Introduced by Jiayi Chen, lead projectionist, MFAH Films

Over more than four decades, Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub crafted a singular body of work, formally radical and fiercely political, including adaptations of works by Franz Kafka and Sophocles, documentaries on Paul Cezanne and Johann Sebastian Bach, among other experiments. Long unavailable in North America, their films nonetheless have attracted a devoted cult among adventurous cinephiles.

These Encounters of Theirs, the final collaboration between the filmmaking duo before Huillet’s death, gathers a group of Italian villagers to stage a series of dialogues between figures in Greek mythology and touches on human folly in a series of dramatically transfixing and visually ravishing tableaus.

Preceded By
The Bridegroom, the Actress, and the Pimp (Der Bräutigam, die Komödiantin und der Zuhälter)
(Directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub, West Germany, 1968, 23 minutes, in German with English subtitles, 35mm)
An early work that offers a Brechtian take on Ferdinand Bruckner’s play Pains of Youth, this short film features Rainer Werner Fassbinder alongside performers who would later appear in his productions. 
—Jiayi Chen

Tickets

• $9 general admission; $7 MFAH members, students with ID, seniors (65+)

Plan Your Visit

• This screening takes place in Brown Auditorium Theater in the Law Building.
• Parking Information | Museum Hours | MFAH Campus Map