Movies with Spirit
Join us for the screening of “Problemista”
The Sept. 21 screening will start at 7 p.m. and be followed by a facilitated discussion. Refreshments will be served. The evening will end by 10 p.m.
Suggested donation $10
Problemista (2023): In this offbeat comedy, Alejandro (Julio Torres) is a young, aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. While waiting to pursue his dreams at Hasbro, he makes ends meet working at a cryogenics facility for artists. His job is to oversee cryogenically frozen artist Bobby (played by rapper RZA), known for painting large portraits of eggs. Alejandro accidentally briefly unplugs Bobby’s machine and is fired. As a result, he faces deportation if he doesn’t find a sponsor for his work visa within 30 days. An unlikely prospect is Bobby’s widow, Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton), an outcast art critic who is rude and unforgiving to just about everyone. Even with what Alejandro did to her husband, and despite her own behavior, Elizabeth takes a liking to him. She tentatively agrees to sponsor him if he can find an art gallery to host her husband’s collection of egg paintings. Alejandro soon realizes that Elizabeth is a “problemista,” someone who looks for problems or creates them — the last thing Alejandro wants ahead of his meeting with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
In English and occasional Spanish with English subtitles. Rated R.
“An inventive, whimsical and delightfully oddball story of the immigrant experience.”
“[An] off-kilter triumph of a film.”
“There is so much rich material in the absurdity: how immigrants and artists crave to be seen, how modern systems eat up people, how we try to cheat death and how technology doesn’t live up to its promise.”
The monthly Movies With Spirit series, organized by Gerry Harrington of Kingston, seeks to stimulate joy and wonder, inspire love and compassion, and help people understand their connection with others and with life itself. It supports all cultures, faiths and beliefs while transcending them. Movies With Spirit has no religious affiliation.