Including three films by cinematographer and George Eastman Award recipient James Wong Howe and a free screening of the Japanese Paper Film Project
This May, the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a four-film series. The series honors the enduring contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islander artists to American cinema, in addition to the long legacy of cinema brought to the United States from across the globe.
The series features three films shot by acclaimed cinematographer and 1957 George Eastman Award recipient James Wong Howe—The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Bell, Book, and Candle, and Seconds—alongside a free screening of the Japanese Paper Film Project, sponsored by the Monroe County Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Dates and titles:
- Wednesday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m.: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Wednesday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m.: Bell, Book, and Candle
- Saturday, May 23 at 2 p.m.: Bell, Book, and Candle
- Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m.: Seconds
- Friday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m.: The Japanese Paper Film Project
Film details:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Norman Taurog, US 1938, 91 min., 35mm)
The third Hollywood adaptation of the classic Mark Twain novel, and the first in Technicolor, features the mischievous Tom Sawyer as he embarks on his iconic pranks. The film initially flopped at the box office, but resonates today with a nostalgic blend of naiveté and wickedness. While filming in an early version of Technicolor, cinematographer and George Eastman Award honoree James Wong Howe instead worked toward the elimination of unnecessary color to produce an image that was more natural, and thus more effective.
Bell, Book, and Candle (Richard Quine, US 1958, 106 min., 35mm)
The 2003 George Eastman Award recipient Kim Novak plays Gillian, a genuine but good witch, who casts a spell on oblivious publisher Shepard (James Stewart) to make him leave his fiancée and fall in love with her. Here, cinematographer and George Eastman Award recipient James Wong Howe works with the Technicolor aesthetic to create fantastical, ethereal compositions.
Seconds (John Frankenheimer, US 1966, 106 min., 35mm)
A mysterious organization gives a middle-aged man a new lease on life: thanks to a staged death and the wonders of plastic surgery, the stodgy businessman metamorphoses into sexy artist Rock Hudson. But he soon finds his fantasy life to be an empty trap. Seconds unfolds new layers of anxiety that linger long after audiences have left the theater. James Wong Howe provides the camerawork for a complex and terrifying work of science fiction.
The Japanese Paper Film Project (FREE for all to attend)
From 1932 to 1938, several Japanese companies produced films made on paper (“kami firumu”) instead of celluloid. Given the short production period, varying paper quality, and WWII’s devastation, few Japanese paper film prints survive. Now, almost ninety years later, the handful of surviving prints are beginning to deteriorate. The Japanese Paper Film Project preserves and promotes scholarship about the surviving movies, racing against time to preserve the films before they disappear. The presentation includes a talk from The Japanese Paper Film Project Supervisor Eric Faden and is accompanied by the koto and cello duo, Duo Yumeno.
For more information and tickets, visit eastman.org/aapi-heritage-month-screenings.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 31,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books and archival materials related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. The museum is located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. The George Eastman Museum is supported with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit eastman.org.
