Tuesday, December 2, 2025| Doors TBD | Michael and Kimthanh Lê Planetarium
In partnership with the Virginia Queer Film Festival
Tokyo Godfathers, is an acclaimed holiday classic from master director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Perfect Blue). In modern-day Tokyo, three homeless people’s lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and the fate of her parents. Along the way, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future, together. Co-written by Keiko Nobumoto (Cowboy Bebop) and featuring a whimsical score by Keiichi Suzuki (EarthBound), Tokyo Godfathers is a masterpiece by turns heartfelt, hilarious and highly original, a tale of hope and redemption in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Funny Games (2007)
Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 6:30pm | Michael and Kimthanh Lê Planetarium
With an introduction by Daniel Richards, PhD.
In this provocative and brutal thriller from director Michael Haneke, a vacationing family gets an unexpected visit from two deeply disturbed young men. Their idyllic holiday turns nightmarish as they are subjected to unimaginable terrors and struggle to stay alive. Remade from his own acclaimed 1997 film, Funny Games is written and directed by Michael Haneke (Caché), and stars Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, and Devon Gearhart.
Thursday, June 27, 2024 | 7:00pm Doors | Naro Cinema
In partnership with the Virginia Queer Film Festival
The femme fatales are out for blood-soaked cash in our ‘Naro Minded’ Pride Month feature, Criterion’s new 4K restoration of BOUND (1996). Pure pulp with a gay twist, the Wachowski Sisters’ tarted-up neo-noir debut was controversial in its day for its steamy lesbian love scenes (choreographed by sex-positive feminist writer Susie Bright). BOUND is a gripping, stylish thriller with a nasty mean streak - especially for the boys.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 7:30pm | Michael and Kimthanh Lê Planetarium
Intro presentation on black holes by ODU’s Planetarium Director, Justin Mason
A defining millennial cult classic that became a sensation on DVD, and a dorm room fixture for a young generation coming of age in an era defined by disillusionment and disaster.
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Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 7pm | Michael and Kimthanh Lê Planetarium
Returning for another performance under the dome is HOT 91.1 turntablist DJ Bee, who will explore the impact of martial arts cinema on the history of hip hop with a set dedicated to the iconic hip hop collective The Wu-Tang Clan.
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Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 7:30pm | Naro Cinema
“Why are you here, then? —Is it okay for me to be here?”
Naro Video @ ODU Libraries is celebrating the long-awaited big screen debut of Hideki Anno's essential anime THE END OF EVANGELION with a FREE screening at the iconic Naro Cinema. A dazzling sci-fi spectacle about kids in robots fighting their parents and the cruel, unloving world that they’ve inherited – will go great with the best popcorn in town!
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 6:30pm | Michael and Kimthanh Lê Planetarium
For our next reverie in the artificial skies of ODU’s Le Planetarium, we’re screening THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY (2022), a beautifully shot, lyrical road movie through flyover country anchored by a delicate performance by Lily Gladstone (Winning her top honors at the 2023 Gotham Awards). After the screening, we’ll be joined virtually by the film’s writer and director Morrisa Maltz for a discussion on the film, moderated by ODU Film Studies professor Dr. Najmeh Moradiyan-Rizi.