As part of their Golden Globe Foreign Language Nominee series, American Cinematheque is screening The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tonight at the Aero Theater. Director and noted artist Julian Schnabel will be on-hand to introduce the film. It tells the wrenching story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the former editor of ELLE magazine who suffered a stroke at the age of 43 and spent the rest of his life able to move only one eyelid.

Despite this seemingly insurmountable handicap, Bauby was able to write his memoir using only that one eyelid to communicate. It was, obviously, a remarkable achievement and the film is no less so. Director Schnabel and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski somehow find a way to portray the world from Bauby's fantastical perspective. It is a grand, avant-garde experiment that works wonderfully.

Tickets ($10) for the event can be found here. Directions are here.

Photo courtesy of Pathe