IndependentFilm.com

Monday, June 1
 

4:00pm            The Machine Age: Mack Sennett vs. Henry Ford

 
Lizzies of the Field 1924. USA. Directed by Del Lord. With Billy Bevan. 18 min.
 

His Bread and Butter 1916. USA. Directed by Edward Cline, Hank Mann. With Mann, Slim Summerville. 18 min.
 

Get Out and Get Under 1920. USA. Directed by Hal Roach. With Harold Lloyd. 18 min.
 

Squeaks and Squawks 1920. USA. Directed by Noel M. Smith. With Jimmy Aubrey, Oliver Hardy. 18 min.
 

Neck and Neck 1924. USA. Directed by Fred Hibbard. With Lige Conley. 18 min.

Part of the Cruel and Unusual Comedy: Social Commentary in the American Slapstick Film film exhibition

8:00pm            Laila's Birthday (Eid Milad Laila) 2008. Palestine/Tunisia/Netherlands. Written and directed by Rashid Masharawi. With Mohammed Bakri, Areen Omari, Nour Zoubi. In Arabic; English subtitles. Print courtesy of Kino International, New York. 71 min.

Part of the MoMA Presents: Rashid Masharawi's Laila's Birthday film exhibition

 
Wednesday, June 3
 

1:30pm            Harlot 1964. USA. Directed by Andy Warhol. With Mario Montez, Philip Fagan. Warhol’s first synch-sound feature is an underground version of the Jean Harlow story with Mario Montez in drag as the platinum haired Hollywood sex symbol of the 1930’s. Staged as a tableau vivant on a couch at The Factory, Montez as Harlow is surrounded by other Warhol personalities. An off screen narration is heard but is disconnected from the action. Make what you will of the manic consumption of bananas at the end of the film. 66 min.

Part of The West: Myth, Character, and Reinvention by Andy Warhol film exhibition

 
4:00pm            Autumn Ball (Sugisball) 2007. Estonian. Written and directed by Veiko Ounpuu. With Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Sulevi Peltola, Tiina Turaite. In Estonian; English subtitles. Print courtesy of Strand Releasing. 123 min.

Part of the MoMA Presents:Veiko Ounpuu’s “Autumn Ball” film exhibition

7:00pm            The Glass Trap (Scklana Pulapka) 2008. Poland. Directed by Pawel Ferdek. A look into the lives of some Polish toughs fueled with alcohol and drugs who raise fighting aquarium fish and train them for competition. In Polish, English subtitles. New York premiere. 15 min.
 

The Portrait 2008. USA. Directed Irra Verbitsky. An animated retelling of how a Stalin purge in the Ukraine saved the life of the filmmaker's father, a portrait painter. World premiere. 4 min.
 

Steel Homes 2008. Scotland. Directed by Eva Weber. An exploration of a self-storage warehouse and its cells of fragmented memories, past dreams, secret hopes. An insight into our modern industrial heritage. New York Premiere. 10 min.
 

Ten (Dix) 2008. France. Directed by Bif. In this innovative animation a man, attacked by paving stones, seeks psychiatric help. U.S. premiere. 7 min.
 

Second Hand Pepe 2007. USA/Haiti/Canada. Directed by Hanna Rose Shell, Vanessa Bertozzi. In this commentary on used clothing an historical memoir of a Jewish American rag picker intertwines with the present day story of 'pepe', second hand clothing that flows from North America to Haiti. In English, French, Haitian Creole; English subtitles. 24 min.
 

Left Behind (Was Ubrig Bleibt) 2008. Germany. Directed by Andreas Graefenstein, Fabian Daub. In the Lower Silesian coalfields of present day poland the mines are closed but a man and his two sons carry on a Robin-Hood like venture, illegally mining coal and covertly making pre-dawn discount sales to local villagers. U.S. premiere. In German; English subtitles. 13 min.
 

Eclipse 2007. India/Australia/New Zealand. Directed by Mark Lapwood. A mesmerizing, atmospheric essay on street life in Mumbai, India at the time of an eclipse of the moon. 9 min.
 

