By Peg Aloi

An engagingly put together cinematic celebration of the cat.

Cat Fancy: A Feline Film Feast (August 29 through September 4) is a nicely-curated slate of diverse films from varied genres that is sure to please cat lovers and lovers of eclectic cinema (in the spirit of the Boston-based Chlotrudis Awards, whose prizes are named for two of the founders’ pet cats, Chloe and Gertrudis and who use a cat rating system to assess films). Also admirable: The Brattle Theatre is donating a portion of the proceeds from this program to no-kill cat shelters in the Boston area.

A cat waiting for food and to be joined by friends at an Istanbul cafe in Kedi.

Fittingly, the first night of films features an excellent documentary film about street cats that is as fascinating as it is heartwarming: Kedi. Filmed in Istanbul, the award-winning 2017 film (which I absolutely loved) follows the many street cats who are cared for and loved by the city’s inhabitants, including business owners who let them hang around as they look after them. The city appears overrun with roaming cats so the obvious question arises: why isn’t there a more cohesive effort to spay and neuter the strays? But anyone who’s worked with groups who do this important work knows the answer. It is impossible to keep up with a burgeoning stray cat population. Cats are good at hiding, good at surviving, and good at ingratiating themselves when they need to. Kedi celebrates the street cats that are loved for who and what they are and profiles the people who do their best to keep them fed and safe.

Kedi is part of an evening double feature that includes the animated film Flow, a stunningly beautiful film devoid of dialogue, that follows a black cat and its compatriots as it journeys through a variety of locations. (Arts Fuse review) This gorgeous Latvian film, directed by Gints Zilbalodis, won the Best Animated Film Oscar in 2025, and its impact has grown: its unique beauty has invigorated what was already a thriving, innovative film genre. If you have time, you could come early and make it a triple feature: the 1991 classic An American Tail: Fievel Goes West kicks off the series with a special matinee screening in 35mm. Fanatics may even decide to stick around to see something completely different: the 10 p.m. 35mm screening for The Night of a Thousand Cats, a surreal 1972 Mexican exploitation film directed by René Cardona Jr. that’s a bloody and rather gruesome tale featuring many cats.

Saturday’s program is a lively, eclectic mix of films including Hayao Miyazaki’s charming animated adventure about a young witch and her cute black cat, Kiki’s Delivery Service. The film shows twice on Saturday in an English dubbed version, and once on Sunday in Japanese with English subtitles (gotta love the Brattle for offering both formats). Then there’s the 1958 romantic classic Bell, Book, and Candle, a clever and sweetly witchy romp featuring Jimmy Stewart in one of his most endearing roles; he is opposite the mesmerizing Kim Novak and there is top-notch support from Jack Lemmon and Hermione Gingold, as well as Pyewacket the cat. The second half of Saturday’s double feature is Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s acclaimed 2001 Parisian comedy Amélie, starring Audrey Tatou as a quirky waitress with seemingly magical powers whose cat, while not a prominent part of the film, is nevertheless unforgettable.

Of cats and catastrophe. A scene from Flow

This engaging series continues through Labor Day weekend to September 4, featuring a number of additional 35mm screenings. (A treat that Boston film aficionados know they’re lucky to have, living in a city with several theatres that regularly show films in this format.) On August 31, three 35mm films will be shown, starting at noon with The Cat from Outer Space, a charming and rather zany 1978 sci-fi/comedy mash-up with a terrific cast that includes Harry Morgan, McLean Stevenson (both of whom starred in the long-running series M*A*S*H), Sandy Duncan, and Roddy McDowall. The evening’s 35mm double feature starts with Eye of the Cat (1969), followed by The Shadow of the Cat (1961). I know next to nothing about these rarely screened films, but I can’t imagine they will be anything short of captivating for fans of ’60s cinema and, well, cats.

Labor Day evening brings another exploitation film shown in 35mm, 1966’s adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe short story The Black Cat. I like to imagine cats, if they could conceive of and converse about such things, would dig being showcased in this gritty, entertaining genre. Tuesday features two little-known and rarely seen European animated films, Hungary’s Cat City (1986), a sleek, stylish story about a cat crime syndicate, and the rather dark German film Felidae (1994), a psychological murder mystery told from a cat’s perspective that became rather controversial because of its graphic violence.

A scene between man and the title beast in 1966’s The Black Cat.

There will be two showings on Tuesday of the acclaimed 2013 Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis, the fictionalized ’60s-set biopic starring Oscar Isaac as a talented but somewhat feckless folk singer who befriends Ulysses, an astoundingly well-behaved orange cat. (Arts Fuse review) This gorgeously photographed film features some surprisingly excellent musical performances from a cast that includes Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake.

The series concludes on Thursday with a Czech New Wave cult classic, 1963’s The Cassandra Cat (also known as The Cat Who Wore Sunglasses), which revolves around an acrobat and her clairvoyant cat in a strange traveling circus, and Ridley Scott’s 1979 space horror classic, Alien, featuring another chill and marvelous orange cat, Jonesy. There are some films I’d have liked to see that didn’t make the cut, like 1974’s delightful Paul Mazursky film Harry and Tonto, which stars the fabulous Art Carney. And where is Jacques Tourneur’s sensuous, surreal Cat People (1942), or its sexy 1982 remake? Then there’s the ribald and rather funny (if dated) animated film Fritz the Cat (1972), and the 1965 Disney classic crowd pleaser That Darn Cat! And 1961’s iconic gem Breakfast at Tiffany’s features a nameless but memorable orange kitty owned by Audrey Hepburn’s beloved Holly Golightly. More cats, please!

Peg Aloi is a former film critic for the Boston Phoenix and member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Alliance for Women Film Journalists. She taught film studies in Boston for over a decade. She has written on film, TV, and culture for web publications like Time, Vice, Polygon, Bustle, Dread Central, Mic, Orlando Weekly, Refinery29, and Bloody Disgusting. Her blog “The Witching Hour” can be found on substack.