Each month, the programmers at the Criterion Channel produce incredible line-ups for their subscribers. For December, the Channel will feature films from Douglas Sirk, Derek Jarman, Robert Siodmak, and more!
Below you’ll find the programming schedule for the month, along with a complete list of titles that Criterion has in store for us. Don’t forget to check the Criterion Channel’s main page regularly though, as they occasionally will drop surprises that aren’t included in the official press release.
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All Programs Premiering February 1 Unless Noted Otherwise
TOP STORIES
Celebrate Black History
The story of Black Americans is, in many ways, the story of America itself. Though the African American experience has long been relegated to the margins of the big screen, a vital cinematic legacy endures thanks to the work of pioneers like William Greaves (Nationtime), Michelle Parkerson (… But Then, She’s Betty Carter), Kathleen Collins (Losing Ground), Bill Duke (The Killing Floor), and Charles Burnett (The Final Insult), as well as bracing contemporary voices like Garrett Bradley (America) and Ephraim Asili (The Inheritance). Their stories of revolution, resistance, creativity, community, and everyday endurance offer a multifaceted vision of Black American identity across generations.
Features
- Portrait of Jason, Shirley Clarke, 1967
- Nationtime, William Greaves, 1972
- Sounder, Martin Ritt, 1972
- A Dream Is What You Wake Up From, Larry Bullard and Carolyn Johnson, 1978
- … But Then, She’s Betty Carter, Michelle Parkerson, 1980
- Remnants of the Watts Festival, Ulysses Jenkins, 1980
- Imagine the Sound, Ron Mann, 1981
- Losing Ground, Kathleen Collins, 1982
- Say Amen, Somebody, George Nierenberg, 1982
- The Killing Floor, Bill Duke, 1984
- Paris Is Burning, Jennie Livingston, 1990
- The Final Insult, Charles Burnett, 1997
- still/here, Christopher Harris, 2000
- The Inheritance, Ephraim Asili, 2020
Shorts
- Black Panthers, Agnès Varda, 1968
- Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist, Saul J. Turrell, 1979
- Fannie’s Film, Fronza Woods, 1981
- Suzanne, Suzanne, Camille Billops and James Hatch, 1982
- We Demand, Kevin Jerome Everson and Claudrena N. Harold, 2016
- America, Garrett Bradley, 2019
All You Need Is Love
Sometimes all it takes to restore your faith in humanity is a simple, good-old-fashioned love story. Refreshingly free of cynicism, these unabashedly starry-eyed tales of all-consuming passion and sweep-you-off-your-feet romance are sexy, sweet, and maybe even a little sappy—just the way a good love affair should be. From romantic-comedy charmers (City Lights, The Lady Eve) to rapturous art-house reveries (Boy Meets Girl, Wings of Desire) to swooning expressions of queer desire (Desert Hearts, Happy Together), these are the intoxicating all-timers that make us fall in love with love.
- City Lights, Charles Chaplin, 1931
- It Happened One Night, Frank Capra, 1934
- L’Atalante, Jean Vigo, 1934
- History Is Made at Night, Frank Borzage, 1937
- The Lady Eve, Preston Sturges, 1941
- I Know Where I’m Going!, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1945
- The Passionate Friends, David