Lies (Logner) 2008. Sweden. Directed by Jonas Odell. Three animated true stories based on interviews: a burglar claims to be an accountant, a boy confesses to a crime he did not commit, and a woman admits she has lied throughout her life. New York premiere. In Swedish; English subtitles. 13 min.
 

Photograph of Jesus 2008. Great Britain. Directed by Laurie Hill. Do you have a photograph of Jesus, of Hitler in 1948, of a yeti? True animated stories of unlikely picture requests at the Getty Images Hulton Archive in England. New York premiere. 7 min.

Part of the Outstanding Short Films from International Festivals film exhibition

 
Thursday, June 4
 

1:30pm            Harlot 1964. USA. Directed by Andy Warhol. With Mario Montez, Philip Fagan. Warhol’s first synch-sound feature is an underground version of the Jean Harlow story with Mario Montez in drag as the platinum haired Hollywood sex symbol of the 1930’s. Staged as a tableau vivant on a couch at The Factory, Montez as Harlow is surrounded by other Warhol personalities. An off screen narration is heard but is disconnected from the action. Make what you will of the manic consumption of bananas at the end of the film. 66 min.

Part of The West: Myth, Character, and Reinvention by Andy Warhol film exhibition

4:00pm            The Glass Trap (Scklana Pulapka) 2008. Poland. Directed by Pawel Ferdek. A look into the lives of some Polish toughs fueled with alcohol and drugs who raise fighting aquarium fish and train them for competition. In Polish, English subtitles. New York premiere. 15 min.
 

The Portrait 2008. USA. Directed Irra Verbitsky. An animated retelling of how a Stalin purge in the Ukraine saved the life of the filmmaker's father, a portrait painter. World premiere. 4 min.
 

Steel Homes 2008. Scotland. Directed by Eva Weber. An exploration of a self-storage warehouse and its cells of fragmented memories, past dreams, secret hopes. An insight into our modern industrial heritage. New York Premiere. 10 min.
 

Ten (Dix) 2008. France. Directed by Bif. In this innovative animation a man, attacked by paving stones, seeks psychiatric help. U.S. premiere. 7 min.
 

Second Hand Pepe 2007. USA/Haiti/Canada. Directed by Hanna Rose Shell, Vanessa Bertozzi. In this commentary on used clothing an historical memoir of a Jewish American rag picker intertwines with the present day story of 'pepe', second hand clothing that flows from North America to Haiti. In English, French, Haitian Creole; English subtitles. 24 min.
 

Left Behind (Was Ubrig Bleibt) 2008. Germany. Directed by Andreas Graefenstein, Fabian Daub. In the Lower Silesian coalfields of present day poland the mines are closed but a man and his two sons carry on a Robin-Hood like venture, illegally mining coal and covertly making pre-dawn discount sales to local villagers. U.S. premiere. In German; English subtitles. 13 min.
 

Eclipse 2007. India/Australia/New Zealand. Directed by Mark Lapwood. A mesmerizing, atmospheric essay on street life in Mumbai, India at the time of an eclipse of the moon. 9 min.
 

Lies (Logner) 2008. Sweden. Directed by Jonas Odell. Three animated true stories based on interviews: a burglar claims to be an accountant, a boy confesses to a crime he did not commit, and a woman admits she has lied throughout her life. New York premiere. In Swedish; English subtitles. 13 min.
 

Photograph of Jesus 2008. Great Britain. Directed by Laurie Hill. Do you have a photograph of Jesus, of Hitler in 1948, of a yeti? True animated stories of unlikely picture requests at the Getty Images Hulton Archive in England. New York premiere. 7 min.

Part of the Outstanding Short Films from International Festivals film exhibition

7:00pm            Autumn Ball (Sugisball) 2007. Estonian. Written and directed by Veiko Ounpuu. With Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Sulevi Peltola, Tiina Turaite. In Estonian; English subtitles. Print courtesy of Strand Releasing. 123 min.

