See It Big: Summer Movies Runs Through July and Annual 70mm Series Returns in August

July–August 2023

Astoria, NY (June 29, 2023) — This July and August, Museum of the Moving Image presents its annual summer 70mm showcase, launches a new series of films featuring hip-hop artists, brings the acclaimed Pakistani film Joyland to Queens for a limited run, and continues its See It Big summer movie series. See below for highlights and schedule; additional programs will be added as they are confirmed. 

See monthly schedule overview for July 2023 here and August 2023 here.

In the galleries, The Jim Henson Exhibition will welcome new puppets that were featured on Saturday Night Live’s first season, and the passenger-elevator installation Refreshing the Loop will feature the work of Pastiche Lumumba and Kate the Cursed. The major temporary exhibition Cinema of Sensations: The Never-Ending Screen of Val del Omar, exploring the innovative and influential work of the visionary Spanish artist and filmmaker José Val del Omar, continues through October 1. See all exhibitions here. 

EXHIBITION UPDATES

Refreshing the Loop: Pastiche Lumumba and Kate the Cursed
JULY 28–OCTOBER 8, 2023
The second installation in the series Refreshing the Loop in the Museum’s passenger elevator will feature a pairing of work by Pastiche Lumumba and Katherina Jesek aka “Kate the Cursed.” Lumumba is a multidisciplinary artist whose work examines cultural conventions and normalized power dynamics within the contexts of masculinity and Blackness. “Kate the Cursed” is a media artist and producer whose artwork since 2021 focuses on authentic, outdated display technology and draws inspiration from cyberpunk aesthetics. Both are based in New York. Exhibition info

The Land of Gorch puppets in The Jim Henson Exhibition
BEGINNING THURSDAY, JUNE 29
Jim Henson and his company created a set of characters that appeared on the first season of Saturday Night Live (1975– ) for a recurring segment set in a swampy, vaguely extraterrestrial world called The Land of Gorch. Six puppets featured in these segments, which were scripted by Saturday Night Live staff writers and featured adults-only jokes and storylines, will be on view as part of the exhibition. Exhibition info

FILM SERIES

See It Big: 70mm!
AUGUST 3–27  
In what has become an annual summer tradition, MoMI will present a selection of classic and contemporary films in the 70mm film format. With a higher resolution and more light hitting the frame, 70mm film offers a bigger, brighter image than 35mm. It also offers richer sound, with more space on the soundtrack. It is the ideal film format for ambitious cinematic spectacles, yet with the transition to digital filmmaking, 70mm movies have become increasingly rare. Filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and Jordan Peele, whose Inception and Nope are featured in this series, help to keep the tradition alive. Also screening this summer are eighties favorite Starman by John Carpenter; Spike Lee’s grand-scale epic Malcolm X; the 1970 Oscar-winning disaster melodrama Airport, paired with the spoof Airplane! (not in 70mm); and, of course, screenings of Stanley Kubrick’s cinema-shifting 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Tickets: $20 public / $15 MoMI members. MoMI Members have an exclusive window to purchase tickets, through July 3. Tickets go on sale to the public on July 4. Schedule & Tickets | Program Schedule (PDF)

MoMI Moviehouse: Comedies
New series launches on AUGUST 26 with Airplane!
With Moviehouse, MoMI launches a new ongoing series that highlights the enduring vitality of cinema as a communal endeavor to be shared from one generation to the next. Scheduled during matinee slots (12–2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; 2–5 p.m. on Friday), all screenings that fall under the MoMI Moviehouse umbrella are suitable for viewers 13 and over—with most titles suitable for those even younger (as noted). Series info

See It Big: Summer Movies (’70s and ’80s Edition)
THROUGH JULY 28  
This series brings together blockbuster selections from the first two decades of the American summer movie, as well as some smaller hot-month titles released to appeal to alternative art-house crowds, from romantic comedies to adult erotic thrillers to serious social dramas. Organized by Curator of Film Eric Hynes, Associate Curator of Film Edo Choi, and Reverse Shot editors Michael Koresky and Jeff Reichert. 
July titles: Star Wars (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, 35mm), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988, 35mm), An American Werewolf in London (1981; introduced by Griffin Dunne on July 7), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Purple Rain (1984), Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985, 35mm), Do the Right Thing (1989), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982, 35mm), Body Heat (1981, 35mm), La Bamba (1987), and Chocolat (1988, 35mm).  Schedule & Tickets | Program Schedule (PDF) 

Real Rap: Hip-Hop Star Power on Screen
JULY 28–OCTOBER 21
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, this film series celebrates the insatiable beats and lyrics of hip-hop, which have proliferated throughout every borough, every corner of the United States and all over the world. By focusing on hip-hop artists who have appeared on the big screen, including Queen Latifah, Tupac, and Ice Cube, this series shows how rapper-actors’ artistry came to transform pop culture, transcending music to find brilliant expression and ultimately reshaping and redefining movie stardom. In addition to the screenings, the series will feature special guest speakers, discussions, a spoken word showcase, and a summer dance party. Co-programmed by Austin Smith and Tiffany Joy Butler.
Titles include Baby Boy (John Singleton, 2001), Just Wright (Sanaa Hamri, 2010), Poetic Justice (John Singleton, 1993), Barbershop (Tim Story, 2002), 8 Mile (Curtis Hanson, 2002), Ghosts of Mars (John Carpenter, 2001), and other titles to be announced.

