JBFC Reopens with Nomadland

JBFC Reopens with Nomadland: After turning out its lights for the pandemic, the Jacob Burns Film Center will reopen on Friday, April 30 with Chloé Zhao’s Oscar favorite for Best Picture Nomadland starring Frances McDormand and real life nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells. The movie is based on Jessica Bruder’s non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century.

Also showing at JBFC are Limbo, about Syrian refugees awaiting their fate on a Scottish island. And two from Director Pedro Almodovar: Human Voice, a new thirty minute short starring Tilda Swinton. Human Voice is playing with Almodovar’s 1088 classic, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Both Almodovar films are based on the play The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau.

Another Oscar hopeful, Minari will open at JBFC on Friday, May 7.

Here’s JBFC’s take on their opening week lineup.

Nomadland (2020 107 min.)

Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road to explore a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. The third feature film from director Chloé Zhao, Nomadland features real nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades on her journey through the vast landscape of the American West.

Limbo (2020 104 min.)

Limbo is a wry and poignant observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish island where a group of new arrivals awaits the results of their asylum claims. It centers on Omar (Amir El-Masry), a young Syrian musician who is burdened by his grandfather’s oud, which he has carried all the way from his homeland.

The Human Voice (2020 30 min.)
A woman watches time passing next to the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up, but never arrives), and a restless dog who doesn’t understand that his master has abandoned him.

Playing with: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988 100 min.)

High atop one of Spain’s poshest penthouses, three women have come to the end of their mental ropes. Super-sexy Pepa (Carmen Maura) is forever teetering atop her skyscraper spikes as she obsesses over Iván (Fernando Guillén), the lover who just jilted her over an answering machine. Her neurotic best friend Candela (María Barranco) is seeking refuge at Pepa’s place because she recently realized her lover is a Shiite terrorist. And Iván’s ex-wife, Lucía (Julieta Serrano), was just released from a 20-year stint in a mental institution. They’re all mighty mad—in fact, they’re on the verge of a nervous breakdown—and one of them is poised to commit murder unless the other half-crazed femmes fatale can stop her!

Opening May 7: The Truffle Hunters and Minari

A few notes about the JBFC reopening:

Tickets for the week of April 30-May 6 will go on sale Monday, April 26 at noon as a Member Pre-Sale. Any remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public Tuesday, April 27 at noon.

To start, only our three ground floor theaters will be open, with two showtimes per day, per theater.

For the first two weeks after our reopening, the Theater will be closed on Mondays & Tuesdays.

Buying tickets online helps patrons bypass the box office and ensures they don’t get sold out. We also have a new outdoor box office window in operation to facilitate safe, socially distanced ticket sales at the Theater.

We will limit capacity in each theater according to state guidelines.

Read about our safety measures.