Our Programs

All Bijou screenings are free for UI students and $6.50 for the general public.

 Bijou films are screened at FilmScene, 118 E. College Street, Iowa City, IA.

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  After Hours

  After Hours is our catch-all fiction-genre film series which is dedicated to cult classics, genre films, and recent releases. Join us every Saturday during the academic semester at 11pm - and be sure to sign your ticket in order to be eligible to win cool prizes like posters, DVDs, or other items!

  All the films in this series are FREE FOR STUDENTS and $6.50 for the general public. Shows start promptly at 11 PM at FilmScene, located at 118 College St. on Iowa City's Ped Mall.

  Please check our Facebook page regularly for updates regarding new films we will be showing throughout the semester. NOTE: If there is a film that has a high level of interest on our Facebook event, please consider reserving tickets early or showing up to the FilmScene box office in advance to ensure yourself a ticket. The FilmScene box office can be reached via phone at (319) 358-2555.

• Film Forum

  Bijou Film Forum presents screenings and discussions of acclaimed and provocative films that seek to engage community members and UI students across all disciplines and fields of study through the art of film.

  All the films in this series are FREE FOR STUDENTS and $6.50 for the general public. Film Forum screenings occur every other Tuesday night during the academic semester at 6pm at FilmScene, located at 118 College St. on Iowa City's Ped Mall.

  Please check our Facebook page regularly for updates regarding new films we will be showing throughout the semester. NOTE: If there is a film that has a high level of interest on our Facebook event, please consider reserving tickets early or showing up to the FilmScene box office in advance to ensure yourself a ticket. The FilmScene box office can be reached via phone at (319) 358-2555.

• Horizons

  Bijou Horizons is a world cinema series that brings awareness to diverse cultures through film. UI students who see all five shows in a semester will be eligible to win a $1,500 study abroad scholarship plus flight package, opportunity courtesy of UI International Programs.

  Horizons screenings occur every other Tuesday night during the academic semester at 6pm at FilmScene, located at 118 College St. on Iowa City's Ped Mall.

  Please check our Facebook page regularly for updates regarding new films we will be showing throughout the semester. NOTE: If there is a film that has a high level of interest on our Facebook event, please consider reserving tickets early or showing up to the FilmScene box office in advance to ensure yourself a ticket. The FilmScene box office can be reached via phone at (319) 358-2555.

Bijou Thursdays

Bijou After Hours

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  After Hours Presents: Zombieland (2009)

  October 13, 11:00 PM
  runtime: 88 (1 Hr. 28) min.  |  rating: R  |  director: Ruben Fleischer

  As with all After Hours programming, this film is FREE for University of Iowa students with a valid I.D. and $6.50 for the general public!
  
  Come out to FilmScene on Saturday, October 13th at 11 PM to see Ruben Fleischer's 2009 cult classic - Zombieland! On top of the standard prize drawing before the film, we will be handing out Hostess Twinkies to every audience member in attendance! Grab a friend and come out to see a great film!
  
  A shy college student from Texas named Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is forced to join up with a seasoned zombie slayer named Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) in order to survive the zombie apocalypse. As Tallahassee sets out on a mission to find the last Twinkie on Earth, the duo meets up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), two young girls who have resorted to some rather unorthodox methods to survive amidst the chaos. Reluctant partners in the battle against the undead, all four soon begin to wonder if it might be better to simply take their chances alone. 
  
  "Woody Harrelson has a rip-roaring time in this comic splatterfest as a redneck from hell who is out to kill zombies. It's the kind of genre acting that doesn't get much notice, but it's a gleeful rampage of a performance" - Bruce Diones, The New Yorker
  
  "Warts, entrails and all, I had a ball at Zombieland. It's 81 minutes of my kind of stupid." - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

  Trailer

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  After Hours Presents: Carrie (1976)

  October 20, 11:00 PM
  runtime: 98 (1 Hr. 38) min.  |  rating: R  |  director: Brian De Palma

  As with all Bijou After Hours programming, Students with a University of Iowa I.D. get in FOR FREE! $6.50 for the general public.
  
  Come out to FilmScene on Saturday, October 20th at 11 PM to see a screening of the 1976 release of Carrie! Directed by Brian De Palma and Sissy Spacek as the title character, this should be a great film to experience in a theater! We will be holding a raffle before the film and giving out various prizes such as t-shirts, posters, FilmScene merch, other free items, and much more! Grab a friend and come see a great film!
  
