What will be your first movie of 2023? If you’re reading this it’s likely you put some (let’s be honest: too much) thought into what commences the cinematic year. The Criterion Channel’s January lineup will put some good things front and center: they’re launching a 20-film cinema verité series that highlights all major figures of the form (Pennebaker, Maysles, Shirley Clarke, William Greaves, Les Blank); an eight-film Mike Leigh retrospective that focuses on his little-seen, lesser-discussed BBC features produced between 1973 and 1984; a series on Abbas Kiarostami’s studies of childhood (six features, three featurettes, eight shorts); and because you’ve either seen EO or have it marked to watch, Jerzy Skolimowski’s three most-acclaimed films (The Shout, Moonlighting, Deep End) should be of equal note.
Another 2022 favorite, Il Buco, will have its streaming premiere alongside Kamikaze Hearts, the Depardieu-led Cyrano de Bergerac, and the recent restoration of Lodge Kerrigan’s Keane. The sole Criterion Edition for this month is 3 Women, while some notable recent documentaries—The American Sector, The Task, The Village Detective: A Song Cycle, and The Reagan Show—appear in a section called “True Stories.” Did I mention Johnnie To’s Election and Election 2 and some of the recent Márta Mészáros restorations are also playing? It’s a dense month.
See the full list below and more at the Criterion Channel.
3 Women, Robert Altman, 1977
ABC Africa, Abbas Kiarostami, 2001
Abigail’s Party, Mike Leigh, 1977
American Dream, Barbara Kopple, Cathy Caplan, Thomas Haneke, and Lawrence Silk, 1990
The American Sector, Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez, 2020
Attica, Cinda Firestone, 1974
Beauty and the Dogs, Kaouther Ben Hania, 2017
Belizaire the Cajun, Glen Pitre, 1986
Big Brown Eyes, Raoul Walsh, 1936*
The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock, 1963*
The Boss, Fernando Di Leo, 1973
The Bread and Alley, Abbas Kiarostami, 1970
Breaktime, Abbas Kiarostami, 1972
Caliber 9, Fernando Di Leo, 1972
The Clay Bird, Tareque Masud, 2002
The Colors, Abbas Kiarostami, 1976
The Day After Trinity, Jon Else, 1981
Deep End, Jerzy Skolimowski, 1970
Diary for My Children, Márta Mészáros, 1984
Diary for My Lovers, Márta Mészáros, 1987
Diary for My Mother and Father, Márta Mészáros, 1990
Election, Johnnie To, 2005
Election 2, Johnnie To, 2006
Experience, Abbas Kiarostami, 1973
First Case, Second Case, Abbas Kiarostami, 1979
First Graders, Abbas Kiarostami, 1984
Four Days in July, Mike Leigh, 1984
Grown-Ups, Mike Leigh, 1980
Hard Labour, Mike Leigh, 1973
Home Sweet Home, Mike Leigh, 1982
INAAT/SE/, Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil, 2016
The Italian Connection, Fernando Di Leo, 1972
Kidnap Syndicate, Fernando Di Leo, 1975
The Kiss of Death, Mike Leigh, 1977
Le quattro volte, Michelangelo Frammartino, 2010
Little Women, George Cukor, 1933
Man Hunt, Fritz Lang, 1941
Marnie, Alfred Hitchcock, 1964*
Masquerade, Olive Nwosu, 2021
Moonlighting, Jerzy Skolimowski, 1982
Nationtime, William Greaves, 1972
A New Year, George Sikharulidze, 2018
Nina, Hristo Simeonov, 2019
Nuts in May, Mike Leigh, 1976
Oklahoma!, Fred Zinnemann, 1955
Orderly or Disorderly, Abbas Kiarostami, 1981
Party Girl, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, 1995
Phantom Boy, Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, 2015
Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock, 1960*
The Reagan Show, Pacho Velez and Sierra Pettengill, 2017
Scarlet Street, Fritz Lang, 1945
Shoot First, Die Later, Fernando Di Leo, 1974
The Shout, Jerzy Skolimowski, 1978
So Can I, Abbas Kiarostami, 1975
Successful Thawing of Mr. Moro, Jerry Carlsson, 2021
The Task, Leigh Ledare, 2017
There’s Always Tomorrow, Douglas Sirk, 1956*
Toothache, Abbas Kiarostami, 1980
Tribute to Teachers, Abbas Kiarostami, 1977
Two Solutions for One Problem, Abbas Kiarostami, 1975
The Village Detective: A Song Cycle, Bill Morrison, 2021
A Wedding Suit, Abbas Kiarostami, 1976
We’re No Angels, Michael Curtiz, 1955*
Who’s Who, Mike Leigh, 1979
Wild Girl, Raoul Walsh, 1932
The Woman in the Window, Fritz Lang, 1944
The Woman on the Beach, Jean Renoir, 1947
Woodstock, Michael Wadleigh, 1970
Premiering January 5
Il buco, Michelangelo Frammartino, 2021*
Premiering January 11
Kamikaze Hearts, Juliet Bashore, 1986
Premiering January 14
Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1990
Premiering January 19
Keane, Lodge Kerrigan, 2004
*Available in the U.S. only