Museum of the Moving Image celebrates its grand reopening in style as it unveils a special series of film screenings and events throughout the month of February. After a three-year renovation, Moving Image has reemerged as an epicenter of film, television and digital media, featuring a new 267-seat theater, 68-seat screening room, a new gallery for special exhibitions and multiple screening spaces for video art. To mark this occasion, NYC & Company, the City’s official marketing and tourism organization, has named Museum of the Moving Image the Culture Spot for February. As part of the Culture Spot designation, the museum will offer two-for-one savings on admission throughout the month.

Located in culturally rich Queens, at 35 Avenue at 37 Street in Astoria, Museum of the Moving Image is the only institution in the United States that explores the art, industry and innovation of screen culture in all its forms. Embracing topics that range from 19th-century optical toys to the latest Internet developments, the museum provides insight into every phase of the production, promotion and exhibition of moving images. Visitors from around the country and abroad will be treated to the full theatrical experience while being transported to another time and place.

Rochelle Slovin, founding director of Museum of the Moving Image, said, “There is something for everyone during the opening celebrations for Museum of the Moving Image—from connoisseurs of classic cinema to fans of video games and current TV, from children and their families to New York’s new-media artists. We welcome audiences from all around New York and all around the world to our transformed museum, which has been so brilliantly designed by Thomas Leeser.”

“The grand reopening of Museum of the Moving Image calls for celebration after its remarkable transformation,” said Barbara Lorber of the NYC & Company Foundation. “The impressive new space and the museum’s dynamic programming look to attract audiences from around the globe. NYC & Company is proud to name the museum our Culture Spot for February. We invite everyone to take advantage of this special two-for-one savings on admission for the month of February.” 

In a new gallery devoted to changing exhibitions, the museum presents Real Virtuality, an inaugural exhibition featuring six experiments in art and technology. These works employ video game engines, motion and position tracking, 3-D digital video, and sophisticated image-processing software to create simulated worlds that extend, augment or disrupt the physical environment of the museum space. Among the six are two commissioned installations that offer 3-D experiences: Realtime Unreal by Workspace Unlimited will immerse visitors into a virtual space that mimics the museum’s architecture, while Into the Forest by OpenEnded Group invites viewers to play a game of hide-and-seek with children in a forest. Other artists represented in Real Virtuality include Bill Viola, presenting his first interactive work The Night Journey (2011); Pablo Valbuena with the stunning Augmented Sculpture (2007); Chinese artist Cao Fei’s RMB City (2008–11), set in the virtual world of Second Life; and Marco Brambilla’s kaleidoscopic video tableau Cathedral (2008).

With the expansion project, the museum has also upgraded and reinstalled its 15,000-square-foot core exhibition Behind the Screen, a comprehensive, interactive exploration of how films and television programs are produced, promoted and exhibited. Visitors are now able to email the videos they create at the stop-motion animation stands. Interactive experiences, including the video flipbook, automated dialogue replacement, music and sound effects, have been redesigned to improve user experience. A live broadcast–editing display will now feature a New York Mets baseball game specially recorded for the museum by SNY-TV, including feeds from the 12 on-field cameras, control room and announcers’ booth, the game graphics, and the game broadcast itself. Highlights from the museum’s collection of the material culture of film, television and digital media are on view, including a Yoda puppet used in The Empire Strikes Back; costumes from Miami Vice, Annie Hall, Chicago and Mrs. Doubtfire; an original The Cosby Show sweater; set models from The Muppets Take Manhattan, Carlito’s Way and The Wiz; hundreds of licensed merchandise, including action figures and toys from Star Wars and Star Trek, and Shirley Temple and Howdy Doody dolls; special-effects materials from Black Swan, The Exorcist and Bladerunner; and much more.

Wide-ranging screenings and presentations during February will include Recovered Treasures: Great Films from World Archives; Avant-Garde Masters; Indian Cinema Showcase; Korean Cinema Now; TV Party: A Panorama of Public Access Television in New York City; and family matinees and workshops.

