2008

DOUBT

18 December, 2008
Guest Viola Davis joined us for a CFI members’ screening of the film Doubt, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Photos ©  Tommy Lau

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

16 December, 2008
CFI Members were treated to a special screening of the highly acclaimed filmRevolutionary Road with special guest, actor Michael Shannon, who was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his stand-out performance in this film directed by Sam Mendes and also starring Kate Winslet, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Photos © Pamela Gentile & Tommy Lau

TOWELHEAD

28 August, 2008
Director, writer and producer Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under, True Blood) screened his latest film, Towelhead (also known as Nothing Is Private) at a special CFI members-only screening. Photo © Mitch Ramos

A MAN NAMED PEARL

15 August, 2008
Self-taught, topiary artist Pearl Fryar attended a screening of the inspiring documentary about his life, A Man Named Pearl and gave a demonstration of how he works to a very delighted audience. Photo © Margot Duane

AMERICAN TEEN

13 July, 2008
At this fun CFI Members’ screening the teenagers featured in the documentary,American Teen, were our guests: Megan Krizmanich, Mitch Reinholt, Colin Clemens and Jake Tusing. Photo © Margot Duane

NOTE BY NOTE

1 June, 2008
Director Ben Niles and renowned pianist Richard Glazier joined us for a screening of the fascinating documentary about the making of a Steinway piano,Note By Note. The film follows how one instrument in particular, L1037, is created from beginning to end. The Rafael welcomed the actual L1037 as the audience was treated to a wonderful performance by Richard Glazier on this very special piano. Photo © Margot Duane

THE VISITOR

6 April, 2008
Actor Richard Jenkins (Burn After Reading, Six Feet Under, I Heart Huckabees) and writer/director Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent) attended a special screening of the highly acclaimed film The Visitor. Richard Jenkins was nominated for the 2008 Best Actor Oscar for his gifted performance. Photo © Margot Duane

SLEEPWALKING

2 March, 2008
Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron and her co-star inSleepwalkingNick Stahl, treated CFI members to a preview screening of their new film. Photos © Linda Wilkie

RAY HARRYHAUSEN & FRIENDS

20 February, 2008
One of our favorite guests returned to the Rafael for a lively evening of film lore and movie magic. The greatness of Ray Harryhausen is measured by his pioneering work in visual effects and his artful use of stop-motion animation to breathe life into creatures of fantasy and myth for such classics as 20 Million Miles to Earth, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts. But there are also the countless artists he has influenced: directors such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Tim Burton, as well as visual effects maestros including Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett. Our show included rare film clips and a wide-ranging discussion of Harryhausen’s work and its lasting influence. Joining him on stage were special effects masters Oscar-winning effects supervisor Dennis Muren (Star Wars films, Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds), Oscar-winner Phil Tippett, (Star Wars, Starship Troopers, The Spiderwick Chronicles), Academy Governor and visual effects artist and winner of the 2008 Visual Effects Oscar for The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonCraig Barron (Batman Returns, Zodiac, The Golden Compass) and Arnold Kunert, historian and Harryhausen’s current producing partner. Photos © Jeff Martz

LA VIE EN ROSE

29 January, 2008
Actress Marion Cotillard visited us for a special CFI Members’ screening of La Vie En Rose a couple of weeks before she won the 2007 Best Actress Oscar for her incredible portrayal of Edith Piaf. Photos © Margot Duane