Part of the MoMA Presents:Veiko Ounpuu’s “Autumn Ball” film exhibition

Friday, June 5
 

1:30pm            Harlot 1964. USA. Directed by Andy Warhol. With Mario Montez, Philip Fagan. Warhol’s first synch-sound feature is an underground version of the Jean Harlow story with Mario Montez in drag as the platinum haired Hollywood sex symbol of the 1930’s. Staged as a tableau vivant on a couch at The Factory, Montez as Harlow is surrounded by other Warhol personalities. An off screen narration is heard but is disconnected from the action. Make what you will of the manic consumption of bananas at the end of the film. 66 min.

Part of The West: Myth, Character, and Reinvention by Andy Warhol film exhibition

7:00pm            Autumn Ball (Sugisball) 2007. Estonian. Written and directed by Veiko Ounpuu. With Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Sulevi Peltola, Tiina Turaite. In Estonian; English subtitles. Print courtesy of Strand Releasing. 123 min.

Part of the MoMA Presents:Veiko Ounpuu’s “Autumn Ball” film exhibition

8:00pm            Yes Madam, Sir 2008. India/Australia. Directed by Megan Doneman. Kiran Bedi, who will introduce the opening-night premiere on June 5 with director Megan Doneman, is one of the most inspiring and controversial public figures in India today. In 1972, despite fierce opposition, she became India’s first elite policewoman, and stunned the nation by facing down three thousand sword-wielding Punjabi rioters armed only with a wooden baton. Later, she became the governor of one of Asia’s most notorious jails, Tihar, and transformed it into a model for prison reform worldwide. Her three-decade battle against seemingly indomitable forces of corruption, bureaucracy, sexism, and prejudice, and her work on behalf of women, prisoners, and community charities, has been nothing less than visionary, earning her the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Asia’s equivalent to a Nobel Peace Prize) and a key position at the United Nations. In this fascinating documentary portrait, narrated by Helen Mirren, Doneman offers an honest, intimate look at Bedi’s astonishing life and career, while also examining the considerable personal costs of public duty and media celebrity. New York premiere. In Hindi; English subtitles. 95 min.

Part of The New India film exhibition

 
Saturday, June 6
 

1:30pm            Autumn Ball (Sugisball) 2007. Estonian. Written and directed by Veiko Ounpuu. With Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Sulevi Peltola, Tiina Turaite. In Estonian; English subtitles. Print courtesy of Strand Releasing. 123 min.

Part of the MoMA Presents:Veiko Ounpuu’s “Autumn Ball” film exhibition

2:00pm            Yes Madam, Sir 2008. India/Australia. Directed by Megan Doneman. Kiran Bedi, who will introduce the opening-night premiere on June 5 with director Megan Doneman, is one of the most inspiring and controversial public figures in India today. In 1972, despite fierce opposition, she became India’s first elite policewoman, and stunned the nation by facing down three thousand sword-wielding Punjabi rioters armed only with a wooden baton. Later, she became the governor of one of Asia’s most notorious jails, Tihar, and transformed it into a model for prison reform worldwide. Her three-decade battle against seemingly indomitable forces of corruption, bureaucracy, sexism, and prejudice, and her work on behalf of women, prisoners, and community charities, has been nothing less than visionary, earning her the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Asia’s equivalent to a Nobel Peace Prize) and a key position at the United Nations. In this fascinating documentary portrait, narrated by Helen Mirren, Doneman offers an honest, intimate look at Bedi’s astonishing life and career, while also examining the considerable personal costs of public duty and media celebrity. New York premiere. In Hindi; English subtitles. 95 min.

Part of The New India film exhibition

5:00pm            The Firm Land 2008. India/France. Written and directed by Chapour Haghighat. With Mansoor Seth, Ava Mukherjee, Honey Chaya. When a deadly disease (AIDS, though not named as such) threatens to wipe out an entire village on the Indian Ocean, six emissaries are sent to the big city to find “learned” men who can help bring immediate medical care. The villagers are quickly rebuffed by the corruption and indifference of government bureaucrats, but find comfort, and a means to resistance, in the companionship of other marginalized figures: a group of street kids, a disillusioned retired professor, and a formerly aristocratic old woman who hosts a grand and joyous feast for them. With a quiet moral outrage and a compassionate understanding of human cruelty and folly—reminiscent of the films of Abderrahamane Sissako—the Iranian-born filmmaker and playwright Haghighat gives his film what he calls “both a realistic and mythical approach, using a mixture of dream and reality.” New York premiere. 95 min.

