NEWSLETTER
June–July 2022: ‘Living with The Walking Dead’ Exhibition Opens June 25, James Wong Howe Series Continues, Juneteenth And Pride Month Events, and More
Astoria, New York, May 25, 2022 — On June 25, Museum of the Moving Image will open Living with The Walking Dead, a major new exhibition that explores the origins, production, fandom, and impact of the long-running AMC series. The exhibition will be accompanied by multiple screening series (to be announced) throughout its six-month run. Also in June, the Museum continues its 19-film survey of cinematographer James Wong Howe, with a newly added live online conversation about his legacy featuring two veteran Asian American cinematographers on June 5; a selection of four films directed by Michael Mann; and ongoing series focusing on nonfiction, animation, silent cinema, musicals, Science on Screen, and Jim Henson’s World, among others. In July, the Museum will present a 20-film series devoted to the Pioneering Women of Australian Cinema, featuring work by such artists as Gillian Armstrong, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Tracey Moffatt, Jane Campion, and Clara Law.
In celebration of Pride Month in June, the Museum is presenting a selection of films made by LGBTQ+ filmmakers as part of its ongoing series: Jamie Babbit’s But I’m a Cheerleader, starring Natasha Lyonne (June 4); Alice Wu’s Saving Face (June 17); and the documentary hybrid Acts of Love with director Isidore Bethel in person (June 10).
On the weekend of June 17–19, the Museum invites families to a celebration of Juneteenth featuring an open mic, scavenger hunt, media-making, and social media activities inspired by the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog.
Newly added: June 4–July 31, the 45-minute Museum Experience Tour, led by a Museum educator and presented in Spanish and Urdu, offers an introduction to the moving image and an overview of the Museum’s galleries and interactive stations. Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. in Urdu. Sundays at 1:00 p.m. in Spanish. Tickets are $5 per participant (in addition to general admission).
Please see below for an overview of major programs and exhibitions in June and July. (A daily schedule of all June 2022 programs is available here). Additional programs may be added as they are confirmed. Please check www.movingimage.us for current schedules, changes, and announcements.
With New York City’s COVID-19 alert level set at high, the Museum is requiring all visitors to wear face masks (ages 2+) throughout the building. Please review all visitor safety guidelines here.
CURRENT AND UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS
Unless noted, access to exhibitions is included with Museum admission. For a full list of current exhibitions, visit movingimage.us/whats-on/exhibitions/
Living with The Walking Dead
JUNE 25, 2022–JANUARY 1, 2023
Since 2010, the AMC original series The Walking Dead has gripped the hearts of viewers with its tale of survivors in a postapocalyptic world plagued by the flesh-eating undead. The series draws on cinematic genre conventions but uses the expansive scope of television to depict how, in the aftermath of societal collapse, people find new ways of creating community, with threats coming from both the living and the dead. Opening as the series nears its conclusion, this major new exhibition addresses the origins, production, fandom, and impact of The Walking Dead, one of the most watched shows in the history of cable television. Living with The Walking Dead explores the cinematic and literary antecedents of the series, including Robert Kirkman’s comic books, and the unique innovations it has contributed to onscreen depictions of the zombie apocalypse, with its wide-ranging story of survival and diverse cast of characters. The exhibition includes such production material as original costumes and props, concept art, storyboards, scripts, and a wealth of prosthetic makeup used to transform cast members into vividly realized undead walkers, largely using practical effects. Living with The Walking Dead is organized by Museum of the Moving Image, and presented with support from AMC Networks. Press release | More info
Advance tickets are on sale now: $20 adults (with discounts for seniors, students, and youth) / Free for MoMI members at the Senior/Student level and above. Tickets include general admission.
