The Juniper Tree

  • August 5 - 6, 2022
  • The Dreamland Cinema at the Thistle Dew Dessert Theater

    1901 P Street
    Sacramento, California 95811
Ticket Price $10.00 This event is now over
Description

The Juniper Tree

Dir. Nietzchka Keene, 1990, Iceland.

An unsung talent in her lifetime, director, professor and Fulbright scholar Nietzchka Keene’s stark, stunning debut feature The Juniper Tree is loosely based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name, and stars Björk in her first on-screen performance. The film premiered to glowing reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991 and led Keene to further direct Heroine of Hell (1996) starring Catherine Keener and Barefoot to Jerusalem (2008), the latter completed after her tragically early death in 2004.

Set in medieval Iceland, The Juniper Tree follows Margit (Björk in a riveting performance) and her older sister Katla (Bryndis Petra Bragadottir) as they flee for safety after their mother is burned to death for witchcraft. Finding shelter and protection with Johan (Valdimar Orn Fygenring), and his resentful young son, Jonas (Geirlaug Sunna Pormar), the sisters help form an impromptu family unit that’s soon strained by Katla’s burgeoning sorcery. Photographed entirely on location in the stunning landscapes of Iceland in spectacular black-and-white by Randy Sellars, The Juniper Tree is a deeply atmospheric film, evocative of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Day of Wrath and Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, and filled with indelible waking dream sequences (courtesy of legendary experimental filmmaker Pat O’Neill). A potent allegory for misogyny and its attendant tragedies, The Juniper Tree is a major rediscovery for art house audiences.

Date & Time

Aug 5 - 6, 2022

Venue Details

The Dreamland Cinema at the Thistle Dew Dessert Theater

1901 P Street
Sacramento, California 95811 The Dreamland Cinema at the Thistle Dew Dessert Theater
The Dreamland Cinema

Microcinema bringing the best in cult, indie, international and arthouse film to Sacramento, CA.


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