The Palm Springs Canon
Opening the vaults on 30 years of great PSIFF movies. Enjoy these free film screenings made possible in part by Desert Care Network.
There is no charge, but these events are ticketed. See you at the movies!
Amelie
A charming fantasy revolving around a sad waif who overcomes her lonely childhood and finds a way to bring cheer and joy to others and ultimately herself, Amélie received ecstatic reviews and tremendous box office success in France, making the film somewhat of a national treasure. (PSIFF 2002) Free community screening sponsored... Read More
Running Time: 122
The Band's Visit
Some of the best comedies are drawn from life‘s most serious conflicts, and proof lies in this witty and gentle lark about an Egyptian brass band that finds itself lost in a backwater Israeli town. Propelled by charismatic and engaging performances, the film is earned awards around the world. (PSIFF 2008) Free community... Read More
Running Time: 87
The Boys of St. Vincent
This film dramatizes an explosive real life scandal: the physical and sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic Brothers in a Canadian orphanage. Director John N. Smith, an award-winning staff director for the National Film Board of Canada, made a work of art that was been prevented by court action from being seen in the provinces... Read More
Running Time: 186
Caché
A well-off Parisian couple receives an anonymous videotape showing their house over the course of a couple of hours. Disturbed, they do nothing until another tape arrives. They are under surveillance. But why? And by whom...? Haneke uses the tropes of the thriller genre to produce a gripping narrative with a pungent political... Read More
Running Time: 117
Character
His hatred for his father is passionate, but forceful enough to murder? Dutch director Mike van Diem’s feature film debut is an intensely emotional paradox. How can one man, seemingly decent and honorable, be accused of such a heinous crime? Rich, complex and moving, this is one of those rare films that feels like an instant,... Read More
Running Time: 122
Chocolat
In this whimsical fable set in a small, tranquil and traditional town, Vianne, opens a “chocolaterie” with mysterious and irresistible confections. Her ability to select just the right chocolate for someone slowly starts to win the town over, but also gains her a powerful enemy. (PSIFF 2001) Free community screening sponsored... Read More
Running Time: 121
Cinema Paradiso
This loving tribute to the power and immortality of the cinema is told through the biography of a legendary movie director who is enthralled by the magic of the movies at an early age. (PSIFF 1990) Free community screening sponsored by Desert Care Network. Read More
Running Time: 155
City of God
The slums of Rio de Janeiro are the setting for this magnificent and raw epic that chronicles the growth of gang warfare and drug trade over a two decade period. Focused specifically on two boys who live as part of Rio’s “favelas” — trapped in a never-ending cycle of violence, which they accept without question. Nonetheless,... Read More
Running Time: 130
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
A marvelous spectacle ignites the screen as the martial arts genre is reconsidered as a fabulous feminist epic. (PSIFF 2001) Free community screening sponsored by Desert Care Network. Read More
Running Time: 120
Day Night Day Night
After 9/11, the thought of a suicide bomber in New York City has become an unfortunate and reoccurring nightmare. Playing off our sense of helplessness, Day Night Day Night is a powerful political drama about the terror inherent in terrorism. (PSIFF 2007) Free community screening sponsored by Desert Care Network. Read More
Running Time: 94
The Double Life of Veronique
The idea that each of us has a perfect double somewhere in the world, with the same talents, but making different choices, is a fascinating one. It is from this fantasy that The Double Life of Veronique springs. Sharing not only a name, but also a gift for music and a potentially fatal heart condition, the two women pursue... Read More
Running Time: 98
For All Mankind
This astonishing document of man’s quest to conquer the lunar frontier covers the nine manned moon missions launched by the U.S. between December, 1968 and November, 1972. (PSIFF 1990) Free community screening sponsored by Desert Care Network Read More
Running Time: 80
Golden Door
A Sicilian peasant family embarks on a difficult journey, leaving behind their treasured lifestyle in the hopes of securing a better tomorrow. Their voyage is a series of unending trials that, even if successful, merely promises cold-hearted bureaucracy and an uncertain future before they can fully access the New World. (PSIFF... Read More
Running Time: 118
Goodbye Solo
Ramin Bahrani — a US director of Iranian origin — has established himself as one of America’s best indie directors focusing on people living on the margins of society. His latest emotional and spiritual drama takes him to another level by dealing with a couple of underclass men — one an American, one an African immigrant — who... Read More
Running Time: 91
The Holy Girl
Lucrecia Martel’s second feature captures the doubts and turmoil of a young girl with delicacy and sensuality. She defines her lucid film as a tale about good and evil — not about the clash of good and evil, but about the difficulty of distinguishing between the two. (PSIFF 2005) Read More
Running Time: 106
Hunger
Turner Prize-winning artist and director ( Widows 2018; 12 Years a Slave 2013; Shame 2011) Steve McQueen‘s first foray into feature film was a powerful drama focusing on the infamous six-week hunger strike that IRA prisoners, led by Bobby Sands in the early 1980s used as a way of publicizing their demands to be recognized as... Read More
Running Time: 93
Ida
Poland, 1962. About to take her religious vows, Anna is shocked with a stunning revelation that she is actually Jewish and her name is really Ida. Exploring her new identity, Ida goes on a revelatory journey with her worldly and cynical aunt where she discovers the fate of her birth parents and unearths dark secrets dating back... Read More
Running Time: 82
Memento
Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) wears expensive, European tailored suits and drives a new Jaguar, but lives in cheap, anonymous motels, paying his way with thick wads of cash. Although he looks like a successful businessman, his only work is the pursuit of vengeance: tracking and punishing the man who raped and murdered his wife.... Read More
Running Time: 113
Monsoon Wedding
In this wonderfully colorful and vivacious film, a big family wedding becomes a hotbed of secrets revealed, as one family prepares for the pageantry and vibrancy of a Punjabi wedding, set against the backdrop of the monsoon rains looming on the horizon. (PSIFF 2002) Free community screening sponsored by Desert Care Network. Read More
Running Time: 114