Virtual Cinema: “The Audition” and “Bless Their Little Hearts” August 1, 2020


Discover passionate lead performances this week in Virtual Cinema: Nina Ross as a high-strung violin instructor in a new drama, and an “L.A. Rebellion” masterpiece starring Nate Hardman and Kaycee Moore as a couple struggling to make ends meet.

The Audition

“gripping, cold-blooded drama” —Variety

In The Audition, from director Ina Weisse, actress Nina Hoss delivers a stunning performance as the unraveling Anna Bronsky, a violin instructor at a prestigious Berlin conservatory. Crippled by her own high expectations and personal history, Anna channels her obsessiveness toward an underdog student whom she believes has remarkable talent. But the more time Anna invests in her mentorship, the more her personal life spins out of control. Scroll down for streaming info.

Bless Their Little Hearts

“devastatingly beautiful” —New Yorker

Up next in the Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power film series: filmmaker Billy Woodberry’s Bless Their Little Hearts, an intimate, Neorealist portrait of a family in the Watts community of Los Angeles. Nate Hardman and Kaycee Moore deliver gut-wrenching performances in their portrayal of Charlie and Andais Banks, a couple struggling to make ends meet. Working with a script and cinematography by his contemporary Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep), Woodberry creates a classic that explores race, money, and gender. Scroll down for streaming info.

• The Audition Your purchase ($12) supports the MFAH & provides a 24-hour pass to the film. SEE THE TRAILER

Bless Their Little Hearts Your purchase ($4.99) supports the MFAH & provides a 3-day pass to the film. SEE THE TRAILER

Underwriting for the Film Department is provided by Tenaris and the Vaughn Foundation.

Generous funding is provided by The Consulate General of Israel Houston; Nina and Michael Zilkha; Franci Neely; Carrin Patman and Jim Derrick; Mr. and Mrs. H. Bruce Sallee; Lynn S. Wyatt; ILEX Foundation; Consolato Generale D’Italia Houston; L’Alliance Française de Houston; and The Foundation for Independent Media Arts.