Béla Tarr to Make Rare U.S. Appearance for Los Angeles American Cinematheque Retrospective

Bleak Week just got a whole lot bleaker.

The American Cinematheque in Los Angeles has set the second edition of its “Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair” series, and this year’s guest of honor will be none other than Béla Tarr, Hungarian master of plumbing the nadirs of the human experience from his last feature “The Turin Horse” to his beloved epic “Sátántangó,” about a farming village in crisis. IndieWire can announce that Tarr will make a rare appearance in the U.S. beginning June 6 at the Aero Theatre for a series of Q&As.

“Hi LA! It will be nice to see you again, after a very long time. I am curious how you are now and what is going on in the town! I hope we will have a good meeting and we will spend a good time together. See you there!” said the filmmaker in a statement shared with IndieWire.

The programming includes the west coast premiere of Janus Film’s new 4K restoration of his 2000 Communist Hungary portrait “Werckmeister Harmonies,” plus screenings of “The Man from London,” “Damnation,” “Family Nest,” “The Outsider,” and all gloriously bleak seven hours of “Sátántangó.”

“We are thrilled to welcome legendary Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr as our guest of honor with an extremely rare in-person appearance in Los Angeles. Bleak Week is a celebration of films that masterfully challenge and enlighten us, and there is no greater filmmaker alive that better represents that spirit,” said Chris LeMaire, senior programmer at the American Cinematheque and Bleak Week co-founder.

Bleak Week opens at the Aero Theatre on June 1 with actor Bruce Dern joining for an in-person Q&A following Sydney Pollack’s 1969 Depression-era masterpiece, “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” Other films in this year’s Bleak Week lineup include Gus Van Sant’s “Gerry,” György Fehér’s recently restored serial killer drama “Twilight,” Cristian Mungiu’s classic Romanian abortion drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” Michael Haneke’s “Amour” and “The Piano Teacher” with a live virtual Q&A with the filmmaker, Elem Klimov’s “Come and See,” Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers,” and much more.

More details including ticketing information can be found at American Cinematheque’s website.