Part of The New India film exhibition

8:00pm            Wagah 2009. India/Germany/Pakistan. Directed by Supriyo Sen. Winner of a top prize at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival and made in commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this short documentary depicts an astonishing ritual that takes place nightly at the frontier outpost of Wagah—the only road link along the 2,500-kilometer border between India and Pakistan. Thousands of citizens, young and old, gather at sundown for the ceremonial lowering of the Indian and Pakistani flags, each side trading taunts of Pakistan Zindabad ("Long live Pakistan!") and Jai Hind ("Long live India!") with all the fervency of bitter soccer rivals. Wim Wenders, who headed the Berlin jury, celebrated Wagah as “a convincing manifesto against any wall that divides people.” New York premiere. In Farsi, Hindi, Urdu; English subtitles. 9 min.
 

Firaaq 2008. India. Directed by Nandita Das. Screenplay by Das, Shuchi Kothari. With Naseerruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval. Making her deeply affecting, remarkably self-assured debut as a feature film director, the celebrated actress and activist Nandita Das (star of Deepa Mehta’s Earth and Fire) puts a human face on the sectarian riots that caused thousands of deaths, most of them Muslim, in Gujurat in 2002. With a veteran ensemble cast led by Shah, Rawal, and Naval, she intricately weaves together the very different stories of ordinary people—Hindus and Muslims alike—who nonetheless share a shattering sense of loss and terror in the immediate aftermath of the carnage. Firaaq, whose title comes from an Urdu word meaning "separation" or "quest," is a powerful cry against violence, intolerance, and injustice by a filmmaker more interested in provoking questions than reinforcing stereotypes. A highlight of the 2008 Telluride Film Festival (where it was presented by Salman Rushdie) and the Toronto Film Festival. In Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati; English subtitles. 101 min.

Part of The New India film exhibition

 
Sunday, June 7
 

2:30pm            Bilal 2008. India. Directed by Sourav Sarangi. Worlds away from Slumdog Millionaire, Sarangi’s profoundly moving documentary will force a sob from the stoniest breast. Bilal is a clever, mischievous three-year-old boy who must grow up fast in order to help his blind parents navigate, and even survive, the slums of Kolkata. Filmmaker Sarangi spent a year living with the family in their home—a cramped and dimly lit room that, while a treacherous obstacle course for Bilal’s blind parents and aging grandmother, is also a place of comfort, and even joy. New York premiere. In Bengali, Hindi; English subtitles. 52 min.
 

Smile Pinki 2008. India/USA. Directed by Megan Mylan. Winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject, Smile Pinki is the inspiring story of Pinki Kumari, a radiantly charming six-year-old girl who was born with a cleft lip and made an outcast in her village. (In rural India, a cleft lip or palate is often believed to be a bad omen caused when a pregnant mother uses a knife or scissors during an eclipse.) One fateful day, Pinki is led to a hospital run by the Smile Train, a global charity, where she and thousands of other poverty-stricken children are cured of their debilitating birth defect. 39 min

Part of The New India film exhibition

5:00pm            Autumn Ball (Sugisball) 2007. Estonian. Written and directed by Veiko Ounpuu. With Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Sulevi Peltola, Tiina Turaite. In Estonian; English subtitles. Print courtesy of Strand Releasing. 123 min.

Part of the MoMA Presents:Veiko Ounpuu’s “Autumn Ball” film exhibition

5:30pm            Luck by Chance 2009. India. Directed by Zoya Akhtar. Screenplay by Akhtar, Javed Aktar. In her dazzling directorial debut, Akhtar pays loving homage to the backstage melodramas of the 1940s and 1950s while also creating a biting satire of the Bollywood dream factory. An aspiring actor (Farhan Akhtar, Zoya’s brother) and a rising starlet (Kokona Sen Sharma) romance and scheme their way to movie stardom. Zoya Akhtar deftly captures the craft of moviemaking in all its (seamy) glory, and screen icons like Aamir Kahn, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Shahrukh Khan, and Shabana Azmi make playfully self-deprecating cameos. Delightful, too, are an over-the-top, circus-themed musical number and end credits that feature the cheerily hopeful faces of the film’s real-life crew: spot boys and dancers, chai-wallahs and makeup artists. In Hindi; English subtitles. 156 min.

