BAM Presents PROGRAMMERS' NOTEBOOK: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, A Selection Of This Year's Greatest Overlooked Gems

From Friday, November 22 through Wednesday, November 27, BAM presents Programmers' Notebook: In Case You Missed It, an eclectic program of unsung works, reflecting the breadth and depth of cinema this year. From breakthrough features by up-and-coming directors to bold visions by established auteurs, works of bracing Brazilian neorealism to a Japanese avant-pop love story, these are the under-the-radar revelations that moved, provoked, challenged, entertained, and stayed with us long after first viewing.

The series opens with Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale (2019), the Babadook director's unrelenting tale of vengeance and colonial violence. Other films include Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra's hallucinatory family epic set against the Colombian drug trade of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Birds of Passage (2019); Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla's documentary portrait of a fearless trans woman artist from São Paulo, Bixa Travesty (2019); Khalik Allah's deeply personal, poetic spiritual exploration of Jamaica, Black Mother (2019); British photographer Richard Billingham's full-sensory plunge into his troubled childhood in the industrial Midlands, RAY & LIZ (2018); and Brazilian auteur André Novais Oliveira's quietly profound character study Temporada (2018). The series continues with Ana Katz's Florianópolis Dream (2019), a Rohmerian seriocomedy that probes the inner-workings of an Argentine family with masterful nuance and delicacy; Alexandre Moratto's affecting tale of survival and resilience on the streets of São Paulo, Socrates (2019); and Asako I & II (2018), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's sublime study of romantic delusion, in which a young woman finds herself in a love triangle with two identical men.

In Case You Missed It continues BAM's Programmers' Notebook series-an ongoing project collaboratively programmed by Associate Vice President of Film Gina Duncan, Senior Repertory and Specialty Film Programmer Ashley Clark, Repertory and Specialty Film Programmer Jesse Trussell, and Repertory and Specialty Film Programs Coordinator Natalie Erazo. Below, the programmers elaborate on some of their selections for this series.

Birds of Passage
"Haunted by the long-standing western, Hollywood gaze of the Colombian drug trade, I found the tension, beauty and discordant truths in Birds of Passage to be refreshing and ever-so imperative for a country in the process of rewriting its history." - Natalie Erazo, series programmer

Ray & Liz
"I was riveted by Richard Billingham's autobiographical, deeply-felt RAY & LIZ, a heady cocktail of pain, grace, and stunning visual and aural detail that coheres into one of the most auspicious feature debuts in years." - Ashley Clark, series programmer

Florianopolis Dream
"The film starts with a horrible idea: take a vacation to a small remote island with your soon-to-be ex-husband and your teenage kids, desperate to do anything other than spend time with their parents. But filmmaker Ana Katz finds the humor, tenderness, and hope in this bittersweet take on growing up and apart." - Gina Duncan, series programmer

Asako I & II
"The most fascinating Japanese filmmaker of his generation, Hamaguchi's work has an entirely unique tone. It's literal yet suffused with strangeness, an uncanny realism all his own." - Jesse Trussell, series programmer