Cinema Akil launches throwback summer programme: From 'Psycho' to 'Paris, Texas'

Several cult classics will be screened at the venue in Al Quoz during the summer-long series

Cinema Akil's Summer Throwback progamme began on June 18 and will be running until September 25. Mohamed Somji / Seeing Things 

Cinema Akil has launched its Summer Throwback programme, screening a selection of cult, critic and fan favourites from the 1960s to the 1990s.

The programme, which began on June 18 and will be running until September 25, kicked off with the 1960 thriller Psycho. A controversial film for its time, the Alfred Hitchcock classic today is the golden standard of psychological thrillers. The film will be showing until Saturday, June 26.

Fourteen films are slated to screen during the three-month programme. The films, which capture the prevailing cultural spirit in the decade of their release, will be showing at the venue in Al Quoz for 10 days at a time. New films will be released every Friday until the programme concludes later this summer.

Classic horror The Exorcist and the time-bending comedy Back to the Future, representing the 1970s and the 1980s respectively, will also be showing at the venue; as will Harrison Ford's 1982 breathless sci-fi thriller Blade Runner, Al Pacino's gritty portrait of a drug cartel kingpin in 1983's Scarface, and Alicia Silverstone's era-defining teen 1995 film Clueless.

Here, we take a look at some lesser known titles in the programme: 

‘Paris Belongs to Us’ (1961)

A staple by French New Wave director Jacques Rivette, Paris Belongs to Us tells the story of a group of intellectuals who try to get to the bottom of their friend's apparent suicide, certain that it is the work of mysterious criminal forces.

The film will be shown from Friday, June 25, to Saturday, July 3.

‘The Housemaid’ (1960)

A haunting household drama by South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-young, The Housemaid tells the story of familial disintegration and class warfare. The short but masterfully-crafted film unravels the devastating effects an unstable housemaid has on the sheltered life of her employers, which include a morally-wavering composer, his devoted wife and their children.

The Housemaid will be shown from Friday, July 9, to Saturday, July 17.

‘Touki Bouki’ (1973)

This 1973 classic was Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambety’s first feature film, yet the fantasy-drama offers a poignant but unflinching exploration of Senegal in the years after it gained independence from the French in 1960. The film, which translates from Wolof to The Journey of the Hyena, tells the story of a cowherd and a university student who decide to make enough money to leave for Paris.

The film will be shown from Friday, July 16, to Saturday, July 24.

‘Paris, Texas’ (1984)

A drifter drama, that revolves around a man who wanders out of the desert after having been missing for four years, Paris, Texas  offers a suspenseful story that serves as a picture of family life in the US in the 1980s. Directed by Wim Wenders, the film is mesmerising watch.

It will be screened from Friday, August 13, to Saturday, August 21.

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