Image courtesy of MOMA
Did you know that MOMA, one of the United States preeminent showcase's for international cinema and leading institutions for film preservation in the world is going on its 81st year? Their treasure trove of films is an endless oasis of early to present day cinema from classic to experimental genres. While perusing their calendar and getting excited about what's in store for this year's program, I am remembering resting my head on my artist-father's arm, while listening to the crackling sound of old films on the big screen and wondering why he didn't get me a bag of licorice to chew on?
As a child my father took my brother, sister and me most Sunday's for an outing, some of the most memorable were at the Museum of Modern Art. We looked first at the exhibits and then we sailed onward to watch Charlie Chan movies, afterwards we drove back to Brooklyn in his pink Volkswagen and rounded out the day at the New Deal Chinese restaurant, under the train station in Brighton Beach. I'm not that old, the New Deal closed in the early 90s.
If you don't know who Charlie Chan was, then you are missing the investigative work of the greatest Chinese American sleuth of the 1930s, (albeit the English had Sherlock Holmes). Over the years Charlie was played by several white men and one Chinese actor including: Peter Ustinov, Warner Oland, Xu Xin Yuan, and Sidney Toler. Why would you want to see Charlie Chan, considering it's a mighty racist piece of celluloid? Because it's important to appreciate even our best and worst intentions, our immaturity, and evolution as a people. It's a remarkable experience to see how the dominant white American culture realized their impressions of the wise, but submissive Asian detective. The distant parodies between cultures and economics prevailed as fact-- not theory back in the day, and film is one of the most exacting ways to see history. Should the Martians land here and meet a New Yorker who really wants to help them to understand earthlings, then I hope that they point them in the direction of one of the greatest modern art museums in the world for a little film history.
MOMA's enormous film library houses much of the world's best cinema with its 25,000 international films, stored at the Celete Bartos Film Preservation Center. Through the dogged work of former and first chief curator Iris Barry, who convinced golden age of Hollywood giants that these works needed to be preserved, the film archives house some of the earliest films, including Thomas Edison's most primitive results of his movie invention, as well as the most exhilarating and beautiful of old Hollywood, along with a priceless international cache of great works. Films are a delicate medium and though we hardly use celluloid as we once did, turning to the digital medium, our veneration for its original nitrate spools are no less reverential than they are to a canvas of Jackson Pollock's, which accounts for the very precise temperature and care which the films receive.
Talking with film expert and Chief Curator Rajandra Roy who came out of the Independent film festival world and formerly worked with the great scholar of film and media arts, John Hanhardt at the Guggenheim, I learned a great deal more about how films are selected to showcase there...
" I work with eight curators over the year...We meet on a monthly basis where everyone gives pitches...Each curator does the research and writing...They're all experts in their own right"
At the time of our conversation he was preparing for an Antonio Pietrangeli retrospective which he collaborated on with long term partner Luce Cinecitta. "Exploring the director's career from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s, of Pietrangelis films this program featured 11 of his best-known works-- including the international premiere of the restored version of I Knew Her Well (which will play in New York theaters from February 2016)--to a number of rediscoveries."
Last September Roy installed a marvelous new program called Modern Matinees at MOMA Right now you can see the great William S. Hart, who was born during the Civil War era in 1864 in Newburgh, New York, playing the first American Western Movie Hero. There is nothing like a silent action film (which once cost 7 cents for a ticket) for authenticity, since special effects were pretty crude at the time, most movie action rings true. So enthralled with the characters of the West, Hart acquired Billy the Kid's Six Shooter's and was a friend to notorious real old west idol's Bat Masterton and Wyatt Earp.
Additional highlights include, Death Is My Dance Partner: Film Noir in Postwar Argentina February 10-February 16.
Image courtesy of MOMA
The entire program of films is outstanding, but a film to keep a special eye out for is Native Son, based on the great American novel by Richard Wright. Unable to get it produced in the USA, Wright was able to get it made with an innovative Argentinean company in 1951. Since they were unable to find the right actor for the role, Wright himself plays protagonist Bigger Thomas. This very special film screens on February 11th at 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m...
"Doc Fortnight 2016, February 19-29 featuring MoMA's annual international festival of nonfiction film, with 10 days of important new discoveries in documentary cinema. Featuring the New York premieres of recent films by first-time and established artists--many of whom will introduce their work in person--
New Directors/New Films 2016, March 16-27, 2016
The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art announce the initial eight official selections for the 45th edition of New Directors/New Films, a festival dedicated to the discovery of new works by emerging and dynamic filmmaking talent. Representing 13 countries from around the world, the initial eight selections are Zhao Liang's Behemoth (China/France), Marcin Wrona's Demon (Poland/Israel), Anna Rose Holmer's The Fits (USA), Pietro Marcello's Lost and Beautiful (Italy/France), Yaelle Kayam's Mountain (Denmark/Israel), Gabriel Mascaro's Neon Bull (Brazil/Uruguay/Netherlands), Raam Reddy's Thithi (India/USA/Canada), and Clément Cogitore's The Wakhan Front (France/Belgium).
Modern Mondays is another ongoing forum fostering cinematic innovation and experimentation, Modern Mondays invites artists working in the expanded field of film, video, performance, and sound to present their work in an intimate setting. A platform for both emerging artists and pioneering figures who have changed the way we think about the moving image, this series premieres new projects and rediscovers landmark works. Each evening presents a unique opportunity for audiences to engage in dialogue with the artists, along with curators and other guests."
MOMA is endless in its ability to entertain and inform. Going to their beautifully curated cinema is a wonderful way to teach yourself, as well as your children about the world and how things were before social media and stories that move faster than the speed of light. The dusky beauty of an early film is a magical showcase for discovery, the likes of which can never be equaled and even when imitated cannot capture the beauty of its age. The Golden age of Hollywood is a reflection of our society at its most exciting and beautiful, sometimes, less about discovery and more about ideals, while the Modern age of cinema explodes with nuance and possibilities from imagery to technology.
Every culture in the world is celebrated in the movie theater... Precious little equals seeing the reality of indigenous cultures telling stories in their own tongue, showing you the way people from a distant backdrop think and how their beliefs inform their lives. Sometimes very different from American life but sometimes very similar.
If you are a film lover like I am, you don't want to miss the experience of seeing the first talkie and the last silent, every important film noir and the more obscure documentaries and experimental films that are impossible to find and once discovered, impossible to believe were ever made...
Keep your eye on MOMA's film calendar. There is so much to delight in!