Existentialism attempts to describe the nature of human experience in an unfathomable world, a theme that has long provided inspiration for countless filmmakers. To name a few, Truffaut, Bergman, Antonioni, and Allen have investigated the idea, articulated by Jean-Paul Sartre in his 1943 treatise Being and Nothingness, that "man can will nothing unless he has first understood that he must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." The films in this series look to key texts that either inspired (Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard) or expanded (Sartre, Camus) this philosophy, adapting its ideas for the screen, where free will, enacted without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad, resonates with particular force.

This series is co-presented with the American Repertory Theatre who present a new adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit, running January 7-29.