The Details for Natalie Portman’s Boston Calling Film Festival Are Out

Courtesy photo

What do Lolita, The Exorcist, and 2015’s Diary of a Teenage Girl have in common? All three movies in some way involve the concept of “the female gaze,” and all three will be featured in Natalie Portman’s film festival next month.

The festival, curated by the Academy award-winning actress and affiliated with the Boston Calling music festival, will run from Tuesday, May 22 to Thursday, May 24 at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge.

She’s selected an eclectic mix of films for the occasion, many of which are several decades old and were directed by male and female auteurs. And it’ll be a return to familiar territory for the Harvard alum, who says she considers the legendary venue in Harvard Square one of her favorites.

“I’m so excited to show films that I love that explore the female gaze,” says Natalie Portman. “I don’t think there is anything inherently different between male and female artists, but these are examples of great works of art in which similar storylines have female tropes that play out quite differently depending on who is telling the story.  I’m looking forward to sharing these with an audience and hearing their reactions. It makes it an even more special opportunity to watch these incredible films on the big screen at one of my favorite movie theaters.”

The three-day event precedes the Boston Calling Festival, which runs Friday, May 25-Sunday, May 27. The lineup, announced in January, features headliners Eminem, Jack White, and The Killers.

Portman will also host programming at the festival’s indoor arena, the details of which have not yet been made public.

The actress had been slated to host a film festival in 2017, the year Boston Calling relocated to Harvard Stadium, before the event was canceled and replaced with a comedy festival hosted by Hannibal Buress.

Tickets for the film festival in Cambridge, called “The Female Gaze,” go on sale Friday, April 27th. Tickets are $11 for the general public, or $9 for students.

Here’s the full schedule:

Tuesday, May 22^nd

4:15pm

Lolita, the 1962 British-American drama directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Sue Lyon and James Mason (1962)

7:15pm

The Holy Girl, directed by Lucretia Martel and starring Mercedes Morán, María Alche, and Carlos Belloso (2004)

9:30pm

Diary of a Teenage Girl, the bold, coming-of-age film directed by Marielle Heller and starring Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, and Kristen Wiig (2015)

Wednesday, May 23^rd

4:30pm

Jeanne Dielman, Chantal Akerman’s cult classic starring Delphine Seyrig (1975)

8:30pm

Belle de Jour, a new restoration of the 1967 French drama directed by Luis Buñue and starring Catherine Deneuve (1967)

Thursday, May 24^th

7:30pm

I Am Not A Witch, Rungano Nyoni’s feature debut film starring newcomer Maggie Mulubwa (2017)

9:30pm

The Exorcist, the extended director’s cut of the legendary 1973 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, and Lee J. Cobb (1973)