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Martin Scorsese To Inaugurate THE BICYCLE THIEF Into Academy’s NYC Film Series – We Are Movie Geeks

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Martin Scorsese To Inaugurate THE BICYCLE THIEF Into Academy’s NYC Film Series

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Beverly Hills, CA – Oscar®-winning director Martin Scorsese will inaugurate the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “Member Selects” evening with a screening of “The Bicycle Thief” (1948) on Monday, May 16, at 7 p.m. at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in New York City. Scorsese will introduce the program, which is part of the Academy’s ongoing “Monday Nights with Oscar” film series.

Voted by the Academy Board of Governors as “the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1949,” “The Bicycle Thief” is a story of a father and son desperately combing the streets of post-World War II Rome in search of a stolen bicycle.

The father, who has been unemployed for a long time and is struggling to make ends meet, finally finds work posting flyers and scrapes together the funds to buy a bicycle. When his only means of transportation is stolen on his first day of work, any hope of a better life is lost as well.

Directed by Vittorio De Sica from a screenplay by Cesare Zavattini, the film gives a poignant look at the postwar woes of poverty, hunger and despair, using untrained actors and everyday settings in classic Italian neorealist style.

Scorsese, who won the 2006 Directing Oscar for “The Departed,” is renowned for his love of cinema and knowledge of film history. His own heritage helped to develop his appreciation for Italian neorealism.

This screening will present a print provided by the Academy Film Archive.

Advance tickets to “The Bicycle Thief” are no longer available. A standby line will form on the day of the event, and names will be taken when the box office opens at 5 p.m. Any available tickets will be distributed shortly before the program begins. Ticketholders should plan to arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start of the event to ensure a seat in the theater.

The Academy Theater is located at 111 East 59th Street (between Park and Lexington avenues) in New York City. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.oscars.org or call (212) 821-9251.

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