The two-for-one savings on admission at Museum of the Moving Image is valid February 1–28, 2011. This savings may not be combined with any other offer, discount, or promotion and also is not valid for special ticketed events. Many regular film screenings are included with museum admission. The discount coupon will be available during the entire month at the Official NYC Information Centers in Midtown and Times Square, and at the Official NYC Information Kiosks in Harlem, Chinatown and City Hall. Coupons and additional details about the special offer will also be available at nycgo.com/culturespot starting February 1, 2011.

FILM SERIES AND EVENTS AT MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE IN FEBRUARY:

RECOVERED TREASURES: GREAT FILMS FROM WORLD ARCHIVES

The museum’s breathtaking main theater and intimate screening room are designed to transport viewers to another world, so it is fitting that the inaugural series is also a cinematic journey, with recently restored films from archives the world over.

The Match King

February 4, 7pm. Restored by the Library of Congress. Dirs. Howard Breatherton, William Keighley. 1932, 79 mins.

Many of the Warner Bros. 1930s films were ripped from the headlines. The Match King, with Warren William as a tycoon who corners the world market on matches and builds a financial empire based on junk bonds and pyramid schemes—only to be done in by the stock market crash and his infatuation with a beautiful actress—could have been ripped from today’s headlines. 

M. Hulot’s Holiday (Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot)

February 5, 12:30 and 3pm; Sunday, February 6, 1pm. Restored by the Cinémathèque Francaise. Dir. Jacques Tati. 1953, 90 mins.

Tati made his first appearance as the gangly raincoat-wearing Hulot, stumbling from mishap to mishap, in this episodic comic masterpiece about the urgency of trying to relax during a seaside holiday. Tati’s formally groundbreaking work dispenses plot and favors sound effects over dialogue.  

Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise)

February 6, 2pm. Restored by the Deutsches Film Museum. Digital presentation. Live music by Donald Sosin and David Tasgal. Dir. Manfred Noa. 1922, 123 mins.

Long thought to be missing, Nathan the Wise was one of the most acclaimed German films of the 1920s, a drama set in 12th-century Jerusalem depicting the conflict between Christians, Muslims and Jews. The film was banned by the Nazis; long considered lost, it was rediscovered recently in a Moscow film vault. 

Follow the Fleet

February 6, 4:30pm. Introduced by Rajendra Roy, MoMA. Restored by MoMA. Dir. Mark Sandrich. 1936, 118 mins.

Follow the Fleet was one of the most popular Fred Astaire–Ginger Rogers musicals. It added a touch of brash vulgarity to the mix, with Astaire as a gum-chewing sailor who falls for Rogers while on leave. It has a great Irving Berlin score, featuring “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” 

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T

February 12, 12:30 pm; February 13, 1pm. Restored by Sony Pictures. Dir. Roy Rowland. 1953, 88 mins.

A boy’s nightmare about his tyrannical piano teacher leads to an elaborate fantasy about conformity and rebellion in this unique, imaginative musical whose screenplay was written by Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.  

The Wedding Day (Baishey Shravana)

February 12, 2:30pm. Restored by the National Film Archive of India. Dir. Mrinal Sen. 1960, 98 mins.

Sen established himself on the international scene with this drama about a salesman in a remote Bengali village who marries a teenager half his age. His life begins to unravel, just as World War II erupts.  

Lonesome

February 13, 2pm. Newly restored by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. Dir. Paul Fejos. 1928, 69 mins.

A simple story of boy meets girl in the big city is at the core of Hungarian émigré Paul Fejos’s late-silent-era dazzler, expressionistically filmed on New York locations, with a Coney Island trip capturing the excitement of the couple’s courtship. This new restoration includes three scenes with dialogue, a synchronous music score and color tinting.  

The Valiant Ones

February 13, 4pm. Restored by Hong Kong Film Archive. Dir. King Hu. 1975, 104 mins.

A rarely screened wuxia gem, The Valiant Ones is a meditative yet action-filled movie about a 16th-century husband-and-wife sword-fighting team hired to protect China from Japanese marauders. King reveals character—and intricate strategy—through the film’s countless fight scenes.  