  In this chilling adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel, withdrawn and sensitive teen Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) faces taunting from classmates at school and abuse from her fanatically pious mother (Piper Laurie) at home. When strange occurrences start happening around Carrie, she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers. Invited to the prom by the empathetic Tommy Ross (William Katt), Carrie tries to let her guard down, but things eventually take a dark and violent turn.
  
  "Brian De Palma's Carrie is an absolutely spellbinding horror movie... It's also (and this is what makes it so good) an observant human portrait." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
  
  "More superpowers from Brian De Palma, this time in high school, in a screen version of a Stephen King novel that's become a horror classic." - Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

  Trailer

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  After Hours Presents: Atomic Blonde (2017)

  October 27, 11:00 PM
  runtime: 115 min min.  |  rating: R (for sequences of strong violence, language throughout, and some sexuality/nudity)  |  director: David Leitch

  As with all Bijou After Hours programming, students with a University of Iowa I.D. get in FOR FREE ($6.50 for the general public)!
  
  Come out to FilmScene on Saturday, October 27th at 11 PM to see a screening of the 2017 release ATOMIC BLONDE! Directed by David Leitch with the incredible Charlize Theron as the titular atomic blonde, this should be a great film to experience in a theater! We will be holding a raffle before the film and giving out various prizes such as t-shirts, posters, FilmScene merch, and many more FREE items! Grab a friend and come see a great film!
  
  Sensual and savage, Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is the most elite spy in MI6, an agent who's willing to use all of her lethal skills to stay alive during an impossible mission. With the Berlin Wall about to fall, she travels into the heart of the city to retrieve a priceless dossier and take down a ruthless espionage ring. Once there, she teams up with an embedded station chief to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies.
  
  "Can a woman step into James Bond's shoes? Duh, says Charlize Theron as she performs the cold-as-ice secret agent shtick backwards, and in red patent-leather stilettos, in the engaging spy-vs-spy thriller Atomic Blonde." - Thelma Adams, Observer
  
  "Brutal, beautiful, and bad-ass, Atomic Blonde is the action heroine we've been waiting for." - Kat Hughes, The Hollywood News

  Trailer

Bijou Film Forum

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  Film Forum Presents: Chicagoland Shorts (2015)

  October 16, 6:00 PM
  runtime: 66 (1 Hr. 6) min.  |  rating: NR  |  director: Eugene Sun Park & Kayla Ginsburg

  As with all Film Forum events, students gain FREE admission with a valid UI student I.D.; $6.50 for general admission.

  Come to FilmScene on Tuesday, October 16th at 6 P.M. for another Film Forum event! This time, we are excited to bring Eugene Sun Park and Kayla Ginsburg's "Chicagoland Shorts" to Iowa City! Stay after the film for a panel discussion! (Panelists: T.B.A.)
  
  Chicagoland Shorts is a short film series which highlights the extraordinary diversity that one can find within the Chicagoland area and especially provides an outlet and voice for those who may be underrepresented within the independent film community. The series is part of Full Spectrum Features' flagship program which aims to provide a platform for the intersecting work of people of color, women, LGBTQ filmmakers.

  Trailer

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  Film Forum Presents: Chavela (2017)

  October 30, 6:00 PM
  runtime: 93 (1 Hr. 33) min.  |  rating: NR  |  director: Catherine Gund & Daresha Kyi

  FREE for UI Students with a VALID student I.D.! $6.50 for the general public!
  
  Come to FilmScene on Tuesday, October 30th, to see Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi's documentary on Chavela Vargas! Come bring a friend, see an incredible documentary, and participate in some thought-provoking conversation afterward with our panelists! (Panelists T.B.D.)
  
  The life of Mexican singer Chavela Vargas, who gained worldwide fame for her beauty and charm and her interpretation of traditional ranchera.
  
  "Throughout Chavela, onscreen translations of lyrics accompany concert clips. A literal understanding of the songs is hardly necessary, though. The emotion in the performance says everything we need to know." - Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times
  
  "This tuneful portrait of Chavela Vargas, "born singing" in 1919 Costa Rica, admiringly explores her impact on the world of Mexican music as an out lesbian ... a charismatic figure and a great artist." - Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

  Trailer

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  Film Forum Presents: The Watermelon Woman (1997)

  November 13, 6:00 PM
  runtime: 90 (1 Hr. 30) min.  |  rating: NR  |  director: Cheryl Dunye

  FREE for UI students with a VALID student I.D.! $6.50 for the general public!

