Screen scene: Local film news

GRIPPING: In this still from "The Valley of the Moon," Madaleine Sorkin climbs the crux fourth pitch of the Sultan ul-Mujahidin route on Jordan’s Jebel Rum peak while Eli Nissan belays below. The film is part of the Reel Rock 13 program on Nov. 9 at Diana Wortham Theatre. Photo by Henna Taylor

• The Reel Rock 13 film tour stops by the Diana Wortham Theatre on Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. The annual collection of the year’s best climbing films features such stars of the sport as Madaleine Sorkin, Alex Honnold, Conrad Anker and Jimmy Chin in settings ranging from the frozen towers of Antarctica to the Bedouin canyonlands of the Middle East. Also on the program is Up to Speed, a short film about speed climbing, which will debut at the 2020 Olympics. Tickets are $22 and available online and at the Diana Wortham box office. dwtheatre.com

• The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, continues its Environmental & Social Justice film series on Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. with The Bleeding Edge. Directed by the Oscar-nominated team of Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering (The Invisible War; The Hunting Ground), the 2018 documentary examines the $400 billion medical device industry. Free. uuasheville.com

• Designed to allow viewers to use film as their window into the minds and culture of Israel, the monthly Israeli Film Series — a collaboration between Grail Moviehouse and the Asheville Jewish Community Center — continues Sunday, Nov. 11, at 2 p.m. with Shelter. The 2017 thriller follows a Mossad agent as she protects a Lebanese informant with ties to a Hezbollah leader who wants her dead. A discussion will follow the film. Tickets are $8 and available online or at the Grail box office. grailmoviehouse.com

• The film series Living in the Anthropocene Age continues Friday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m., with a collection of short art films about the use of film and photography to address environmental concerns. The screening takes place at UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio at the RAMP, 821 Riverside Drive. Free. Then, on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m., The Devil We Know, a documentary exposé of the DuPont corporation, will be shown at the Fine Arts Theatre, 36 Biltmore Ave. Tickets are $5 and available at the Fine Arts box office. The screenings are part of photo+sphere, a citywide exploration of photography and photo media that runs Nov. 7-11. photoplusavl.com

• The Cat Fly Film Fest, AVLFilm.com and The Asheville Studio, 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 75, co-host their monthly Asheville Filmmaker Mixer on Monday, Nov. 12, 6-8 p.m. The event provides local screenwriters an opportunity to workshop a short script through a table read. Interested writers are asked to leave a comment on the event’s Facebook page so that the organizers may best plan for the evening. Actors who would like to participate in the reading are also invited to comment online or contact the hosts. Post-event mingling will continue next door at Highland Brewing Co. Free to attend. avl.mx/5er

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Edwin Arnaudin
Edwin Arnaudin is a staff writer for Mountain Xpress. He also reviews films for ashevillemovies.com and is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) and North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA). Follow me @EdwinArnaudin

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.