The annual New Directors / New Films showcase organized by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center has selected as one of this year’s films Amer, the feature film debut by Montreal transgressive filmmaking duo Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani. The film will screen twice during the program:

April 2
9:15 p.m.
Film Society of Lincoln Center

April 3
2:00 p.m.
Museum of Modern Art

So far, 2010 is looking to be a huge year for Cattet and Forzani. Prior to ND/NF in April, Amer will screen in March at both the Boston Underground Film Festival and at SXSW. This is already after having a very successful 2009, where the film played at the Lausanne Underground Film Festival and has won awards at the Lund Fantastisk Film Festival, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Festival Nouveau Cinema de Montreal and more.

Amer is a tribute to the old school Giallo style of filmmaking as pioneered by filmmakers like Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Sergio Martino in which a woman, Ana, is tormented her entire life by strangely erotic and violent fantasies. The film is broken up into three sections each covering a portion of Ana’s life: Childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Last October, Todd Brown at Twitch gave the film a rave review that really focuses on the film’s style and mysteries.

Before making Amer, Cattet and Forzani made several darkly disturbing and exceptionally experimental short films, some of which can be found on DVDs put out by Montreal’s transgressive film group Cinema Abattoir. La Fin de Notre Amour is on the DVD L’erotisme; and Catharsis is on the DVD Incarnation. I highly recommend them both. Actually, my recommendation goes beyond “highly.” It’s stratospheric.

Below is the trailer for Amer — which makes the film look really cool — but below that is the full New Directors / New Films lineup.

NEW DIRECTORS / NEW FILMS LINEUP:

OPENING NIGHT

Bill Cunningham New York, dir. Richard Press
Wed Mar 24: 7:00 (MoMA)
Wed Mar 24: 7:30 (MoMA)
Thu Mar 25: 9:15 (FSLC)

CLOSING NIGHT

I Killed My Mother (J’ai tue ma mere), dir. Xavier Dolan
Sun Apr 4: 7:00 (MoMA)

THE PROGRAM

Amer, dir. Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani
Screening with:
Catafalque, dir. Christoph Rainer
Fri Apr 2: 9:15 (FSLC)
Sat Apr 3: 2:00 (MoMA)

Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar, dir. James Rasin
Screening with:
Slate, dir. Carmen Vidal
Fri Apr 2: 9:15 (MoMA)
Sat Apr 3: 6:00 (FSLC)

Bilal’s Stand, dir. Sultan Sharrief
Fri Mar 26: 9:00 (MoMA)
Sat Mar 27: 5:30 (FSLC)

Dogtooth, dir. Giorgos Lanthimos
Screening with:
Quadrangle, dir. Amy Grappell
Tue Mar 30: 9:00 (MoMA)
Wed Mar 31: 6:15 (FSLC)

Down Terrace, dir. Ben Wheatley
Screening with, dir. Jesse Shamata
Mon Mar 29: 6:15 (MoMA)
Tue Mar 30: 9:00 (FSLC)

Evening Dress (La Robe du soir), dir. Myriam Aziza
Tue Mar 30: 6:15 (FSLC)
Wed Mar 31: 9:15 (MoMA)

Every Day Is a Holiday (Chaque jour est une fete), dir. Dima El-Horr
Screening with:
Felicita, dir. Salome Aleksi
Sat Mar 27: 5:00 (MoMA)
Mon Mar 29: 9:00 (FSLC)

The Father of My Children, dir. Mia Hansen-Love
Thu Mar 25: 6:15 (FSLC)
Sat Mar 27: 8:00 (MoMA)

Frontier Blues, dir. Babak Jalali
Screening with:
The Bizarre Friends of Ricardinho, dir. Augusto Canani
Fri Apr 2: 6:15 (MoMA)
Sun Apr 4: 5:30 (FSLC)

The Happiest Girl in the World, dir. Radu Jude
Screening with:
Logorama, dir. H5 (Francois Alaux, Herve de Crecy, and Ludovic Houplain)
Sat Mar 27: 2:00 (MoMA)
Mon Mar 29: 6:15 (FSLC)

How I Ended This Summer, dir. Alexei Popogrebsky
Sat Apr 3: 5:00 (MoMA)
Sun Apr 4: 12:00 (FSLC)

Hunting & Sons, dir. Sander Burger
Screening with:
Rob and Valentyna in Scotland, dir. Eric Lynne
Thu Apr 1: 9:00 (MoMA)
Sat Apr 3: 3:00 (FSLC)

I Am Love, dir. Luca Guadagnino
Fri Apr 2: 6:15 (FSLC)
Sun Apr 4: 1:00 (MoMA)

Last Train Home, dir. Lixin Fan
Screening with:
Snow Hides the Shade of Fig Trees, dir. Samer Najari
Thu Apr 1: 6:15 (MoMA)
Sat Apr 3: 12:00 (FSLC)

The Man Next Door (El hombre de al lado), dir. Mariano Cohn & Gaston Duprat
Screening with:
Suha, dir. Robby Reis
Wed Mar 31: 6:15 (MoMA)
Thu Apr 1: 9:00 (FSLC)

My Perestroika, dir. Robin Hessman
Thu Mar 25: 6:15 (MoMA)
Sun Mar 28: 3:30 (FSLC)

Night Catches Us, dir. Tanya Hamilton
Sun Mar 28: 6:00 (FSLC)
Mon Mar 29: 9:00 (MoMA)

Northless (Norteado), dir. Rigoberto Perezcano
Fri Mar 26: 6:15 (MoMA)
Sat Mar 27: 3:30 (FSLC)

The Oath, dir. Laura Poitras
Fri Mar 26: 6:15 (FSLC)
Sun Mar 28: 4:00 (MoMA)

La Pivellina, dir. Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel
Sat Apr 3: 9:00 (FSLC)
Sun Apr 4: 4:00 (MoMA)

The Red Chapel, dir. Mads Brugger
Sat Apr 3: 8:00 (MoMA)
Sun Apr 4: 3:00 (FSLC)

Samson and Delilah, dir. Warwick Thornton
Thu Mar 25: 9:15 (MoMA)
Sun Mar 28: 8:30 (FSLC)

Tehroun, dir. Nader T. Homayoun
Sat Mar 27: 8:00 (FSLC)
Sun Mar 28: 7:00 (MoMA)

3 Backyards, dir. Eric Mendelsohn
Screening with:
Looking at Animals, dir. Marc Turtletaub
Fri Mar 26: 9:00 (FSLC)
Sun Mar 28: 1:00 (MoMA)

Women Without Men, dir. Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari
Tue Mar 30: 6:15 (MoMA)
Wed Mar 31: 9:15 (FSLC)

ND/NF CLASSICS: IN THE FRENCH STYLE

Blame It on Voltaire (La Faute a Voltaire), dir. Abdel Kechiche
Tue Mar 30: 3:15 (FSLC)

Hometown Blues (Le Bleu des villes), dir. Stephane Brize
Mon Mar 29: 3:15 (FSLC)

Sound and Fury (De bruit et de fureur), dir. Jean-Claude Brisseau
Fri Apr 2: 3:15 (FSLC)

Victor (Victor… pendant qu’il est trop tard), dir. Sandrine Veysset
Wed Mar 31: 3:15 (FSLC)

When the Cat’s Away (Chacun cherche son chat), dir. Cedric Klapisch
Thu Apr 1: 3:15 (FSLC)