The Savannah College of Art and Design and its historic Trustees Theater announces the 2009-2010 season of the SCAD Cinema Circle. For the first time, all SCAD Cinema Circle screenings will include pre- and post-show discussions and offers membership packages with exclusive benefits, including special offers during the Savannah Film Festival.

The SCAD Cinema Circle seeks to provide film lovers and students with an enriching viewing experience of classic, award-winning and cutting-edge films from around the world. All screenings are presented at Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St.

Offering a stimulating movie-going experience, SCAD Cinema Circle films are introduced with a pre-show discussion that highlights the cinematic, cultural and historic importance of each film. At the conclusion of each film, a post-show discussion, led by SCAD’s Cinema Studies and Film and Television professors, provides an in-depth review of the film and the context in which it was produced.

Robert Eisinger, dean of SCAD’s School of Liberal Arts, said of the series, “Much like great books, great films demand critical and thoughtful analysis. Great films are deemed great because of their relevancy, as well as their entertainment and educational value. The SCAD Cinema Circle Series aims to provide viewers with an outstanding, exceptional experience.”

The SCAD Cinema Circle offers three levels of memberships for viewers to purchase ticket packages and qualify for special benefits. The top-level Producers Circle includes up to 14 tickets a year, a chance to purchase advance tickets to the Savannah Film Festival, free admission to a special screening for SCAD Cinema Circle members during the Film Festival, and advance ticket sales on select SCAD box office events ($100; $75 Senior/Military/Student/SCAD rate). The Directors Circle includes up to 14 tickets per year, free admission to the Savannah Film Festival special screening for SCAD cinema circle members and advance ticket sales on select SCAD box office events ($75; $50 Senior/Military/Student/SCAD rate). The Actors Circle offers six tickets per year ($30; $25 Senior/Military/Student/SCAD rate). All membership levels include the pre- and post-film discussions and the SCAD Cinema Circle quarterly newsletter. Individual film tickets are also available at $8 for the general public and $6 for seniors, students and military; individual tickets are free with valid SCAD ID.

For more information, call 912.525.5051 or e-mail trusteestheater@scad.edu. To purchase tickets, go to www.scadboxoffice.com.

The schedule of films follows:

Dr. Strangelove
Saturday, Oct. 3, 7 p.m.
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) plummets into madness. Suspecting that communists are trying to rob Americans of their precious body fluids, he sends a bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. The American president meets with his advisers, and the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, this will trigger a “Doomsday Device,” which will destroy the United States with buried bombs.

Savannah Film Festival
Special Screening
During the 12th annual Savannah Film Festival, Oct. 31 – Nov. 7, the SCAD Cinema Circle will hold a special screening (to be announced by Oct. 1).

Harold and Maude
Friday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m.
Starring: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Cyril Cusack
Directed by Hal Ashby
When extremely wealthy Harold (Bud Cort) is not staging his own suicide, he’s crashing funerals. This morbid young man falls in love with fellow funeral-crasher Maude (Ruth Gordon), a woman 50 years his senior, whose lust for life surpasses his own preoccupation with death.

Notorious
Friday, Jan. 15, 7, p.m.
Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
In this classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) recruits Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) to spy on her father’s influential Nazi friends. As part of her cover, she marries ringleader Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), but finds she is falling in love with Devlin.

Woman in the Dunes
Saturday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m.
Starring: Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
An amateur entomologist searching for insects by the sea is tricked by local villagers into living with a mysterious woman, who spends almost all her time preventing her home from being swallowed up by advancing sand dunes. The two begin a strange and erotic relationship that stretches over years, as the man’s hope for escape dims.

Rosemary’s Baby
Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m.
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Directed by Roman Polanski
Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), the young wife of a struggling actor (John Cassavetes), is thrilled to find out she’s pregnant. But the larger her belly grows, the more certain she becomes that her unborn child is in danger. Perhaps there’s something sinister behind the odd enthusiasm her eccentric neighbors (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon, in an Oscar-winning performance) have for her welfare. Or perhaps it’s all in her mind.

The Godfather
Saturday, April 10, 7 p.m.
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
This shadow epic follows the fortunes of the fictitious Corleone family, a powerful Mafia dynasty with its own system of honor, justice, law and loyalty that transcends all other codes. The film is based on the eponymous novel by Mario Puzo.

Sunset Boulevard
Saturday, April 24, 7 p.m.
Starring: Gloria Swanson, William Holden
Directed by Billy Wilder
In this bizarre tale, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), an aging silent film queen, enlists the help of a struggling writer (William Holden) to make her comeback. From the unforgettable opening sequence through the unfolding of tragic destiny, the film is the definitive statement on the dark and desperate side of Hollywood. Erich von Stroheim as Desmond’s ex-husband and Nancy Olson as the bright spot in unrelenting omniscience deliver masterful performances in this winner of three Academy Awards.

The Bicycle Thief
Friday, May 21, 7 p.m.
Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Widely considered a landmark Italian film, Vittorio De Sica’s tale of a man who relies on his bicycle to do his job during Rome’s post-World War II depression earned a special Oscar for its devastating power. The same day Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) gets his vehicle back from the pawnshop, someone steals it, prompting him to search the city in vain with his young son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola). Increasingly, he confronts a looming desperation.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Saturday, June 19, 7 p.m.
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
Directed by Sergio Leone
During the Civil War, a mysterious nomad (Clint Eastwood) enters into a partnership with a Mexican gunslinger (Eli Wallach), a man with a price on his head. The nomad turns the gunman in for the reward money and then rescues him at the last minute. The pair joins a sadistic criminal to pursue much bigger stakes.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Saturday, July 3, 7 p.m.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, James Mason
Directed by Richard Fleischer
In Jules Verne’s underwater tale of high adventure, Captain Nemo (James Mason) is a scientific genius who offers his technological secrets to humanity … but at a price. Journey under the sea in a futuristic submarine in this exciting science fiction classic.

Treasure of Sierra Madre
Saturday, July 17, 7 p.m.
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, Walter Huston
Directed by John Huston
This Academy Award-winning film follows a trio of gold prospectors who set out to strike it rich and agree to split the take … until paranoia and greed consume one of them.

My Fair Lady
Saturday, July 31, 7 p.m.
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison
Directed by George Cukor
Lovable Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) is rescued from the gutter and transformed into a genteel young woman by professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), who bet a colleague that he could turn any guttersnipe into a lady. The lavishly beautiful costumes and settings, much-loved music and brilliant acting make this an exceptional musical.