My Brilliant Career

February 13, 7pm. Restored by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Dir. Gillian Armstrong. 1979, 100 mins.

Based on the 1901 autobiography of a headstrong young woman seeking artistic and personal independence, and featuring a fiery star-making performance by Judy Davis, My Brilliant Career helped launch the Australian New Wave. 

Out of the Past

February 18, 7pm. Restored by the Library of Congress. Dir. Jacques Tourneur. 1947, 97 mins.

The laconic, world-weary Robert Mitchum plays a gas station owner who is desperate—but unable—to escape his dark past and the lure of Jane Greer’s femme fatale. One of the most exquisite and intricate of all film noirs, shown in a lush print restored from a nitrate negative.  

Orderers (Les ordres)

February 19, 7pm. Restored by the Cinémathèque Québécoise. Dir. Michel Brault. 1974, 109 mins.

Triggered by kidnappings of government officials by a Quebec liberation group, the invocation of Canada’s War Measures Act in 1970 gave the government sweeping powers that effectively led to widespread suspension of civil liberties. Brault’s engrossing documentary-style drama focuses on five innocent citizens who were arrested and jailed as a result. The Best Director winner at Cannes was described by Variety as ”a relentless look at how easily totalitarian methods can surface in a so-called republic or democracy . . . touching and harrowing.” 

Here’s Your Life (Här har du ditt liv)

February 20, 2pm. Introduced by John Simon. Restored by the Swedish Institute. Dir. Jan Troell. 1966, 169 mins.

A forgotten great from the 1960s by Swedish director Jan Troell (The Immigrants, Everlasting Moments), this vibrant bildungsroman, adapted from a turn-of-the-century novel, is about a teenager who works as a projectionist, logger and actor. The widescreen film moves from black-and-white to color, displaying Troell’s photographic virtuosity. 

AVANT-GARDE MASTERS

Avant-garde films are made independently, often without commercial support, which means that they are in danger of deteriorating and disappearing over time. Thankfully, there are two major initiatives under way to preserve and restore significant avant-garde films: The National Film Preservation Foundation, with support from the Film Foundation, has an avant-garde masters grant program and The Academy of Motion Picture Archives devotes considerable resources to restoring well-known and neglected avant-garde films.

Face

February 6, 7pm. Restored by MoMA. Dir. Andy Warhol. 1965, 66 mins.

Edie Sedgwick was Andy Warhol’s flighty, endlessly charismatic “It Girl,” the star of all his talkies in 1965. An hour-long closeup of Sedgwick singing along to rock songs and, as always, making herself up and talking, this rediscovered portrait film is essentially Warhol’s The Passion of Joan of Arc. 

Lost, Lost, Lost

February 13, 3:30pm. Preserved by Anthology Film Archives. Dir. Jonas Mekas. 1976, 180 mins.

Filmmaker, poet, critic, exhibitor, distributor and champion of avant-garde filmmaking, Jonas Mekas is also the creator of beautiful diary films marked by a fleeting, impressionistic style suffused at once with nostalgia and presence-in-the-moment. This epic diary chronicles his arrival in New York City and his early years with the underground scene. 

Gregory Markopoulos: A Panel Discussion

February 19; 1pm

Filmmaker Robert Beavers, who was Gregory Markopoulos’s companion for nearly 30 years and who directs the Temenos Association, will present an overview of the Temenos Project to place this screening in the context of Markopoulos’s extraordinary vision. A panel of noted avant-garde film historians will discuss Markopoulos’s work.  

INDIAN CINEMA SHOWCASE

Presented in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation, India

The Wedding Day (Baishey Shravana)

February 12, 2:30pm. Restored by the National Film Archive of India. Dir. Mrinal Sen. 1960, 98 mins. See description above, in Recovered Treasures

KOREAN CINEMA NOW

Co-presented with the Korea Society

HaHaHa

February 20, 6pm. Dir. Hong Sang-soo. 2010, 115 mins.

This deceptively lightweight romantic comedy, about a drunken trip down memory lane as a filmmaker prepares to leave Korea to live in Canada, won the top jury prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. 