FILM PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Chop Shop 
FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 7:30 P.M.
SUNDAY, JULY 2, 2:00 P.M. 
Ramin Bahrani’s acclaimed feature was filmed on location in a neighborhood that has been largely demolished to make way for Citi Field. The poignant drama endures as a work of authentic, minutely observed storytelling, as well as a de facto document of a very recently vanished corner of New York. Event info (Part of Queens on Screen) 

The Royal Tenenbaums
SUNDAY, JULY 2, 5:15 P.M.
 SUNDAY, JULY 9, 4:00 P.M. 
SATURDAY, JULY 8, 4:00 P.M.
Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson earned an Oscar nomination for writing this brilliantly self-contained comedy-drama about three gifted siblings and their relationship with their absent, selfish father, Royal Tenenbaum (a marvelous Hackman in his greatest late-career role) shot on location in a New York City that feels at once real and imagined, in Anderson’s brilliantly idiosyncratic style. Presented in 35mm. Event info (Part of MoMI Loves) 

An American Werewolf in London
With Griffin Dunne in person
FRIDAY, JULY 7, 7:00 P.M.
The rare humor-tinged horror that manages to be entirely terrifying and quite funny, Landis’s film follows two American backpackers whose destinies are changed forever when they decide to stray from the roads while traveling across rural England. Griffin Dunne will appear live on July 7 to participate in a discussion after the film. Also screening July 2. Event info (Part of See It Big: Summer Movies)

LIMITED THEATRICAL ENGAGEMENT
Joyland
JULY 14–23
Dir. Saim Sadiq. Pakistan, 2022, 126 mins. In Punjabi and Urdu with English subtitles. With Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan. This debut feature from writer-director Saim Sadiq explores the many sides of love and desire in a patriarchal society. Gentle and timid, Haider (Junejo) lives with his wife Mumtaz (Farooq), his father, and his elder brother’s family in Lahore, Pakistan. When Haider lands a job at a Bollywood-style burlesque as a backup dancer, it shakes up the steadfast traditional dynamics of his household and enables Haider to break out of his shell. As he acclimates to the new job, Haider becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman Biba (Khan) who runs the show—an unforeseen partnership that opens his eyes and ultimately his worldview, in ways both unexpected and intimate. Winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. An Oscilloscope release. Event info (Part of Infinite Beauty: Muslim and MENASA Identity Onscreen)

Users
FRIDAY, JULY 21, 7:15 P.M.
Dir. Natalia Almada. 2021. 81 mins. Users begins with a mother’s question: “Will my children love the perfect machines more than they love me, their imperfect mother?” This question instigates Almada’s wide-ranging inquiry into how technology is increasingly driving all aspects of our society—even our most vulnerable and elemental interrelations—prompting further questions about the inevitability of technological progress, our agency in directing its course, and whether technology is an expression of our humanity or the agent of our inevitable destruction. Event info (Part of the series New Adventures in Nonfiction)

Narcissus Off Duty
SUNDAY, JULY 23, 5:30 P.M.
Dirs. Ricardo Calil, Renato Terra. Brazil, 2020. 84 mins. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Acclaimed at numerous film festivals, including Venice, IDFA, and Sheffield, Narcissus Off Duty is a grippingly intimate documentary about Grammy-winning Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso and his incarceration at the hands of the dictatorship in 1968. Event info (Co-presented with Brasil SummerFest and part of the series Las Premieres, co-presented with Cinema Tropical)

The Muppet Movie + Harry Belafonte tribute
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1:00 P.M. 
SUNDAY, JULY 30, 1:00 P.M. 
The first big-screen adventure for the Muppets includes Kermit’s heart-tugging rendition of Paul Williams’s beloved, Oscar-nominated song “The Rainbow Connection.” (1979, 95 mins). Preceded by a tribute to the late Harry Belafonte, a great friend of Jim Henson and the Muppets, with his memorable appearance on The Muppet Show. Event info (Part of Jim Henson’s World) 

Der Fan
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 6:00 P.M.
Dir. Eckhart Schmidt. 1982, 92 mins. Though her life is filled with typical adolescent angst, Simone (Désirée Nosbusch) does find solace in her crush on a pop star known only as ”R.” However, after meeting her idol and discovering that her love is unrequited, hero worship quickly becomes murderous obsession as Simone leads her erstwhile Prince Charming into a plot of shocking revenge. Event info (Part of Disreputable Cinema)

