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The “gorgeous, quietly affecting” RETURN TO DUST opens July 28 at the Royal.

July 19, 2023 by Jordan Deglise Moore

A beautiful, allegorical gaze at changing rural China, Return to Dust follows a couple overcoming the challenges of their arranged marriage and the disdain of their families to survive, come together and make a home for themselves. We open the film Friday, July 28 at the Royal.

The writer-director Ruijun Li (River Road, Walking Past the Future) released the following statement upon the release of his film: “It is said that film is the art of time. In this sense, a movie director’s work is essentially the same to that of farmers. In movie making, we are constantly faced with issues dealing with time and life. Farmers trust land and time with their crops and livelihood, so shall we trust land and time with our movies. The words on paper, like seeds growing into harvest, are transformed by camera shots into what we remembered in our distant memories.”

“An unhurried but hypnotic portrait of two discards thrown together to scratch out a life as they weather the seasons.” ~ David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“It’s a gorgeous, quietly affecting film that finds an unassuming beauty in this simple life in rural China, but which doesn’t shy away from the extreme hardships faced by the very poorest.” ~ Wendy Ide, Guardian

“A thought-provoking [film] with beautifully-judged performances that radiate warmth and encourage empathy. It marks Li Ruijun as a significant cinematic talent.” ~ Anna Smith, Deadline Hollywood Daily

“It’s a film which is making the right people angry.” ~ David Jenkins, Little White Lies

“Return to Dust is many things — a vivid portrait of China’s hardscrabble rural north-west, an unexpected victim of state censorship — but it is first and last a love story.” ~ Danny Leigh, Financial Times

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Filed Under: Director's Statement, Featured Films, Filmmaker's Statement, News, Royal, Theater Buzz

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Join us July 24 for the sixth annual Art House Theater Day at the Monicas, Glendale, NoHo and Claremont.

THE LIFE OF CHUCK is an art house summer sleeper. Don’t skip this one.

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Laemmle Theatres is pleased to celebrate the sixth Laemmle Theatres is pleased to celebrate the sixth annual Art House Theater Day this July 24 by screening four fabulous films curated by this year’s ambassadors, filmmakers Sean Baker and Samantha Quan.

⭐ Sean Baker’s "Tangerine (2015)" at the @laemmlenoHo
⭐ Lily Tomlin’s "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1991)" at the @laemmlemonicafilmcenter
⭐ Céline Sciamma’s "Tomboy (2011)" at the @laemmleglendale
⭐ Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart (2006) at the @laemmleclaremont

Taken together, the four beautifully represent the breadth, depth, humor, profundity and diversity that art house moviegoers seek out and embrace.

📣 The Tangerine screening will include exclusive content with ambassadors Sean Baker and Samantha Quan. The Search for Signs screening will feature a special audience salute from star Lily Tomlin.
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⭐ Don't miss your chance to experience the mocku ⭐ Don't miss your chance to experience the mockumentary masterpiece THIS IS SPINAL TAP on the Laemmle big screen! Remixed, remastered, and re-releasing! it's going to be 11/10!

📅 THIS WEEKEND ONLY!
🍿Elevated food and drink options that go beyond the screen!
🎟️TICKETS: laem.ly/4khU16n

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Tickets:  | Subscribe: http://bit.ly/3b8JTym | Featuring The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Monica Film Center), Tangerine (NoHo), Tomboy (Glendale) and Whispers of the Heart (Claremont

Tickets: 

RELEASE DATE: 

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ABOUT LAEMMLE: Since 1938, Laemmle [Theatres] has been showing the finest independent, arthouse, and international films.

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Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/kerouacs-road-beat-nation | Subscribe: http://bit.ly/3b8JTym | KEROUAC’S ROAD: THE BEAT OF A NATION explores how the legacy of Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel On the Road reflects in today’s America. The film interweaves stories of modern-day “on-the-roaders” who share connections to Kerouac’s life, alongside those influenced by him or knew and loved him.

Featured participants include Josh Brolin, W. Kamau Bell, Natalie Merchant, Matt Dillon, David Amram and Joyce Johnson. On the Road remains as relevant today as it was in the 1950s, but both the book and Kerouac himself have never been explored in this way before.

The film reveals a rarely seen

Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/kerouacs-road-beat-nation

RELEASE DATE: 8/1/2025
Director: Ebs Burnough
Cast: Michael Imperioli (voice), David Amran (voice), W. Kamau Bell (voice), Josh Brolin (voice)

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ABOUT LAEMMLE: Since 1938, Laemmle [Theatres] has been showing the finest independent, arthouse, and international films.

Subscribe to Laemmle's E-NEWSLETTER: http://bit.ly/3y1YSTM
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Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/desperately-seeking-susan | Subscribe: http://bit.ly/3b8JTym | New Jersey housewife Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) spices up her boring life by reading personal ads, especially a series of them being placed by a mysterious denizen of New York City named Susan (Madonna). When one of Susan's ads proposes a rendezvous with her suitor (Robert Joy) at Battery Park, Roberta secretly tags along. But when her voyeuristic jape ends in permanent memory loss and a new jacket, Roberta begins to gather a lot of unwanted attention from some unsavory characters.

Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/desperately-seeking-susan

RELEASE DATE: 7/30/2025
Director: Susan Seidelman
Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn, Madonna, Robert Joy

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ABOUT LAEMMLE: Since 1938, Laemmle [Theatres] has been showing the finest independent, arthouse, and international films.

Subscribe to Laemmle's E-NEWSLETTER: http://bit.ly/3y1YSTM
Visit Laemmle.com: http://laemmle.com
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