What is Deep Focus? Deep Focus is an online educational program including full film courses and monthly seminars. Join us online to discuss great movies and to increase your appreciation of film. DEEP FOCUS is designed for a general audience – from the casual film lover to the hardcore cineaste. There is something for everyone.
More infoTCM writer Hannah Jack leads our Classic Hollywood monthly seminars, aiming to build on the success of the conversations she has already brought to our community. While all of the talks in this category will be about movies considered “classics”, they will range from those extremely widely known and well-received to hidden gems whose critical reputation has changed over time.
While our monthly Deep Focus seminars are free for anyone, we recommend a small donation from non-members to your local theater to support the series. You can donate to the County, Ambler, Garden, or Hiway.
Sidney Poitier stars as a handyman who agrees to help a group of impoverished nuns build a chapel in the Arizona desert without pay. Poitier delivers an outstanding performance — going on to become the first Black male actor to receive an Academy Award for Best Actor. LILIES OF THE FIELD is a delightful and inspiring comedy-drama that continues to endure through the years.
Watch at Home Stream on Tubo, Pluto TV / Rent on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango at Home
John Ford’s working class drama tells the story of a Welsh coal mining family as they struggle through a period of societal change during the early 20th century as they become divided over a miners’ strike. Meanwhile, the only daughter in the family pines after the new village preacher. Boasting a terrific cast that features Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara, Anna Lee, and Roddy McDowell. The film is most famously remembered for beating out Citizen Kane, Sergeant York, and The Maltese Falcon to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
Watch at Home Stream on Criterion Channel, HBO Max, Tubi, Hoopla, Amazon Prime Video / Rent on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play
Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most lauded and widely-mythologized filmmakers working today. He draws in audiences with his complex characters and has a talent for finding poignant emotion in unconventional circumstances. His films achieve a balance of realism and humor that have earned him a devoted fan base who do not always know where he will take them, but trust that it will be somewhere worthwhile. With his rousing tenth film One Battle After Another, capturing the zeitgeist a couple of months ago, now is the perfect time to dig back into his filmography.
Instructor: Classes will be led by Adam Nayman, a film critic, lecturer, and author of Paul Thomas Anderson Masterworks: A Filmmaker’s Creative Journey. Each will begin with some background information from Nayman, followed by plenty of time for discussion and questions among the virtual audience members.
Course Details: Over a ten-week period, participants will attend five Zoom meetings, each of which will focus on two of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, which we will discuss chronologically. Since this is an online course, participants are expected to watch the films on their own, though there will be info on our website that suggests where to find them. Participants will also be given access to contextualizing readings as a part of the course. Below is a schedule of the films that will be discussed at each virtual course meeting:
Meeting 1: Tuesday, Jan 20th, 8:00pm - 9:30pm – Hard Eight and Boogie Nights
Meeting 2: Tuesday, Feb 3rd, 8:00pm - 9:30pm – Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love
Meeting 3 Tuesday, Feb 17th, 8:00pm - 9:30pm – There Will Be Blood and The Master
Meeting 4 Tuesday, March 3rd, 8:00pm - 9:30pm – Inherent Vice and Phantom Thread
Meeting 5 Tuesday, March 17th, 8:00pm - 9:30pm – Licorice Pizza and One Battle After Another
This class is fully enrolled. Please keep an eye out for future Deep Focus courses!
Licorice Pizza is a love letter to Californian youth in the 70’s. This is a twin coming of age story for the aspirational and entrepreneurial high school student Gary, played by Cooper Hoffman, and the aimless twenty five year old Alana, played by Alana Haim. Gary follows his ambition and romance across the San Fernando valley in this episodic tale supported by a cast of eclectic and hilarious characters.
Watch at Home Stream on Mubi / Rent on Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Fandango at Home
PTA’s latest release is a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, propelled by a dual odyssey of father and daughter. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a washed up revolutionary Bob Ferguson who must rescue his teenage daughter Willa (played by Chase Infiniti in a striking theatrical debut) after a twisted enemy from his past reemerges to tear their lives apart. This blood-pumping thriller that showcases Anderson’s distinct visual style and direction strikes a balance of seriousness and levity, as a frenetic DiCaprio plays off the zen-like calm of his accomplice and ally, Benicio del Toro as Sensei. This is a film that will stay with you long after watching
Watch at Home Rent on Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Fandango at Home
All About Deep FocusSeries offered under the Deep Focus umbrella will use different lenses to examine a variety of film genres while also creating opportunities for sustained conversations built around certain topics and themes. We generally offer different series, each consisting of events led by expert speakers, ranging from professors, to film critics, to members of the industry. While the format will vary slightly depending on the speaker, audience members will always be invited to ask questions and share their opinions. Events will be run in an online format, allowing us to partner with other local independent art house cinemas and to reach an even broader audience. Deep Focus is the successor to our Film 101 series. It has same great programming but is rebranded as we expand the scope of the series.
Deep Focus is a seminar only series. The films discussed are not included in the scheduled seminars. Be sure to watch the films ahead of time. You can catch some titles at screenings in person at our theaters – for that, you’ll have to check your local theater to see if and when it is showing the film. We’ll also provide guidance as to where you can stream the films online. See below in each film description under the heading "Where to Watch."
Registration. While our monthly Deep Focus seminars are free for anyone, we recommend a small donation from non-members to your local theater to support the series. You can donate to the County, Ambler, Garden, or Hiway. Our courses require a modest registration fee to help sustain the program and compensate our speakers. Enrollment in our courses is discounted for members.
Archive of past seminars. Our monthly seminars are recorded and will be available on YouTube at a later date.
Renew Theaters operates four Pennsylvania/New Jersey movie theaters: the County Theater in Doylestown, PA, the Ambler Theater in Ambler, PA, the Hiway Theater in Jenkintown, PA, and the Princeton Garden Theatre in Princeton, NJ. Renew manages each theater according to each individual mission to: Exhibit art, independent and world films that offer the community an opportunity to experience a broad range of artistic and alternative expressions; Educate the community about the film and media arts through a diverse program of educational activities that seek to develop a lifelong involvement with the arts; Serve as a community and charitable resource for the arts, and to promote and effect access to the arts for all members of the community; and
Preserve the theaters as cultural resources.
Deep Focus is supported by a generous grant from the Vesta Fund. We offer free monthly online seminars as well as more formal courses.