First Reformed

Reverend Ernst Toller, a former army chaplain, is consumed by feelings of guilt and the loss of his son. When Mary, a member of his small Dutch Reformed church, asks for his help with her husband Michael, a radical environmental activist struggling with despair over the planet's future, Toller becomes increasingly involved in their lives. After Michael's tragic death, Toller is left with pressing questions about faith, responsibility, and the moral state of the world.

As he tries to support Mary, he discovers that his own church has close ties to companies responsible for severe environmental damage. Confronting this hypocrisy leads him into an existential crisis, in which his beliefs and ideals are increasingly put to the test.

With First Reformed, writer-director Paul Schrader delivers a poignant reflection on faith, guilt, and meaning. In this sober yet intense film, he returns to themes from his strict Calvinist upbringing and paints the portrait of a desperately searching antihero. The result is a heavy, symbolic, and yet thrilling and intelligent film, supported by an impressive leading role from Ethan Hawke as Reverend Ernst Toller.

A24/7 
What do Moonlight, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Midsommar have in common? Not the cast, not the writers, not the cinematographers, and also not the directors… No, what these three films have in common is the production company/distributor A24. The American A24 is a genuine success story: film lovers perk up when they see the A24 logo in the opening credits. The company was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, John Hodges, and David Fenkel, all of whom are not yet forty years old at that time. Initially, A24 only involved itself with the distribution of films. They pick up films that often struggle to find a large audience because they are different, innovative, and because the creators take risks. In 2016, they turn a new page. For the first time in their still young existence, they produce a film themselves. And once again, it hits the mark, as the first film that A24 invests in with its own money is Barry Jenkins’ later Oscar-winning Moonlight.

In the nearly 15 years since A24 was founded, they have produced or distributed about 150 films. 150 films without superheroes, cliché characters, or wafer-thin plots, but with real people, with their own, unknown stories that deserve to be seen on the big screen once more. That’s why this summer; A24/7 - a modest selection of seven titles from the rich A24 catalog.