Part of The New India film exhibition

 
Monday, June 8
 

4:00pm            Autumn Ball (Sugisball) 2007. Estonian. Written and directed by Veiko Ounpuu. With Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Sulevi Peltola, Tiina Turaite. In Estonian; English subtitles. Print courtesy of Strand Releasing. 123 min.

Part of the MoMA Presents:Veiko Ounpuu’s “Autumn Ball” film exhibition

4:30pm            Wagah 2009. India/Germany/Pakistan. Directed by Supriyo Sen. Winner of a top prize at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival and made in commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this short documentary depicts an astonishing ritual that takes place nightly at the frontier outpost of Wagah—the only road link along the 2,500-kilometer border between India and Pakistan. Thousands of citizens, young and old, gather at sundown for the ceremonial lowering of the Indian and Pakistani flags, each side trading taunts of Pakistan Zindabad ("Long live Pakistan!") and Jai Hind ("Long live India!") with all the fervency of bitter soccer rivals. Wim Wenders, who headed the Berlin jury, celebrated Wagah as “a convincing manifesto against any wall that divides people.” New York premiere. In Farsi, Hindi, Urdu; English subtitles. 9 min.
 

Firaaq 2008. India. Directed by Nandita Das. Screenplay by Das, Shuchi Kothari. With Naseerruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval. Making her deeply affecting, remarkably self-assured debut as a feature film director, the celebrated actress and activist Nandita Das (star of Deepa Mehta’s Earth and Fire) puts a human face on the sectarian riots that caused thousands of deaths, most of them Muslim, in Gujurat in 2002. With a veteran ensemble cast led by Shah, Rawal, and Naval, she intricately weaves together the very different stories of ordinary people—Hindus and Muslims alike—who nonetheless share a shattering sense of loss and terror in the immediate aftermath of the carnage. Firaaq, whose title comes from an Urdu word meaning "separation" or "quest," is a powerful cry against violence, intolerance, and injustice by a filmmaker more interested in provoking questions than reinforcing stereotypes. A highlight of the 2008 Telluride Film Festival (where it was presented by Salman Rushdie) and the Toronto Film Festival. In Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati; English subtitles. 101 min.

Part of The New India film exhibition

5:30pm            MoMA Monday Nights

Ongoing film exhibition at MoMA

8:00pm            Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! 2008. India. Directed by Dibakar Banerjee. With Abhay Deol, Neetu Chandra, Paresh Rawal. Rising star Deol—who introduces the MoMA screening on June 8—has charm in spades in this upbeat caper about a loveable grifter, the real-life Lucky Singh, who cons his way into the homes of Delhi’s high society and proceeds to rob them blind. As with his comedy hit about real estate sharks, Khosla Ka Ghosla (presented at MoMA in 2007), director Banerjee proves himself to be a sharp and acerbic chronicler of the New India, creating a sprawling panorama of familiar types: the nouveau riche, with their restless hunger for social status and bling, the sensationalist media, the various hustlers and hucksters and hangers-on, and the Everymen who struggle daily to find a foothold on the ladder to success. In Hindi; English subtitles. 121 min.

Part of The New India film exhibition

 
Public Information:     The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
 

Hours:                         Films are screened Wednesday-Monday. For screening schedules, please visit www.moma.org.
 

Film Admission:          $10 adults; $8 seniors, 65 years and over with I.D. $6 full-time students with current I.D. (For admittance to film programs only.) The price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket when a film ticket stub is presented at the Lobby Information Desk within 30 days of the date on the stub (does not apply during Target Free Friday Nights, 4:00–8:00 p.m.). Admission is free for Museum members and for Museum ticketholders.

http://www.moma.org/visit_moma/admissions.html#filmtickets

http://www.moma.org/calendar/film_screenings.php

Please note that times can change.  Always check with the venue for official times and tickets.

Tags: MOMA