From his striking debut in 1985 with MALA NOCHE to independent landmarks DRUGSTORE COWBOY and MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, Gus Van Sant established himself as one of the leading personal voices in American cinema. In the years since, his combination of stylistic experimentation and heartfelt interest in contemporary life has distinguished films as diverse as TO DIE FOR, GOOD WILL HUNTING and the audacious ELEPHANT and LAST DAYS. The Aero screens a selection of highlights from van Sant's illustrious career, as well as a sneak preview of his latest masterpiece, PARANOID PARK, winner of a spcial 60th anniversary prize at Cannes last year.

Friday, February 29 – 7:30 PM

Gus Van Sant Double Feature:

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, 1991, Fine Line Feature, 104 min. River Phoenix plays a troubled narcoleptic looking for a family, and Keanu Reeves is a street hustler trying to flee his, in this beautiful and thoroughly original drama. Director Gus Van Sant uses Shakespeare by way of Orson Welles (the film owes a great deal to Welles's CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT) to create his underlying structure, but the characters and elegant use of Pacific Northwest settings are all his own. A seminal work in the history of American independent film, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO is both heartbreaking and inspiring, and contains career-best work from Phoenix and Reeves.

DRUGSTORE COWBOY, 1989, MGM Repertory, 102 min. Devilishly charming Matt Dillon is the head honcho of a quartet of ne’er-do-well addicts (the superb Kelly Lynch, James LeGros and Heather Graham round out the foursome) who support their habits by robbing drugstores in the mid-1970s Northwest. Director Gus Van Sant expertly shifts his matter-of-fact tone from humorous to gut-wrenching, proving a potent force to be reckoned with in his first major film. The picture that made critics stand up and really take notice of Matt Dillon’s multi-faceted talent. With James Remar as Dillon’s cop nemesis and William Burroughs as a junkie ex-priest.

Saturday, March 1 – 7:30 PM

Sneak Preview!