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The Belcourt Theatre

Milestones of the Last Quarter Century

As we conclude a year of programs, seminars and special events dedicated Belcourt 100, our centennial as Nashville’s oldest neighborhood cinema, it seemed appropriate to look back specifically at our last quarter century — a turning point (starting in 2000) when our building was saved, a new 501(c) was formed, and the Belcourt Theatre earned the moniker we hold today as Nashville’s Nonprofit Film Center. To do so, we have gathered this unique collection of films, each its own kind of milestone in our last quarter century and tied to a particular moment.

This series made possible with generous support from the Manzlers and Webbs.
Synopses and context compiled by Toby Leonard

PARASITE
Fri, May 29 at 2:05pm, 9:10pm

PARASITE

Bong Joon Ho’s Palme d’Or winning black comedy holds the honor of our longest run — playing on our screens for nearly 5 months (and ending just a few weeks after winning the Oscar for Best Picture). By turns darkly hilarious and heart-wrenching, PARASITE showcases a modern master at the top of his game.
HOUSE (35mm)
Sat, May 30 at 9:55pm

HOUSE (35mm)

The path of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s journey from relative obscurity to a rediscovered candy-coated midnight classic ran right through the Belcourt. To wit, a VHS tape rescued and fan-subtitled to an underground website went above board, found one of its first legit screenings in the Belcourt’s Midnight Movies program — for which a hand-designed screenprint was printed and sold as a bonus, its design picked up by Janus Films/Criterion Collection for its ensuing theatrical and BluRay releases — and HOUSE was reborn.
Seminar: How the Belcourt Was Saved
Sat, May 30 at 11:00am

Seminar: How the Belcourt Was Saved

How the Belcourt Was Saved traces how grassroots organizers, staff, artists, and audiences helped transform the theater after 1999 into Nashville’s nonprofit film center and a leading American arthouse. This seminar explores the theater’s recovery, mission, and place in the city’s cultural and cinematic history.
WILD RIVER
Mon, Jun 1 at 1:00pm, 5:30pm

WILD RIVER

Set in the post-Depression Tennessee Valley and concerning an idealistic young TVA administrator sent to clear land to be flooded by a new dam, Elia Kazan's film is a masterful recreation of a unique period in Tennessee history. WILD RIVER opened our Visions of the South series in 2011 — which we called “a survey of 20th century film depicting life in the southeastern United States from the inside and out” — and the first such mega-series of its kind.
SÁTÁNTANGÓ
Sun, May 31 at 12:00pm

SÁTÁNTANGÓ

“What’s black and white, speaks Hungarian, and is 37,204 feet long? Don’t look now, Nashville, but it will soon be in your midst. It is a phantom, a behemoth that only a comparative few have ever glimpsed. People have driven hours to see it and emerged half a day later from its company, changed. Some compare its effect to a drug. Others say it has the power to stop time. The harder it has been to see, the more its legend has grown. Spoken aloud, its name practically arrives in a clap of thunder: SÁTÁNTANGÓ!” —Jim Ridley, Nashville Scene (Dec 2006)
FIRST COW
Mon, Jun 1 at 3:25pm, 8:00pm

FIRST COW

On Sunday, March 15, 2020, the emergence of a worldwide pandemic forced the long-term closure of the Belcourt for the foreseeable future. The film that we were scheduled to open on the following Friday was Kelly Reichardt’s FIRST COW. Evoking an authentically hardscrabble early 19th century way of life, two westward travellers in the Oregon Territory start a successful business selling “oily cakes” (scones), but its longevity is reliant upon the clandestine participation of a nearby wealthy landowner’s prized milking cow.
CROUPIER (35mm)
Tue, Jun 2 at 7:00pm

CROUPIER (35mm)

On June 3, 2000, our organization reopened the Belcourt after a year and a half of uncertainty. With this screening on the evening of June 2, 2026, CROUPIER finally returns to bookend our organization’s first 26 years. Taking a job as a casino croupier just to make ends meet, aspiring writer Jack finds himself seduced by the high stakes world of luck and chance. His attention is caught by a down-on-her-luck gambler with designs to recruit Jack for an inside job. Starring a little-known Clive Owen, directed by Mike Hodges (GET CARTER).
MUD ON THE STARS: STORIES FROM ELIA KAZAN’S WILD RIVER
Sat, Jun 6 at 10:00am

MUD ON THE STARS: STORIES FROM ELIA KAZAN’S WILD RIVER

In the 57-minute documentary MUD ON THE STARS: STORIES FROM ELIA KAZAN'S WILD RIVER, residents of Bradley County, Tennessee, celebrate the 50th anniversary of Elia Kazan’s film that put them on the big screen.
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