Body and Soul
Race Films Paul Robeson's debut split-persona role, as sinner and saint, is a tour de force. A newspaper headline tells of a convict's escape; the convict (Robeson) soon assumes the identity of a preacher in a small town, and his fiery sermons quickly attract a growing congregation. Live piano accompaniment by Philip Carli.
The Scar of Shame
Race Films An upper-class and up-and-coming composer, Alvin, falls for Louise, a woman from a lower-class background. When Alvin saves her from an overly excited suitor, Louise looks at him in a whole new way, and a red-hot romance leads to a quick elopement. Live piano accompaniment by Philip Carli.
Ten Nights in a Barroom
Race Films This key work of the Black silent period tells the provocative tale of the downward spiral of Joe Morgan (Charles Gilpin), a man who turns to alcohol for escape, and soon, completely out of control, devastates his friends and family in a series of violent explosions. Live piano accompaniment by Philip Carli.
She’s Gotta Have It
FREE SCREENING | In Solidarity: Spotlighting Black Film Artists Heralding a new voice on the independent film scene, Spike Lee’s first feature was made for only $175,000 and over just twelve days. Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns) is a Brooklyn-based graphic artist who relishes her freedom, particularly to date liberally.
A Soldier's Story
FREE SCREENING | In Solidarity: Spotlighting Black Film Artists Denzel Washington’s breakout supporting role in this film brought him the first of eight Academy Award nominations. Based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning play by Charles Fuller, the film looks at hatred within and beyond a US Army base in Louisiana in 1944.
Woodstock—The Director’s Cut
Concert Films Relive the communal experience that was Woodstock. The 1970 Oscar winner for Best Documentary is shown here in a version that restores more than 40 minutes of performance footage (including Janis Joplin!) not seen on its original release, and features newly remixed digital stereophonic sound. Partly shot and edited by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker, it would greatly influence Scorsese’s The Last Waltz, released only eight years later.
All Light, Everywhere
Rochester Premiere The observer effect in psychology suggests that the simple act of observation by an outside person can unintentionally change the way people act and react to situations. Recipient of the special jury award for Nonfiction Experimentation at Sundance 2021.
The Last Waltz
Concert Films On Thanksgiving Day, 1976, five thousand cheering fans came to see the famed rock group the Band give their momentous farewell performance at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom. The Last Waltz combines both intelligent filmmaking and legendary moments in music history.
The Killers
Noir '46 Burt Lancaster (in his debut performance) is the Swede, a washed-up boxer turned failed criminal waiting for death in a small-town diner. Expanded from an Ernest Hemingway short story, the film is pure noir, but also explores the delicate nature of legacy and what remains when we leave this world.
Race Films
“Race film” is a term coined to refer to films with Black casts created for Black audiences during the time period from 1915 to 1950. Some of these films were directed by white directors, but the form also created opportunities for Black filmmakers like Oscar Micheaux. These films also enabled Black performers—such as successful stage actors Paul Robeson and Charles Gilpin—to eschew the stereotypes and stock characters normally found in Hollywood fare in favor of better-defined characters that often lived and worked within Black communities. These films would frequently focus on the tension within these communities as well as social issues such as education and economic mobility. While more than five hundred short and feature-length race films were produced, less than one hundred survive today, and only a portion of those are silents. This summer, the Dryden Theatre presents four silent feature-length race films as they were meant to be seen—on film, with an audience, with live accompaniment.
Bea Nettles: Dante Enters Hell
Bea Nettles: Edge of Summer Lake
Bea Nettles: Springs Victory: Kore Comes Back
Bea Nettles: Worlds Motherway
Curator's Gallery Talk—Bea Nettles: Harvest of Memory
Members only. We welcome members back for our first in-person gallery talk in over a year in the newly reopened exhibition Bea Nettles: Harvest of Memory .
ONLINE—Expanding the Legacy Collection: The Return of Original George Eastman Artifacts to the Museum
Members only. At this virtual talk, join Kathy Connor, curator of the George Eastman Legacy Collection, for a look at some of the personal and household objects that will be coming home to stay at 900 East Avenue.
George Eastman Museum to present two Free Film Series in Solidarity with Black Americans and Asian/Pacific Islander Americans
Community Forum
Hear about the significant restoration projects that are underway to sustain our National Historic Landmark.
