For as little as $2.50 with a student ID, or $5 without one, you can watch award-winning independent films at Thursday at the Theatre in Yuma’s Historic Theatre on Main Street. The series, now in its 16th year, is brought to you by the Arizona Western College Foundation and sponsored by KAWC Colorado River Public Media, the AWC-NAU Academic Library and the Yuma Arts Center.

The evening event begins at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month – with the exception of April, when it falls in the second week. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. so that viewers will have time to purchase $2 bags of popcorn and $2 sodas and find a good seat. Before the feature film, AWC Professor Michael Miller gives an introduction and any disclaimers, and an award-winning short film is shown.

The following schedule is subject to change based on changing distribution schedules from the supplier, Film Movement:

AWC Thursdays at the Theatre: Jan. - May 2020

January 23 – Over the Limit

Poland, Germany / 2017 / Russian with English subtitles / 73 Minutes / Documentary

“Captures Mamun’s extraordinary talent and graceful movements as she dances with a hoop or long ribbon. But between those gymnastic treats, viewers witness the daily, vicious attacks that she absorbs from trainers.” – Video Librarian

Synopsis: Over the Limit shows how the successful Russian system for training athletes transgresses boundaries. Elite rhythmic gymnast Rita Mamun has reached a crucial moment in her career. She’s soon to retire but has one final goal set out for her – winning Olympic gold. A nail-biting behind-the-scenes drama about the intense physical and mental labor put into a sport that thrives on its beautiful aesthetics.

February 6 – Complicity

Japan, China, France / 2018 / Japanese, Mandarin with English subtitles / 116 Minutes / Drama

Synopsis:  Cheng Liang is a young Chinese immigrant living illegally in Japan. Desperate for work, he feigns his identity in order to get a job in a traditional Japanese soba restaurant. He starts his new life living and working with the elderly soba master (Tatsuya Fuji, In the Realm of the Senses), always fearing to have his real identity disclosed at any moment.

March 5, 2020 – Winter Flies

Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Slovak Republic, France / 2018 / Czech with English subtitles / 85 Minutes / Comedy-drama

Synopsis: Police interrogate 14-year-old Mára at the station after he is caught behind the wheel far across country from where he lives. He and somewhat eccentric Heduš had set out for the frozen landscape down south to seek adventure, but the mischievous breeziness with which Mára gives his story, and his concealment of the details of the trip, gradually strip his statement of credibility. With uncommon directorial playfulness, Olmo Omerzu leads his central pair of young nonprofessional actors through the expanding narrative, in which a variety of detours arise with the same elegant spontaneity as they later disappear. A road movie about the flies that occasionally buzz around even in winter, telling a story of boyhood friendship and the irrepressible desire to experience something, even if you don’t exactly know what. Winner of four Czech Academy Lion Awards.

April 9 – Ulysses & Mona

France / 2018 / French with English subtitles / 82 minutes / Drama

Synopsis: Ulysses, a 55-year-old artist, four years ago ran away from his family and put an end to his career. Now he lives alone with his dog Joseph in an old manor in the middle of the forest, spending his days playing tennis against a pitching machine or listening to horror movie soundtracks. In short, Ulysses is bored to death, but he is too proud to admit it.

Mona is a 20-year-old art student, but her life couldn’t be more uneventful, between nude-drawing workshops and theory classes run by geriatric teachers. Mona decides out of the blue to go and meet Ulysses. After a laborious first attempt and some misfortune, both of them will end up on a life-changing journey.

May 7 – The Third Wife

Vietnam / 2018 / Vietnamese with English subtitles / 96 Minutes / Drama

“A mature script and a remarkable ensemble cast.... Highly recommended.” – Video Librarian

Synopsis: In late 19th-century Vietnam, fourteen-year-old May becomes the third wife to a wealthy landowner. She quickly learns that she can gain status and security if she gives birth to a male child, but her burgeoning attraction to Xuan, the second wife, puts her fragile standing in jeopardy. As May observes the unfolding tragedy of forbidden love and its devastating consequences, she must make a choice – to either carry on in silence or forge a path towards personal freedom.