Wex Summer Film Series Travels the World

The Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University presents A Summer Abroad: International Film Classics, a 14-film cinematic world tour running July 9–August 13.

This year’s series makes stops in France, Italy, Japan, Jamaica, Spain, South Korea, and India. The tour guides are some of the most revered directors in film history, including the likes of Chantal Akerman, Pedro Almodóvar, Bong Joon Ho, Akira Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray, Luis Buñuel, and more. Many of the films are being screened in new restorations, and this year’s series also includes the area debut of Kiyoshi Kurasawa’s Chime, screening only in theaters and unavailable on streaming platforms. 

“Our A Summer Abroad series is always one of our most popular,” says David Filipi, head of the Wex’s Film Department, “This year’s selection is a great opportunity to sample a wide variety of genres and styles and is an ideal opportunity for film lovers to experience these films on the big screen again or for the first time.” 

Tickets are available now, in person at the Wexner Center for the Arts, by calling (614) 292-3535, or online. Tickets for each screening are $12 for the general public, $8 for Wexner Center members, and $9 for adults 55 and over. All screenings are free for students with a valid student ID. A series pass is available at $65 for the general public and $52 for Wex members and adults 55 and over. Prices include all fees. Fees are waived for members and in-person purchases. Wex members receive free parking with their ticket purchase. All other ticket buyers receive discounted $6 parking in the Arps, Ohio Union North, and Ohio Union South Garages. 

New this year is a guided cocktail tasting with series sponsor Antiques on High before the screening of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown on August 6. Tickets are $41 for the tasting, are only available to guests 21 and over, and must be purchased in advance. The cost includes admission to the film. 

The Schedule

A Summer Abroad Kickoff
Thu, Jun 25 | 5:30–7:30 PM

Head to Antiques on High for an evening of conversation and learn more about the series and other upcoming films. Be the first to hear from the Wex film team about what’s next for the film schedule and connect with other Wex members and film fans over drinks. Passes will be available for purchase. No RSVP required. 

Port of Shadows (Le quai des brumes, Marcel Carné, 1938, France)
Thu, Jul 9 | 7 PM | New restoration

From the golden age of French cinema, Port of Shadows is an early collaboration   between director Marcel Carné and writer Jacques Prévert, the team who made the incomparable Children of Paradise. In French with English subtitles. (91 mins., 4K DCP) 

The Harder They Come (Perry Hanzell, 1972, Jamaica)
Fri, Jul 10 | 7 PM | New restoration

The film that introduced reggae to global audiences, made Jimmy Cliff a star, and showed how music can change the world! (103 mins., 4K DCP)

Memories of Murder (Bong Joon Ho, 2003, Korea)
Sat, Jul 11 | 7 PM | New restoration 

Seventeen years before the success of Bong Joon Ho’s searing thriller Parasite, his subversive and darkly comedic procedural drama Memories of Murder haunted audiences around the world. In Korean with English subtitles. (131 mins., 4K DCP)

Bitter Rice (Riso amaro, Giuseppe De Santis, 1949, Italy)
Thu, Jul 16 | 7 PM | New restoration

Straddling the line between earthy melodrama and neorealism, Bitter Rice is one of the key films in Italian film history. In Italian with English subtitles. (109 mins., 4K DCP)

Double Feature: Chime | Serpent's Path 
(Chaimu, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2024, Japan) | (Hebi no michi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1998, Japan)
Fri and Sat, Jul 17 and 18 | 7 PM

Chime masterfully deploys escalating dread and reaffirms Kurosawa as one of modern horror’s most innovative and surprising visionaries. Chime will only be released theatrically and is unavailable on streaming services. In Japanese with English subtitles. (45 mins., DCP)

Made the year after Kurosawa’s international breakthrough film Cure (1997), Serpent’s Path is a dark gangland thriller with existential overtones. Screening in a new restoration. In Japanese with English subtitles. (85 mins., DCP)

Days and Nights in the Forest (Aranyer din ratri, Satyajit Ray, 1970, India) 
Video introduction by Wes Anderson
Thu, Jul 23 | 7 PM | New restoration

From one of India’s most revered directors comes a new restoration of one his best films. In Bengali with English subtitles. (119 mins., 4K DCP)

Golden Eighties (Chantal Akerman, 1986, Belgium/France)
Sat, Jul 25 | 7 PM | New restoration

Chantal Akerman’s feminist take on the musical genre is set in a shopping mall and is a departure from her best-known film Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, which topped the 2022 Sight and Sound poll as the greatest film of all time. In French with English subtitles. (99 mins., 4K DCP)

Mind Game (Maindo gēmu, Masaaki Yuasa, 2004, Japan)
Thu Jul 30 | 7 PM

Buckle in for one of the most singular and exhilarating animated films of this century—a mind-bending anime cult classic. In Japanese with English subtitles. (103 mins., DCP)

La haine (Hate, Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995, France)
Sat, Aug 1 | 7 PM

An explosive indictment of the systemic state violence in France that resonates across borders and eras. In French with English subtitles. (98 mins., 4K DCP)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, Pedro Almodóvar, 1988, Spain)
Thu, Aug 6 | 7 PM

Don't miss the colorful fever dream of extramarital yearning, suicide by gazpacho, and subversive hysteria that made Pedro Almodóvar an international household name. In Spanish with English subtitles. (88 mins., DCP)

Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961, Spain/Mexico)
Sat, Aug 8 | 7 PM | New restoration

Declared “blasphemous” by the Vatican, Luis Buñuel’s Viridiana earned the Spanish director a one-year prison sentence (in absentia) in Italy and went on to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes. In Spanish with English subtitles. (90 mins., 4K DCP)

Daisies (Sedmikrásky, Věra Chytilová, 1966, Czechoslovakia)
Preceded by Gustatory Gratitudes (Kelly Gallagher, 2026)
Tue, Aug 11 | 7 PM 

Unabashed and unforgettable, the absurdity at the heart of Daisies’ hilarious and irreverent feminist satire mirrors the absurdity of a patriarchal, totalitarian world. In Czech with English subtitles.  (75 mins., 4K DCP) The screening is preceded by Kelly Gallagher’s animated short Gustatory Gratitudes (2026), a tribute to Daisies director Věra Chytilová (4:15 mins., DCP).

Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985, Japan)
Thu, Aug 13 | 7 PM | New restoration

A riff on King Lear, Ran is majestic in scope and is considered one of cinema’s great historical epics featuring a singularly sumptuous use of color. In Japanese with English subtitles. (160 mins., 4K DCP)