George Eastman Museum Presents Photo Art Therapy: A Convergence of Creativity and the Healing Process
The Art of Music in Movies
The presence of music in the cinema-going experience has been integral from the beginning, before film even had sound. Accompanists would provide music to silent films in whatever way was available, but in the 1920s studios finally had the technology to make that experience consistent across all screenings around the country. It was at this point that music composers for film became extremely important to the production process. For the second year in a row, we take a close look at thirteen films with music composed by thirteen different musicians, from the 1930s into the new century. Each of these composers had different working processes and different styles that supported their films in specific ways.
Each of these screenings will be accompanied by expert insight from Mark Watters, director of the Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media, or Charity Lofthouse, music professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Providing both an introduction for the film and a post-screening presentation or discussion, Watters and Lofthouse will offer detailed appreciation of the scoring process and how it works on the audience.
This series is supported by the Rochester Area Community Foundation.
Dates and Titles:
July 12: Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick, US/UK 1987, 116 min., 35mm)
July 24: King Kong (Merian C. Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack, US 1933, 100 min., 35mm)
July 26: Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, US/UK 1999, 159 min., 35mm)
August 14: Red River (Howard Hawks, US 1948, 133 min., 35mm)
August 21: Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, Japan 1961, 110 min., DCP, Japanese with English subtitles)
August 28: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, US 1981, 115 min., DCP)
September 4: Chocolat (Lasse Hallström, UK/US 2000, 121 min., 35mm)
September 11: Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud, Louis Malle, France 1958, 91 min., DCP, French with English subtitles)
September 13: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, US 2008, 166 min., DCP)
September 20: Rockstar (Imtiaz Ali, India 2011, 159 min., 35mm, Hindi with English subtitles)
September 25: Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, UK 1981, 125 min., DCP)
October 2: The Beguiled (Don Siegel, US 1971, 105 min., 35mm)
October 9: Eve’s Bayou (Kasi Lemmons, US 1997, 115 min., DCP)
Polish Film Festival/ Polish Films from the Harvard Film Archive
Rochester’s Polish Film Festival once again kicks off at the Dryden Theatre with Part I of the festival. Featuring archival prints as well as one new release, these films represent six decades of Polish cinema. After digging into the holdings of the George Eastman Museum for last year’s festival, this year brings four films—two features and two shorts—to the screen from the Harvard Film Archive. Passenger (1963) will be screened with Labyrinth (1961), an animated dreamscape, and Tango (1981), a technologically complex film featuring multiple overlapping narratives in a single room. Also from Harvard is Moonlighting, Jerzy Skolimowski’s UK-based film about Polish workers emigrating for work. The George Eastman Museum archive contributes Interrogation (1982), banned in Poland for seven years, while Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (2025) is the newest film from the Brothers Quay exploring the writings of Polish-born author Bruno Schulz.
Dates and Titles:
October 22: The Passenger (Andrzej Munk, Witold Lesiewicz, Poland 1963, 63 min., 35mm, Polish with English subtitles)
November 5: Moonlighting (Jerzy Skolimowski, UK 1982, 97 min., 35mm, English and Polish with English subtitles)
November 7: Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay, UK/Poland/Germany 2025, 75 min., DCP, Polish with English subtitles)
November 8: Interrogation (Przesluchanie, Ryszard Bugajski, Poland 1989, 118 min., 35mm)
November 11 (7 p.m.): Chopin, Chopin! (Michal Kwiecinski, Poland 2025, 133 min., DCP)
November Nitrate Weekend
After selling out the 9th anniversary of the Nitrate Picture Show, the Dryden staff has fielded questions for months about when the next nitrate film screening will be. The wait is over. With three screenings over two days in November, a new tradition is born. Never before screened at the annual festival, these three prints from our own collection at the museum demonstrate the long-lasting vitality of well-maintained prints from a world-class archive. These three Academy Award-winning films represent the depth and breadth of Hollywood production in the 1940s, including a classic western, a dramatic adventure epic, and a homefront drama, and feature world-class directors and actors. This unforgettable weekend will prime you to be ready for the December launch of tickets to the next Nitrate Picture Show.
