Crosstown Theater

This program, which includes award-winning and audience-favorite films from their most recent festival, intends for youth audiences to gain global awareness through the medium of film. From intergenerational friendship, to discovering and rescuing a friend from an alternate dimension, to learning how to honor your ancestors, these films beautifully cover a broad range of ages and experiences. 

Bounty hunter Mack “Truck” Turner (Isaac Hayes) almost always finds his target, but his latest prize — a pimp called Gator (Paul Harris) — is killed while Turner is chasing him. Gator's girl, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), vows to avenge his death and offers ownership of her successful call girl operation to anyone who can knock off Turner. Upscale pimp Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto) steps in, upping the ante with professional assassins. Turner, however, isn’t going down easily.

After coming in under budget at the completion of SMOKE, Wayne Wang and screenwriter Paul Auster managed to convince their producers to make an immediate sequel, this time shot almost entirely on the fly with no script in just five days. Despite the constraints, Wang and Auster, serving as co-directors, deliver a satisfying follow up, returning once again to Auggie Wren’s Brooklyn tobacco shop, and assembling another impressive cast, including Harvey Keitel, Victor Argo, Keith David, Giancarlo Esposito, Roseanne Barr, Michael J. Fox, Lily Tomlin, Mira Sorvino, Lou Reed, Mel Gorham, Jim Jarmusch, Malik Yoba, and Madonna. What emerges is yet another funny, moving, and authentic portrait of a Brooklyn neighborhood.

Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the beloved Cinema Paradiso, turns his camera on his longtime collaborator Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) in a moving and comprehensive profile of an indefatigable composer. Tornatore’s documentary portrait explores the breadth of the maestro’s career, from his early Italian pop songs to the fistful of unforgettable film scores that he wrote, including The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Thing, Days of Heaven, and hundreds of others. The examination thoughtfully captures insightful commentary from Morricone’s closest collaborators and contemporaries, featuring testimonies from artists and directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Marco Bellocchio, Giuliano Montaldo, Dario Argento, Clint Eastwood, Joan Baez, Quentin Tarantino, and more. Ennio affords the master one last chance to recount his career and deconstruct the artistic process that led him to win two Academy Awards and author over 500 unforgettable soundtracks.

Following the success of Ballet Memphis’ 2022 production of SOUL, the company returns to Crosstown Theater with another unique and immersive theatrical experience. Rising choreographic stars Alia Kache of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and Ballet Memphis’ own Julie Niekrasz and Brandon Ramey each present new works performed to musical selections that celebrate the vast and exciting landscape of Americana music. A spotlight on the diversity of American dreams, this production features a live house band that just may have you dancing in the aisles!

Following the success of Ballet Memphis’ 2022 production of SOUL, the company returns to Crosstown Theater with another unique and immersive theatrical experience. Rising choreographic stars Alia Kache of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and Ballet Memphis’ own Julie Niekrasz and Brandon Ramey each present new works performed to musical selections that celebrate the vast and exciting landscape of Americana music. A spotlight on the diversity of American dreams, this production features a live house band that just may have you dancing in the aisles!

Following the success of Ballet Memphis’ 2022 production of SOUL, the company returns to Crosstown Theater with another unique and immersive theatrical experience. Rising choreographic stars Alia Kache of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and Ballet Memphis’ own Julie Niekrasz and Brandon Ramey each present new works performed to musical selections that celebrate the vast and exciting landscape of Americana music. A spotlight on the diversity of American dreams, this production features a live house band that just may have you dancing in the aisles!

Crosstown Arts and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra present HAYDN: THE CREATION in Crosstown Theater.

One of the most critically acclaimed films of all time, Days of Heaven is a moving story about two men who love the same woman. Richard Gere, a fugitive from the slums of Chicago, finds himself pitted against a shy, rich Texan (Sam Shepard) for the love of Abby (Brooke Adams). Writer/director Malick's first film since Badlands is an extraordinary cinematic achievement of sight and sound.

As part of the return of the Pitch Rally, Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts are excited to present a selection of works from past and current Pitch Rally participants. For some of these works, it will be the first time they’ve screened publicly, so please join us in continuing to celebrate these artists by seeing their films! From a rainy Sunday morning spent getting to church, to the exploration of a young boy growing up in the 7th Ward in New Orleans, these works highlight the early and continued talents of these filmmakers.