A century of cinema history runs through Olivier Assayas’ IRMA VEP, a defining work of modern arthouse cinema whose ecstatic blend of reality and artifice still astonishes 30 years later. Looking back to Louis Feuillade’s silent serials and the heady abstraction of the 1960s while surveying the 1990s landscape of transnational film financing, IRMA VEP also gestures anxiously towards the 21st-century social and technological ruptures that continue to fascinate Assayas today.
On a smaller time scale, the film is also a touchstone for Block Cinema, which launched in September 2001 with a screening of IRMA VEP. Our first printed calendar describes it thusly:
“Maggie Cheung stars as Maggie Cheung, a Hong Kong actress in Paris to star in a ‘remake’ of the great French silent serial, LES VAMPIRES. Like her counterpart in the original–a sexy thief with the anagrammatical name of Irma Vep –Cheung dons a slinky black latex suit, roams the rooftops of Paris, and triggers confusion and sexual chaos, this time amidst a completely neurotic film crew. Simultaneously a satirical look at the French art film community and an homage to silent films and surrealism, IRMA VEP is a meditation on creativity, originality, and cross-cultural fertilization.”
Since that auspicious debut, Block Cinema has continuously embraced the same global scope, capacious sense of motion picture history, and spirit of boundless reinvention that characterizes IRMA VEP – an ideal film for kicking off a year of 25th-anniversary programming around the theme “Projecting the Future.”
On October 14, in concert with our screening of IRMA VEP, Block Cinema will be hosting a special 16mm projection of “Hypnotic Eyes,” the sixth episode of Louis Feuillade’s serial LES VAMPIRES, with live accompaniment by Chicago experimental string trio Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart.
About the series: Projecting the Future
In Fall 2026, Block Cinema marks its twenty-fifth anniversary. Founded in 2001 as a student-led film society, Block Cinema has evolved into one of the Midwest's most distinctive university cinema programs, advancing teaching, learning, research, and public engagement through the moving image.
Today, Block Cinema is more than a screening venue. Through public programs, original research, film preservation initiatives, artist collaborations, and student-centered learning opportunities, it serves as a gathering place for the study, presentation, and exploration of cinema in all its forms.
To celebrate this milestone, The Block Museum of Art presents “Projecting the Future: Block Cinema at 25,” a year-long series of screenings, performances, conversations, and special initiatives throughout the 2026-2027 academic year that explore the evolving possibilities of the moving image. Organized around several core areas of activity, the anniversary year highlights Block Cinema's commitment to research and discovery, innovative forms of cinematic experience, and the next generation of students, artists, and audiences.
Cost: Free and Open to All
Block Museum of Art
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