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The Whitsell Auditorium and the Northwest Film Center Equipment Room are closed to the public in an effort to further stem the spread of COVID-19. All classes canceled until further notice. Stay connected to art, film, and more by signing up for our newsletter.

We Can’t Go Home Again

Directed by Nicholas Ray

United States • 1973 • 93 mins.

Showtimes & Past Screenings

In 1971, Ray, at the invitation of experimental filmmakers Larry Gottheim and Ken Jacobs, took a teaching post at SUNY Binghamton in the fledgling film production department. The major project to come out of the period is this film, an experimental meta-narrative centering on a teacher (Ray) and his students (played by his real-life students), who are all engaged in creating their own small stories inspired by their mentor. Remarkable for its technique of using several simultaneous images at once and featuring profound contributions from many of his students (most notably Tom Farrell), Ray continued to tinker with this wrenching, highly personal labor of love until his death in 1979.

Genres: Experimental, Documentary

Appears in: Bigger Than Life: The Films of Nicholas Ray

The Northwest Film Center recognizes and honors the Indigenous peoples of this region on whose ancestral lands the museum now stands. These include the Willamette Tumwater, Clackamas, Kathlemet, Molalla, Multnomah and Watlala Chinook Peoples and the Tualatin Kalapuya who today are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and many other Native communities who made their homes along the Columbia River. We also want to recognize that Portland today is a community of many diverse Native peoples who continue to live and work here. We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities—past, present, future—and are grateful for their ongoing and vibrant presence.