Aurora’s Sunrise
SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 1:00 P.M.
Dir. Inna Sahakyan. Armenia/Germany/Lithuania, 2022, 96 mins. In Armenian with English subtitles. A sweeping true story that follows 14-year-old Aurora Mardiganian from the harrowing experience of the Armenian genocide to New York where she becomes a media sensation, Aurora’s Sunrise offers a blend of vivid animation, interviews with Aurora herself, and 18 minutes of surviving footage from her lost silent epic Auction of Souls (1919). Armenia’s official 2022 Oscar submission for International Feature. Winner of Best Animated Film – Asia Pacific Screen Awards and Audience Award at 2022 Animation Is Film Festival, Los Angeles. (Part of World of Animation)

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 7:15 P.M.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 3:00 P.M.
Dir. Dito Montiel. 2006, 98 mins. DCP. With Robert Downey, Jr., Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Chazz Palminteri, Shia LeBeouf, Dianne Wiest. Queens native Montiel’s feature debut is a gritty coming-of-age drama set in Astoria and adapted from the director’s eponymous memoir. Dito (Downey) returns to Queens to see his ailing father (Palminteri), who never forgave him for leaving home. Memories come flooding back as he revisits the old neighborhood and encounters the few childhood friends (the “saints” of the title) who aren’t dead or in prison. Shot on location in Astoria by renowned DP Eric Gautier (Summer Hours, Stars at Noon), and featuring a breakout performance by a young Tatum, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints won prizes at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival for Directing and Ensemble Performance. (Part of Queens on Screen)

Jesús López
SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Maximiliano Schonfeld. Argentina/France, 2021, 86 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles. When promising young race-car driver Jesús López dies in a motorcycle accident, residents of his Argentine small town are deeply shaken. His teenage cousin Abel is gradually tempted to take Jesús’s place with family and friends, until Abel lets himself be possessed by Jesús’s spirit. Winner of the Cinema Tropical Award for Best Director and the Best Latin American Film Award at the Mar del Plata Film Festival, Jesús López, the fourth feature from Maximiliano Schonfeld, is a captivating and elegantly directed mystical tale about community grief and emancipation. Event info (Part of Las Premieres, co-presented with Cinema Tropical)

Labyrinth
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 1:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 12:30 P.M.
Dir. Jim Henson. 1986, 101 mins. With Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie. In order to save her brother, who has been captured by the Goblin King, Sarah (Connelly) must find her way through a magical labyrinth. Rich with elaborate set pieces, including a castle inspired by M.C. Escher, and a witty and fantastical script by Monty Python member Terry Jones, this beloved fantasy film is a stunning visual achievement. In a role that launched a million disquieting crushes, a perfectly cast David Bowie plays the teasing, tempting seducer whom Sarah must both want and reject in order to learn the labyrinth’s lessons. Recommended for ages 8+ (Part of Jim Henson’s World)  

About Museum of the Moving Image
Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) is the only institution in the United States that deals comprehensively with the art, technology, enjoyment, and social impact of film, television, and digital media. In its acclaimed facility in Astoria, New York, the Museum presents exhibitions; screenings; discussion programs featuring actors, directors, and creative leaders; and education programs. It houses the nation’s largest collection of moving image artifacts and screens over 500 films annually. Its exhibitions—including the core exhibition Behind the Screen and The Jim Henson Exhibition—are noted for their integration of material objects, interactive experiences, and audiovisual presentations. For more information about the MoMI, visit movingimage.us.

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Press contacts:
Tomoko Kawamoto, MoMI, tkawamoto@movingimage.us, 718 777 6830
Alex Cutler and Hayley Brinkman, Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis, momi@ssmandl.com

PRESS IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE HERE. Additional images are also available. Please contact Tomoko.

MUSEUM INFORMATION
Hours: Thursday, 2:00–6:00 p.m. Friday, 2:00–8:00 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, 12:00–6:00 p.m. 
General Museum Admission: $20 adults, $12 senior citizens (ages 65+) and students (ages 18+) with ID, $10 youth (ages 3–17). Children under 3 and Museum members are admitted free. General admission is free every Thursday, 2:00–6:00 p.m.
Address: 36-01 35 Avenue (at 37 Street), Astoria (Queens), NY, 11106
Subway: M (weekdays only) or R to Steinway Street. W (weekdays only) or N to 36 Ave.
Program Information: Telephone: 718 777 6888; Website: movingimage.us
Membership: movingimage.us/join-and-support/become-a-member or 718 777 6877
Film Screenings: Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, and as scheduled. Unless noted, tickets are $15 adults / $11 students and seniors / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / free or discounted for Museum members. Advance online purchase is recommended.

Face masks (ages 2+) are recommended inside the building and during screenings, but not required. Please review all visitor safety guidelines here.

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Museum of the Moving Image is housed in a building owned by the City of New York and has received significant support from the following public agencies: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; New York City Council; New York City Economic Development Corporation; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Institute of Museum and Library Services; National Endowment for the Humanities; National Endowment for the Arts; and Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation). For more information, please visit movingimage.us

Image: Spike Lee's Malcolm X, 1992. [Press gallery]