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Dean Otto currently serves as the Curator of Film. To learn more about Dean and the Speed Cinema, read the full press release here. Photo by Rafael Gamo.
Speed Cinema entrance update: Our South Cinema entrance has reopened for all Cinema guests! Follow the Speed Cinema signs while exiting the Museum garage to the entrance while enjoying a small part of the Art Park that is now open.
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2025 Oscar Nominated Short Films
February 14 – March 2
For the 20th consecutive year, ShortsTV presents the Oscar-Nominated Short Films, opening on Friday, February 14-Sunday, March 2. With all three categories offered – Animated, Live Action, and Documentary – this is your annual chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)! A perennial hit with audiences around the country and the world, don’t miss this year’s selection of shorts. The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 2.
Sabbath Queen
February 23
Filmed over 21 years, Sabbath Queen follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad, and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation.
CINEMA+ With a post-screening discussion with director Sandi DuBowski via Zoom.
Celebrating Black Stories - New York International Children's Film Festival
February 23
Take in the audience’s favorite and award-winning films from the latest edition of New York International Children’s Film Festival! These amazing short films from around the world are sure to inspire curiosity and conversation for viewers big and small. Celebrating Black Stories spotlights Black narratives that transcend national boundaries, culture, and language with films in English, French, Zulu, and even ASL! These films share the joy, determination, resilience, and complexity of being young and Black while underscoring the vibrancy of Black storytelling.
The Volunteers: Mountain Rescue Brings Us Home
March 6
The Volunteers explores big philosophical and political issues through an unlikely subject: mountain rescue. The documentary is not an adventure film but rather is a philosophical meditation. The underlying premise is that mountain rescue organizations offer a positive, inspiring way of thinking about civic life, especially the relation between local attachment to place and universal human solidarity, that can help us transcend our political differences.
CINEMA+ With a post-screening discussion with producer and co-director Dr. Mark Weiner moderated by Dr. Charles Ziegler
Universal Language
March 7, 8, & 9
Director Matthew Rankin has crafted a hilarious and touching film set on the Canadian prairie where the droll landscape belies the experiences of those who inhabit it. In a mysterious and surreal interzone somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg, the lives of multiple characters interweave with each other in surprising and mysterious ways.
Santosh
March 14 & 15
When her police constable husband is killed on the job, young housewife Santosh (Shahana Goswami) is, due to a government initiative, trained to take his place on the force in rural Northern India. She eventually pairs with a savvy, charismatic female inspector, Sharma (Sunita Rajwar), who’s arrived from outside the department to investigate the murder of a low-caste girl.
No Other Land
March 15 & 16
Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, has been fighting his community's mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta, as soldiers destroy the homes of families—the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank. He crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for over half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer. Their complex bond is haunted by the extreme inequality between them: Basel, living under a brutal military occupation, and Yuval, unrestricted and free.
Four Films by Barbara Hammer
March 16
A pioneer of queer filmmaking, Barbara Hammer explored sexuality, connection, and liberation through cinema from the late 1960s until her passing in 2019. Her deeply personal and critical lens shaped the lesbian film genre, pushing aesthetic and political boundaries. This program presents four films showcasing her versatility, including the influential *Audience* (1982).
Blue Velvet
March 21
There’s something going on behind the white picket fences of Lumberton, North Carolina, and after stumbling upon a severed human ear in a field, mystery-loving college student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) is determined to find out what. Teaming up with the daughter of a local police detective, Jeffrey’s investigation leads him into a strange world of sensuality and violence, with the intrigue of the missing ear seemingly stemming from the relationship between a troubled nightclub singer and a sociopathic sadomasochist.
Eraserhead
March 22
David Lynch’s 1977 debut feature, Eraserhead, is both a lasting cult sensation and a work of extraordinary craft and beauty. With its mesmerizing black-and-white photography by Frederick Elmes and Herbert Cardwell, evocative sound design, and unforgettably enigmatic performance by Jack Nance, this visionary nocturnal odyssey continues to haunt American cinema like no other film.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
March 22
In Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, David Lynch revisits Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the final week of her life, unraveling the secrets behind her murder. A homecoming queen by day and thrill-seeker by night, Laura spirals into horror as she uncovers the identity of her longtime tormentor. Both nightmarish and deeply compassionate, the film paints a haunting portrait of a doomed heroine.
The Short Films of David Lynch
March 23
Beginning his artistic career as a painter and sculptor, David Lynch quickly began to explore filmmaking through the creation of short films. Lynch would go on to produce shortform work throughout his career, experimenting with form and narrative construction to craft haunting films that are as vivid and unsettling as his feature-length output.
Dawn of Impressionism: Paris 1874
March 22 & 23
The Impressionists are the most popular group in art history—millions flock every year to marvel at their masterpieces. But, to begin with, they were scorned penniless outsiders. 1874 was the year that changed everything; the first Impressionists, “hungry for independence,” broke the mold by holding their own exhibition outside official channels. Impressionism was born and the art world was changed forever.
Thunder Road
March 26
Transporting illegal alcohol over dark two-lane mountain highways, Lucas Doolin (Robert Mitchum) races wildly through the night, crashing roadblocks and outrunning ambushes, defying anyone who tries to stop him. A man has a right to do anything, he says, including making whiskey, as long as he makes it on his own land.
CINEMA+ with a pre-screening talk by Kaveh Zamanian, founder of Rabbit Hole and Chief Whiskey Officer of Pernod Ricard.
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
March 28 & 29
This star-studded tribute brings into focus the dazzling, complex period of Liza Minnelli’s life starting in the 1970s, just after the tragic death of her mother Judy Garland, as she confronts a range of personal and professional challenges on the way to becoming a bona fide legend.
Girls’ POV - New York International Children's Film Festival
March 30
Take in the audience favorite and award-winning films from the latest edition of New York International Children’s Film Festival! These amazing short films from around the world are sure to inspire curiosity and conversation for viewers big and small. This edition of Girls’ POV celebrates trailblazing young scientists who are developing creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. From a 19th century fossil hunter to today’s innovators, these girls lead the field!
Cabaret
March 29 & 30
Cabaret brings 1931 Berlin to life inside and outside the Kit Kat Klub. There, starry eyed American Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) and an impish emcee (Joel Grey) sound the call for decadent fun, while in the street the Nazi party is beginning to grow into a brutal political force. Into this heady world arrives British language teacher Brian Roberts (Michael York) who falls for Sally’s charm and soon the two of them find themselves embroiled in the turmoil and decadence of the era.
Michelangelo: Love and Death
May 31 & June 1
The spectacular sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo seem so familiar to us, but what do we really know about this Renaissance giant? Spanning his 88 years, Michelangelo: Love and Death take a cinematic journey through the print and drawing rooms of Europe through the great chapels and museums of Florence, Rome, and the Vatican to seek out a deeper understanding of this legendary figure’s tempestuous life, his relationship with his contemporaries, and his incredible legacy.