Dates and Titles:
November 21 (7:30 p.m.): The Westerner (William Wyler, US 1940, 100 min., 35mm nitrate)
November 22 (2 p.m.): North West Mounted Police (Cecil B. DeMille, US 1940, 126 min., 35mm nitrate)
November 22 (7:30 p.m.): Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, US 1944, 177 min., 35mm nitrate)10s
Premium pricing applies to nitrate screenings. General Admission tickets are $20, while GEM members receive tickets for $15.
Take-10s and Admit-1s are not accepted for these screenings.
Make Mine Musicals
Discover more information than you ever thought you wanted on films that feature the Great American Songbook!
Dates and Titles:
January 28: Rose of Washington Square (Gregory Ratoff, 1939, 86 min., 35mm)
February 25: Thousands Cheer (George Sidney, 1943, 125 min., 35mm)
March 20: Silk Stockings (Rouben Mamoulian, 1957, 117 min., DCP)
April 17: Easter Parade (Charles Walters, 1948, 103 min., 35mm)
May 14: Flower Drum Song (Henry Koster, US 1961, 133 min., 35mm)
June 18 (8 p.m.): Dames (Ray Enright, US 1934, 91 min., 35mm)
July 23 (8 p.m.): Summer Stock (Charles Walters, US 1950, 108 min., 35mm)
August 13 (8 p.m.): Royal Wedding (Stanley Donen, US 1951, 93 min., 35mm)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Holidays
Gable and His Gals
"His ears are too big and he looks like an ape." Despite this pronouncement by Warner Bros.’ head of production Darryl F. Zanuck when testing for the second lead in Little Caesar, Clark Gable went on to become one of the film industry’s biggest stars and dubbed “The King of Hollywood.” After failing to connect with Zanuck and Warner’s, Gable signed with M-G-M and scored a string of smashes in the decade leading up to World War II, becoming their most bankable star. As one of the biggest male leads in Hollywood, he had the opportunity to work with several legendary actresses. This Saturday Matinee-exclusive series will highlight Gable’s pairings with five of these glittering stars: Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Claudette Colbert, and Lana Turner.
Dynamite (35mm)
Silent Tuesdays Cecil B. DeMille’s first film at MGM, and his first “all-talking production,” Dynamite (1929) doesn’t skimp on the director’s boundary-pushing scenarios. Cynthia (Kay Johnson) is in love with Roger (Conrad Nagel), who is married to Marcia (Julie Faye), who has a lover of her own (Joel McCrea).
Make a Donation
Connections Network
Serious People
Rochester Premiere Real-life music video director Pasqual Gutierrez writes, directs and plays a version of himself in his feature debut. Pasqual and his directing partner, RJ (real-life partner Raul Sanchez), after having built a successful career, are invited to the opportunity of a lifetime: directing Drake’s next video.
Naked Ambition
Rochester Premiere Bunny Yeager, once heralded as the world’s prettiest photographer, had a huge influence on twentieth-century pop culture, though few people know her name. Whether by popularizing the bikini, helping discover Bettie page, shaping the image of Playboy, or inventing the selfie, Bunny was a trailblazer whose work bucked against conservative 1950s America and helped pave the way for the feminist movement and the sexual revolution.
The Apartment
New Year’s Eve | The Sight & Sound Club Young corporate flunky C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon, in perhaps his greatest role) quickly climbs the ladder of success when he begins lending his apartment key to his superiors, who are looking for a clandestine place for their afternoon and evening trysts.
In Focus: Book Publishing at GEM
The George Eastman Museum's book publishing program has a long history and an impressive list of publications. Throughout the museum's seventy-five years, its publishing projects have taken various forms, yet they have always had the same mission—to provide readers, researchers, and historians with the highest quality of scholarship in printed books and publications that both stand on shelves and the test of time.
Film Preservation Services
Deaf Santa Claus
Holidays | New York Premiere! Charles Graves has been deaf most of his life. In a household with parents who never learned sign language, his holiday memories consist of watching his siblings chat with Santa Claus while he received a thumbs up and a pat on the back. As an employee of the Texas School of the Deaf, Graves loves working with youth.
