If David Lynch’s signature style was the dark strangeness of ordinary life, then Hal Hartley was his more optimistic counterpart. No less stylized in his visual style or in the performances that he gained from his own troupe of regulars than Lynch, but his films are filled with plausible weirdos. Nowhere was that more clear than with the Long Island trilogy, which launches AFS’ retrospective of this American independent cinema godfather. The season begins with The Unbelievable Truth (Feb. 4 & 9), followed by Trust (Feb. 11 & 15) and trilogy closer Simple Men (Feb. 18 & 22). However, Hartley completists will be most excited by the director’s rarely screened and shortest feature, Surviving Desire (Feb. 25 & March 1), playing alongside shorts: “The End,” “Theory of Achievement,” and “Ambition.” – Richard Whittaker
Through March 1