  
  Come to FilmScene on Tuesday, November 13th, to see Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman"! Come with a friend and watch a great film with us!

  
  Cheryl is a twenty-something black lesbian working as a clerk in a video store while struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, an obscure black actress from the 1930's. Cheryl is surprised to discover that Richards (known popularly as "the Watermelon Woman") had a white lesbian lover. At the same time, Cheryl falls in love with a very cute white customer at the video store.

  
  "Funny and smart, full of biting humor and astute observations about identity and history, Cheryl Dunye's audacious, joyous debut feature captures the process of falling hopelessly in love with the movies" - Serena Donadoni, Village Voice

  Trailer

Bijou Horizons

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  Horizons Presents: Thelma (2017)

  October 23, 6:00 PM
  runtime: 116 (1 Hr. 56) min.  |  rating: NR  |  director: Joachim Trier

  As with all Bijou Horizons events, students gain admission for FREE with a valid UI student I.D.; $6.50 for general admission!

  Come to FilmScene on Tuesday, October 23rd at 6 P.M. to see Joachim Trier's supernatural horror drama - "Thelma". The film follows a college student (played by Elli Haroboe) who begins to have intense seizures while studying at a university in Oslo, Norway. She soon learns that these seizures are a symptom of dangerous and inexplicable supernatural abilities.
  
  "Thelma doesn't play with pig's blood and jump scares; its dreamlike dread is subtler and stranger, and much harder to shake." - Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
  
  "Trier has found a new way to depict and talk about these emotions and experiences that most human beings know and can never really get over. His way is cold, deadpan, extreme, and very Scandinavian, and it's effective." - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

   

  Trailer

Bijou Open Screen

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  Open Screen

  Open Screen is a forum for University of Iowa students as well as filmmakers within the local community to showcase their cinematic pieces. Short clips of found footage or obscure footage are also accepted. Each submission must be no longer than 10 minutes; anything over 10 minutes will automatically not be considered for entry. Submitters are asked to email the following information to bijouopenscreen@gmail.com:

  • A short summary of their submission.
  • A still image from the submission.
  • A link to a downloadable version of the submission via Dropbox, Google Drive, or any other file sharing service.
  • Optional: If applicable, evidence of written permission to show another artist's clip, and contact information for the other artist.

  SUBMISSION RULES:

  • all films must be no longer than 10 minutes; anything over 10 minutes will automatically not be considered 
  • filmmakers can select a ten-minute clip from a feature film to submit if they so chose; these must either be the submitter's own work or the submitter must obtain written permission from the artist, evidence of which must be shown to the selection committee.
  • filmmakers can submit works to the Open Screen committee via a Vimeo link, a YouTube link, or a QuickTime file. 
  • music videos, documentaries, and experimental or avant garde work are acceptable
  • no work may be submitted that has a distributor or a professional production company

  The selection committee reserves final right to decide which submissions are chosen for inclusion. The audience will vote at the end of the night of the event for the top three submissions.

  POLICY REGARDING OBJECTIONABLE MATERIAL:
  
  The University of Iowa’s Bijou Film Board acknowledges that creative expression through film imagery and/or language may include controversial or sensitive subject matter. All submissions to the Bijou Film Board for the Open Screen series that includes material the committee deems offensive, will be reviewed solely on the basis of the piece’s artistic and educational merit. Open Screen recognizes that the use of such purported offensive materials might be necessary to understanding the film’s subject matter. Thus, if members of Open Screen committee determine that the exclusion of offensive material would otherwise diminish or mislead the overall meaning and quality of the submission, then Bijou members may accept the submission and provide appropriate notice or warning to the general audience.
  
  Providing adequate and reasonable advance notice to viewers of the nature of the submission (presentation), or portions thereof, which are deemed to be offensive to a substantial number of people, using contemporary community norms, or is legally obscene for minors, but not for adults, under the standards set forth in Iowa Code Chapter 728 will be determined at the sole discretion of the Bijou.
  
  The selection committee reserves final right to decide which submissions are chosen for inclusion. Absolutely no material that is blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, trans phobic, misogynistic, etc., without any kind of redeeming educational or social value, will be considered by the Open Screen committee. The purpose of this screening is to cultivate community, foster burgeoning filmmakers' careers, and promote inclusion. Audiences will vote at the end of the night for the best submission. 

  Fall Submission Deadline: Saturday, December 1st, 2018 - 11:59pm

  Fall Event Date: Saturday, December 8th, 2018 - 5:00pm (FREE for all attendees)

FilmScene Screenings