FIST AND SWORD

Fist and Sword is the museum’s ongoing series of contemporary and classic martial arts and action movies from Asia, the United States and the rest of the world.

A Black History Moment in Hong Kong Action Films: Screening and Discussion with Martial Arts Pioneers Stephan Berwick and Mike Woods

February 6, 3pm

Stephan Berwick and Mike Woods are two of the United States’ foremost practitioners of Chinese martial arts. While training in China, they acted in Hong Kong action films—among the very few African-Americans to do so. Berwick and Woods will screen and discuss clips of their film performances with Fist and Sword curator and Museum of the Moving Image trustee Warrington Hudlin. In addition, Berwick will show the short film he directed, Final Weapon (2010, 15 mins.). 

TV PARTY: A PANORAMA OF PUBLIC-ACCESS TELEVISION IN NEW YORK CITY

Hailed by the press as a landmark civic experiment in “electronic democracy,” the world’s first public-access channel went on air in Manhattan in 1971. This everyman’s soapbox was a stage, too, attracting radicals and reactionaries, showboats and club kids, church choirs and smut peddlers. Guest-curated by Leah Churner and Nicolas Rapold, the carefully selected compilation of programs spans four decades of must-see fringe television, most of which has never been shown publicly since appearing on cable.

Special Event: Public Access Reunion 2011

February 11, 7pm

See the ever-expanding galaxy of public-access stars. Personalities from The Scott and Gary Show, Wild Record Collection, The Live! Show, Squirt TV, The Vole Show and Metro Access Studios will take the stage—along with surprise guests.  

Phones, Cheap, and Out of Control

February 12 and 13, 3pm

Live TV plus viewer call-ins equals magic, or something like it. Long before CNN’s Larry King Live, public-access programs invited audiences to talk back and join the show. This medley of “interactive television” excerpts is packed with punkish put-downs, left-field expertise and Warholian dead air. 

Shindig

February 12 and 13, 5pm

Calling all big boppers and vinyl connoisseurs! This irresistible musical showcase celebrates The Scott and Gary Show, the legendarily loud anti-MTV after-school bandstand, and Wild Record Collection, your weekly deep-cut genius DJ set, hosted by Snuffles the Bear and his dancing zoo revue. 

Soho Television Presents

February 19 and 20, 3pm

In 1976 the artists’ collective Cable Soho persuaded the cable company to extend service south of Houston Street. What followed was a homegrown electronic Cabaret Voltaire. From Jaime Davidovich’s block party on Wooster Street to Bob Hope’s views on Nam June Paik, Cable Soho produced absurd artistic entertainment for the home. 

After Hours

February 19 and 20, 5pm. Program contains adult content

Downtown had its own late-night talk show circuit in the 1980s, with stoned, sexy hosts offering an avant-garde alternative to the networks. Meanwhile, “blue” programs enjoyed immunity from FCC decency laws. “I think our show is less prurient than Johnny Carson,” said Al Goldstein. Come judge for yourself! 

FAMILY MATINEES AND WORKSHOPS
Weekend and holiday matinee screenings are designed to introduce adventurous children to the pleasures of great cinema. Family screenings will include films selected from museum retrospectives as well as films especially programmed for budding cinephiles and their parents. Adults are welcome as well. Workshops will offer children the opportunity to learn filmmaking techniques from accomplished artists.

M. Hulot’s Holiday (Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot)

February 5, 12:30 and 3pm; Sunday, February 6, 1pm. See description above, in Recovered Treasures. Recommended for ages 10 and up

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T

February 12, 12:30 pm; February 13, 1pm. See description above, in Recovered Treasures. Recommended for ages 10 and up 

Cartoon Morphing with Tiny Inventions

February 12, 2:30pm. 90 mins. Recommended for ages 10 and up. $10 materials fee ($5 for members)

Working with the Brooklyn-based animation team Tiny Inventions, children will collaboratively create a hand-drawn morphing animation using their neighbor's first drawing as their last. Together, the class will produce a single, seamless flow of images—a cartoon that can be looped indefinitely. 

