The summer film festival of the Universitat de València (UV) ‘Nits de Cinema’ will screen eight feature films this July in their original version with subtitles to explore the night at the movies from different perspectives, eras, countries, and genres, ranging from dark comedy to horror.
The sixteenth edition of this cycle, organized by the Aula de Cinema UV, will take place from July 9 to 17 (22.00 hours) in the cloister of the Centre Cultural La Nau. Admission is free with prior reservation of an invitation, as indicated by the academic institution in a statement.
Under the title ‘La noche en el cine’, Nits de Cinema offers different romantic, horror, crime, or mystery stories told by filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Blake Edwards, Louis Malle, or Anatole Litvak, among others.
The cycle will kick off on Wednesday 9 with ‘After Hours,’ a comedy directed by Martin Scorsese in 1985, which tells the wild and fateful night of a computer programmer when, on his way home from work, he misses the subway in one of the worst neighborhoods in New York. The film has had a significant influence on numerous movies from various countries.
On Thursday 10, Nits de Cinema takes a leap back to the mid-20th century with the screening of ‘Sorry, Wrong Number’ by Anatole Litvak (1948). Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster, it is based on a radio play and is a mystery thriller that maintains tension throughout the film.
Another «outstanding» filmmaker at this year’s festival is the Frenchman Louis Malle, with the film ‘Elevator to the Gallows’ (1958), a pure noir film with music by Miles Davis, for the night of Friday the 11th.
Music will also take center stage on Saturday 12, with a screening of a silent film accompanied by live music. This is the ‘En mut i en directe’ cycle, through which the Aula de Cinema UV aims to promote cinema before sound. This year, the chosen film is ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ (1928) by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
The story will be accompanied by a soundtrack composed by Professor Ana Teruel Medina and performed live by Tránsito Sonoro, an electronic and clarinet duo formed by Bartolomé Llorens and Alberto Trabajos that explores various territories of contemporary music. Thus, La Nau will premiere this score that will accompany one of the absolute classics of world cinema.
On Sunday 13, ‘Nina’ by Andrea Jaurrieta (2024), a contemporary tale of revenge, will be screened; and on Monday 14, ‘The Night of the Hunter’ by Charles Laughton (1955), a key work of the 1950s, with the iconic presence of Robert Mitchum with the words ‘love’ and ‘hate’ tattooed on his hand.
The party continues on Tuesday 15 with ‘The Party’ by Blake Edwards (1968), a wild comedy that focuses on the vicissitudes that take place within the same film production.
A classic of the horror genre will be the highlight of Nits de Cinema on Thursday 17: ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ by Francis Ford Coppola, a masterpiece released in 1992, one of the most notable adaptations of the original novel.
The festival screenings will be preceded by introductory sessions by critics and university professors to provide the contextual and analytical keys to each feature film.
