Four free programs take place in the Lord Auditorium at Pack Library in downtown Asheville.

The movies at Pack Library feature the four artists highlighted during this year’s Chautauqua, America at the Movies, which takes place June 16-19, 2015 at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa.

Wednesday, June 3 from 6-7:30 p.m. – A Night at the (Silent) Movies
Local film historian and WCQS host, Chip Kaufmann, presents a showing of silent films. A Little Princess with Mary Pickford (1917, 62 min.) The Butcher Boy with Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in a parody of A Little Princess (25 min.)

Thursday, June 4 at 3 p.m. – Orson Welles’ The Third Man
The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. It is considered one of the greatest films of all time, celebrated for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and musical score. Novelist Graham Greene wrote the screenplay. Anton Karas wrote and performed the score, which used only the zither; its title music “The Third Man Theme” topped the international music charts in 1950.

Tuesday, June 9 at 3 p.m. – Gordon Parks’ The Learning Tree
Written and directed by Gordon Parks in 1969, The Learning Tree tells the story of a young African American growing up in rural Kansas during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when racial discrimination was a social norm and legally sanctioned in parts of the United States. It is the first Hollywood studio film to be directed by an African American.

Thursday June 11 at 3 p.m. – Walt Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks
Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 period drama film directed by John Lee Hancock which depicts the development of the 1964 Walt Disney Studios film Mary Poppins. The film stars Emma Thompson as author P.L. Travers and Tom Hanks as filmmaker Walt Disney. Named after the father in Travers’ story, the film depicts the author’s fortnight-long briefing in 1961 Los Angeles as she is persuaded by Disney, who seeks to obtain the screen rights to her novels.

Chautauqua

Four performances highlight individuals important to the motion picture industry. These programs are held at the Warren Wilson College Morris Pavilion at 7 p.m.

Monday, June 15 – Orson Welles
Tuesday, June 16 – Gordon Parks
Wednesday, June 17 – Mary Pickford
Thursday, June 18 – Walt Disney