PRESIDENT’S WEEK SCREENINGS: AARDMAN ANIMATION

The Aardman studio is known for its delightful stop-motion animation, especially Nick Park’s films starring the befuddled inventor Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit. Two compilations offer a sampling of their best and most beloved films.

Aardman Animation: Program One

February 19, 12:30 pm; February 21–25, noon. Recommended for ages 8 and up

Stuff vs. Stuff, “Can vs. Sprouts” (2010, 2 mins.): A spaghetti-sauce can vs. a vegetable alliance. “Wat’s Pig” (1996, 11 mins.): Twins divided at birth; one raised to be king, the other raised by pigs. Wallace and Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions, “The Snowmanotron” (2002, 2 mins.): Wallace’s snowman machine becomes abominable. “The Bully Proof Vest” (2002, 2 mins.): Wallace’s bully-repeller takes on Gromit and his ninja moves. “A Close Shave” (1995, 30 mins.): Wallace falls for a wool-shop owner while Gromit is framed for sheep rustling. “A Matter of Loaf and Death” (2008, 29 mins.): Gromit is suspicious about a series of murders that occur shortly after Wallace opens a baking business.

Aardman Animation: Program Two

February 21–25, 3pm. Recommended for ages 8 and up

Stuff vs. Stuff, “Walkman vs. Hoover” (2010, 2 mins.): Two appliances duke it out. Creature Comforts (1989, 5 mins.): In Aardman’s first Oscar winner, zoo animals are interviewed about their accommodations. Cracking Contraptions, “Shopper 13” (2002, 3 mins.): Wallace tries to deploy a store-to-home cheese delivery system. “The AutoChef” (2002, 3 mins.): Gromit finds something awry with a breakfast-cooking robot. “A Grand Day Out” (1989, 23 mins.): In their debut, Wallace and Gromit build a moon rocket so they can sample cheese. “The Wrong Trousers” (1993, 23 mins.): In desperate financial straits, Wallace rents Gromit’s bedroom to a malevolent penguin. 

PRESIDENT’S WEEK CLAYMATION WORKSHOPS

February 19–27, 1 and 2:30pm. 60 min. Recommended for ages 10 and up. $5 materials fee (members free)

Children create their own 3-D characters from clay, then animate them using the same technique used to create popular animated films like the Wallace and Gromit series.

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About Museum of the Moving Image: Museum of the Moving Image advances the public understanding and appreciation of the art, history, technique and technology of film, television, and digital media. It does so by collecting, preserving and providing access to moving-image related artifacts, artworks and interactive experiences, and offering educational and interpretive programs to students, teachers and the general public.

Hours: Tue.–Thurs., 10:30am–5:30pm; Fri., 10:30am–8pm; Sat. and Sun., 10:30am–7pm. Admission: $10; seniors and students with valid ID, $7.50; children (ages 5–18), $5; members and children (5 and under), free; educators with valid ID, free. Admission to the galleries is free on Fridays, 4–8pm. Paid admission includes film screenings (except for special ticketed events and Friday evenings). Tickets for special screenings and events may be purchased in advance online at movingimage.us or by calling 718-777-6800. Location: 35 Avenue at 37 Street, Astoria, NY. Directions: By subway: M (weekdays only), R to Steinway St.; Q to 36th Ave. By bus: Q10, Q66 to Steinway St. and 35th Ave. Please visit tripplanner.mta.info for a custom itinerary with the most updated travel information. For more information call 718-777-6888 or visit http://movingimage.us.

Produced by the NYC & Company Foundation, the Culture Spot program promotes cultural tourism in all five boroughs. By spotlighting a different arts organization each month, the program encourages visitors to discover the cultural opportunities available throughout New York City. For more information, visit nycgo.com/culturespot.

About NYC & Company: NYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide.

The NYC & Company Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization whose mission is to support tourism to New York City by promoting the arts and cultural organizations that make visiting New York City a special and exciting experience. Since its inception in 1999, the foundation has focused on educating domestic and international audiences about the vibrant and diverse cultural community throughout New York City.