The Agronomist, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, and Jimmy Carter Man From Plains. The most recent full-length collaboration, Neil Young Trunk Show, premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released later this year.

The annual Coolidge Award, recognizing a selected film artist whose work advances the spirit of original and challenging cinema, was launched in 2004. Previous honorees are animators The Quay Brothers in 2009 (Street of Crocodiles, Institute Benjamenta), film producer Jeremy Thomas in 2008 (Sexy Beast, The Last Emperor, The Great Rock and Roll Swindle), film editor Thelma Schoonmaker in 2007 (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed), actress Meryl Streep in 2006 (Sophie’s Choice, Silkwood, The Devil Wears Prada), Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro in 2005 (Apocalypse Now, The Conformist, Reds) and Chinese director Zhang Yimou in 2004 (Hero, The House of Flying Daggers, Raise the Red Lantern).

Celebrating the art of Cinematography in 2005, the Coolidge Award honored Vittorio Storaro, whose career has impacted the way we see films, and has enriched our experience immeasurably.

The month preceding the Award ceremony featured weekly seminars, led by Peter Flynn, Piero Garofalo, Jeff Kline, and Chris Fujiwara. Coming together to learn about the history of cinematography, a survey of Italian cinema, and Storaro's powerful creative partnerships with important film directors was a wonderful opportunity to engage with cultural issues, make connections and be entertained at the same time.

Our series of retrospective screenings offered the chance to see a new 35 mm print of LAST TANGO IN PARIS, the-hard-to-find seminal film THE CONFORMIST, a stunning dye-transfer print of APOCALYPSE NOW, and the epic 1900.

Vittorio Storaro, arrived from Rome to attend the festivities in his honor. On April 6th, a gala award ceremony included live performances of Opera, Flamenco and Tango. Eloquent tributes were paid to Mr. Storaro by film critic and scholar Elvis Mitchell, B.U. professor and author Jeff Kline, journalist Bob Fisher and the President of the American Society of Cinematographers, Richard Crudo. A surprise testimonial, via video screen, came from actor/director Warren Beatty, with whom Storaro has a close friendship and working partnership. On receiving the Award, Storaro made a heartfelt speech (without notes!) in which he emphasized why this recognition, not just of his work, but of the art of cinematography, was so meaningful to him.

The next day he took part in a lively panel discussion with fellow cinematographers Stefan Czapsky, Richard Crudo, and documentary deity Albert Maysles. The events culminated in a special screening of REDS, with a print supervised by Storaro himself, who introduced the film and answered audience questions afterward.