Twitch, Pop, Bloom: Science in Action
MAY 5–JULY 17
On June 16, 6:00 p.m., a reception with live performance by musicians Will Epstein and Fast Forward, and drinks from Enlightenment Wines and Ghia
A selection of nine short films, all produced for scientific education and entertainment between 1904 and 1936, are presented on a loop in the Museum’s video screening amphitheater in two distinct programs: “In the Lab” and “In the Field” (the latter program begins June 16). While depicting actions of the natural world such as bacteria wiggling, roses unfurling, mouse cells drinking, and starlings nesting, the films in Science in Action also reveal their makers’ developed aesthetic sensibility, in part due to these scientists’ interest in communicating scientific ideas to those outside the bounds of professional communities. Filmmakers featured include Lucien Bull, F. Percy Smith and Mary Field, Jean Comandon, László Moholy-Nagy, and Oliver Pike. Among the work selected are some of the first films utilizing time-lapse, slow motion, and micro-cinematography; one of the earliest color films; one critical to the rapid diagnosis of disease; and popular early nature films. Organized by Sonia Epstein, Associate Curator of Science and Film. Presented with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. More info
The Jim Henson Exhibition
ONGOING
Featuring nearly 300 objects, this exhibition reveals how Jim Henson and his team of builders, performers, and writers brought to life the enduringly popular worlds of The Muppet Show, the Muppet movies, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. It also includes material from Henson’s experimental film projects and his early work, presenting him as a restlessly creative performer, filmmaker, and technical innovator. More info
NEW: The Museum now offers family-friendly tours of The Jim Henson Exhibition led by Museum educators, Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Tickets: $5 (in addition to general admission). Tour info
Please note: The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited, a traveling version of this exhibition is on view through August at The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
Tales in the Holoverse
MAY 27–AUGUST 21 in the Amphitheater Gallery
MoMI is collaborating with the technology studio Scatter to create Tales in the Holoverse, a community storytelling XR project where Museum visitors are invited to contribute their likeness and share stories about the challenges they experienced over the last two years, as 3D holograms in an immersive, virtual world. The project explores new visual storytelling techniques using cutting-edge technology built on social gaming platforms to explore the future of immersive experiences and the moving image. Presented with support from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Behind the Screen
ONGOING
The Museum’s core exhibition immerses visitors in the creative and technical process of producing, promoting, and presenting films, television shows, and digital entertainment. Hands-on interactive experiences offer opportunities to create short animations, dub your voice into a famous film or TV scene, experiment with sound effects and film music, and more. More than 1, 200 objects from the Museum collection of moving image material culture are on view. More Info.
MAJOR SCREENING SERIES
How It’s Done: The Cinema of James Wong Howe
THROUGH JUNE 26
Born at the dawn of the 20th century in China and arriving in the United States as a young child, James Wong Howe would come of age within and alongside Hollywood, serving as one of the industry’s major stylistic and technical innovators from the early 1920s through the mid-1970s. One of the few Chinese immigrants in the nascent industry, Wong Howe hustled, labored, and apprenticed his way to being a studio contract cameraman and cinematographer for the early part of his career, eventually becoming a highly sought-after freelancer, working on a string of late-career hits such as Picnic, Sweet Smell of Success, and Hud (for which he took home his second Academy Award). He was among the first to utilize deep focus, tracking shots, crane shots, and dolly shots, but his innovations never called attention to themselves, lest the images distract from the story rather than help it come to life. Discovering or revisiting the work of James Wong Howe is to encounter one exquisite choice after another. The Museum is presenting 19 films shot by Howe, most in 35mm. Upcoming films include: Bell, Book and Candle (1958), Mantrap (1926), The Hard Way (1943), Go, Man, Go (1954), Transatlantic (1931), The Power and the Glory (1933), Hangmen Also Die! (1943), Kings Row (1942), They Made Me a Criminal (1939), Peter Pan (1924, with live music), Pursued (1947), Picnic (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Seconds (1966), and Funny Lady (1975). Press release | Program info
Related event: On Sunday, June 5 at 7:00 p.m. ET, notable Asian American cinematographers Michael Goi (American Horror Story) and Eric Lin (The Sound of Silence) will discuss how James Wong Howe’s legacy influenced their careers in a live online discussion moderated by Assistant Curator of Film Edo Choi. Event info (free with RSVP) (online event).
Mann to Mann: The Manly Melodramas of Michael Mann
MAY 27–JUNE 12
Kicking off Memorial Day weekend, this mini retrospective celebrates beloved Hollywood auteur Michael Mann’s affinity for emotive, often operatic hetero-male relationships on screen. Each film in the series is centered around a deeply, if uneasily, bonded dude duo. Mann to Mann includes four of the director’s most bracing, stylized movies, made between 1995 and 2006 and featuring such stars as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Russell Crowe, and Colin Farrell in some of their most intense, fragile-macho roles. With all films presented in 35mm, the series includes Miami Vice (2006), The Insider (1999), Heat (1995), and Collateral (2004). Series info
Pioneering Women of Australian Cinema
JULY 21–AUGUST 14
Museum of the Moving Image will present a 20-film screening series featuring visionary independent female artists who, in the 1980s and ’90s, helped define a new era in Australian cinema. The program includes such titles as Celia (1989), the debut feature by Ann Turner; Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career (1979), the first Australian feature directed by a woman since those made by the McDonagh sisters in the early 1930s; Starstruck (1982), Armstrong’s sophomore feature; Jane Campion’s 1988 film Sweetie; Tracey Moffatt’s BeDevil (1993), the first feature directed by an Indigenous Australian woman; Only the Brave (1994), Ana Kokkinos’s uncompromising debut; Floating Life, a Silver Leopard recipient at the 1996 Locarno Film Festival from Hong Kong–raised Clara Law; Laurie McInnes’s 1993 debut feature Broken Highway; The Big Steal (1990), directed by Nadia Tass; and Jocelyn Moorhouse’s 1991 feature Proof. The series brings together the work of widely celebrated directors and others who remain unknown to American audiences. Most of the films will be imported from Australia, offering a rare opportunity for these works to be seen in the United States. This series is co-presented with the Australian International Screen Forum. Pioneering Women in Australian Cinema is presented with support from Australian Consul-General in New York, The Hon. Nick Greiner AC with additional support from the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and Australian International Screen Forum. Press release
HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS AND ONGOING SERIES
WORLD OF ANIMATION
Panda! Go Panda!
SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1:00 P.M.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 3:00 P.M.
Dir. Isao Takahata. Japan, 1972, 79 mins. DCP. Presented in English. An early classic from animation legends Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, before they founded Studio Ghibli, this charming family film about a young girl who befriends a Papa panda and his son celebrates its 50th anniversary. Recommended for all ages. Series info
JIM HENSON’S WORLD
A Henson Broadway Tribute
Hosted by Craig Shemin, President of The Jim Henson Legacy
SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 1:00 P.M.
FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2:30 P.M.
In honor of Broadway’s Tony Awards (to be presented on June 12), the Museum will highlight some of the greatest Muppet moments that feature legendary stars and memorable songs of musical theater. Julie Andrews, Joel Grey, Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman, Ben Vereen, Bernadette Peters, Valerie Harper, and Liza Minnelli are among the guest stars. The program runs approximately 80 minutes. Series info
DISREPUTABLE CINEMA
But I’m a Cheerleader
SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 6:00 P.M.
Dir. Jamie Babbit. 2000, 84 mins. DCP. With Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, RuPaul, Cathy Moriarty, Melanie Lynskey, Michelle Wiliams, Bud Cort. Megan (Lyonne) believes she’s leading the perfect American life. She has good grades. She goes to church. She’s a cheerleader. But her family and friends all believe she’s gay. Megan is sent to a gay conversion camp under the watch of Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty), who promises to have Megan saying “straight is great” in no time—yet Megan seems oddly drawn to rebellious Graham (Clea DuVall). The cult fervor for this early 2000s video store queer favorite remains as strong as ever thanks to its streaks of black humor, John Waters–inspired aesthetic and color palette, and sincere performances from its romantic leads. Series info
NEW ADVENTURES IN NONFICTION
Acts of Love
With director Isidore Bethel in person
FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 7:30 P.M.
Dirs. Isidore Bethel, Francis Leplay. 2021, 71 mins. In the faded light of a relationship with an older man, Isidore moves to Chicago and starts using dating apps to meet strangers—on camera—who become his collaborators on this unconventional hybrid film. Throughout, the filmmaker takes phone calls from his mother (who is unsparing in her thoughts about his endeavor), while also floating cinematic messages to his past love. A singular work of exploration and confession, rawness and guardedness, Acts of Love follows its own path towards the universally elusive matters of the heart. Series info
ALWAYS ON SUNDAY: GREEK FILM SERIES / PREVIEW SCREENING
Apples
SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 4:00 P.M.
Dir. Christos Nikou. 2020, 91 mins. DCP. With Aris Servetalis, Sofia Georgovassili. In Greek with English subtitles. In the midst of a frightening pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, a man named Aris awakens one morning with no memory of who he is. After no loved ones come forward to discharge him from the hospital, Aris enrolls in a program designed to help him build a new identity and reintegrate into society. In his remarkable feature debut, director Christos Nikou has created a poignant allegorical drama that uses a near-future dystopian conceit to question what it means to be human while also reflecting on memory, identity, and loss. Co-presented with the Hellenic Film Society USA. The film opens theatrically at the Quad on June 24, a Cohen Media release. Series info
QUEENS ON SCREEN
Saving Face
FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 7:30 P.M.
Dir. Alice Wu. 2004, 91 mins. DCP. A modern queer classic set in the Chinese American community in Flushing, Queens, the charming and emotional feature debut by Alice Wu (The Half of It) follows the burgeoning romance between two women—Wil (Michelle Krusiec), a surgeon, and Vivian (Lynn Chen), a dancer—and how it dramatically complicates their relationships with their families, especially when Wil’s mother (the great Joan Chen) is unexpectedly forced to move in with her. Deeply moving, often funny, and richly observed, Saving Face is a tender American romantic comedy about the traditions and ties that continue to bind, filmed on location in Flushing and around the city. Series info
MUSICAL MATINEES
Funny Lady
SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 12:30 P.M.
FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 3:00 P.M.
Dir. Herbert Ross. 1975, 136 mins. DCP. With Barbra Streisand, James Caan, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall, Ben Vereen. Though it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including for James Wong Howe’s cinematography, this sequel to Barbra Streisand’s breakout film, Funny Girl, was mostly roasted by critics. In hindsight, Herbert Ross’s continuance of the Fanny Brice story was bolder than its trappings would indicate, and despite its 1930s setting, serves as a startlingly jaundiced look at its own time. It’s also gorgeously shot by Wong Howe in what would be his last movie. Presented as part of the retrospective How It’s Done: The CInema of James Wong Howe. Series info
Celebrate Juneteenth at MoMI
JUNE 17–19
The Princess and the Frog screens June 17, 2:30 p.m. and June 19, 1:00 & 3:00 p.m.
Celebrate Juneteenth, the national holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States, with a weekend of activities that celebrate Black American heritage, including screenings of the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog (Dirs. Ron Clements, John Musker), which features the first African American Disney princess, Tiana, in a modern retelling of the classic Grimm fairy tale The Frog Prince. MoMI educators will lead families in activities such as an open mic, scavenger hunt, media-making in the new Moving Image Studio Lab space, and a social media challenge: “All weekend long, come dressed to impress in your most royally gorgeous outfit and you may be crowned Mx. Juneteenth by recording a video or GIF of yourself at MoMI and posting on TikTok or Instagram with the hashtag: #JuneteenthAtMoMI.” Event info
SILENTS, PLEASE!
Peter Pan
SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1:00 P.M. With live piano accompaniment by Makia Matsumura
SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 1:30 P.M.
Dir. Herbert Brenon. U.S. 1924, 102 mins. 35mm. With Betty Bronson, Ernest Torrence, Cyril Chadwick, Virginia Brown Faire, Anna May Wong, Esther Ralston, George Ali, Mary Brian, Philippe De Lacey, Jack Murphy. Brenon’s magical adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s 1904 stage play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up disproves the film historical canard that the “filmed theater” of the silent era was somehow less cinematic than the montage film by leaning into its theatrical origins. Peter is played by a girl (then-unknown Bronson); the Darling family dog is an actor in full-body suit; and, as in a live performance, the audience is asked to clap to revive Tinker Bell (Browne Faire). In his fourth of eight collaborations with Brenon, Wong Howe’s delicately balanced chiaroscuro would jumpstart his reputation as “Mr. Low-Key.” Series info
SCIENCE ON SCREEN: EXTINCTION AND OTHERWISE
Holgut + Taxidermize Me
Focusing on the theme of resurrection, these recent films explore real and surreal efforts to bring back dead species.
SUNDAY, JULY 10, 6:00 P.M.
Holgut. Dir. Liesbeth De Ceulaer. 2021, 73 mins. DCP. In Russian and Sakha with English subtitles. In northern Siberia, two brothers are on a traditional hunt for wild reindeer, which have become scarce due to changing climate conditions. Meanwhile, when a wooly mammoth tusk emerges from the melting permafrost, a scientist hopes it will provide enough salvageable DNA to resurrect the storied beast. Award-winning filmmaker Liesbeth De Ceulaer’s Holgut explores the mythical wildlife that live, lived, and may one day live again in the Siberian tundra. A documentary-fiction hybrid, Holgut received special mention at CPH: DOX, where it made its world premiere in collaboration with Visions du Réel.
Preceded by Taxidermize Me. (Dir. Marie Losier. 2021, 10 mins.) Marie Losier (The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye) moves into Paris’s fantastic Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Museum of Hunting and Nature) while the museum is closed to the public. In the presence of her 16mm camera, foxes, bears, bunnies, and birds, plus humans cloaked in glitter and furs, meld and reanimate one another.
About Science on Screen: Organized by the Museum’s Associate Curator of Science and Film Sonia Epstein, this year-long Science on Screen series examines the struggle for species survival and life as it might be. Each event is accompanied by new articles authored by scientists and scholars on Sloan Science & Film. Series info
Top image: Sweet Smell of Success (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick. 1957) / courtesy of Park Circus.
Press contacts:
Tomoko Kawamoto, MoMI, tkawamoto@movingimage.us or 718 777 6830
Sunshine Sachs for MoMI, momi@sunshinesachs.com
PRESS IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE HERE (PW: MoMIpress)
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.
Museum Admission: $15 adults; $11 senior citizens (ages 65+) and students (ages 18+) with ID; $9 youth (ages 3–17). Children under 3 and Museum members are admitted free. Free gallery hours every Thursday, 2:00–6:00 p.m.
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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.
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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.