PDF Version and Application

One day in 1942, I was so anxious to see Marcel Carné’s Les Visiteurs du Soir, which at last had arrived at my neighborhood theater, the Pigalle, that I decided to skip school.  I liked it a lot.  But that same evening, my aunt, who was studying violin at the Conservatory, came by to take me to a movie; she had picked Les Visiteurs du Soir.  Since I didn’t dare admit that I had already seen it, I had to go and pretend that I was seeing it for the first time.  That was the first time I realized how fascinating it can be to probe deeper and deeper into a work one admires, that the exercise can go so far as to create the illusion of reliving the creation.

                                                                                                                               François Truffaut

Wonderworks presents a mini-festival of movies you’ll want to watch again, including several of Truffaut’s  American favorites: Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958), A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957), and A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph Mankiewicz, 1949).   Each film is introduced and discussed more fully after viewing, along with an assigned reading.  Students will also write a critical review of a film of their choosing.  This course is a perfect segue into the Wonderworks Summer Film Workshop for High School Students at UH.

--- and ---- in Touch of Evil.  In his review in the Cahiers du Cinéma, Truffaut wrote: “You could remove Orson Welles’s name from the credits and it wouldn’t make any difference, because from the first shot, beginning with the credits themselves, it’s obvious that Citizen Kane is behind the camera….Welles is a poet.  I warmly recommend to you the films of poets.”

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Wonderworks is a non-profit organization offering pre-college, after-school enrichment learning opportunities for high school students of special promise and ability.

Enrollment is free and open to all qualified students in grades 9 through 12.  To apply, fill out the form provided and mail to Enrollment is free and open to all qualified students in grades 9 through 12.  To apply, fill out the form provided and mail to:

The course will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis for qualified applicants.  Applications must be received no later than 17 January to ensure full consideration.

For more information: info@wonderworkshouston.org