Spring Plant Sale
Sundance Sunset: Remembering Robert Redford
With the death of Robert Redford in September, 2025, the film community lost an artist who had an indelible effect on the art and commerce of the medium. His acting career alone would have been remarkable, appearing in 50 films over a sixty-year span, including four Best Picture nominees. But his only Oscar was earned for his introduction behind the camera, as the director of Ordinary People. Over another four decades, Redford produced and directed films of thoughtful insight. And yet, his most lasting impact may be felt through his founding and nurturing of the Sundance Film Festival in 1978, and its associated programs, providing a spotlight and fostering for independent filmmaking. A collaboration between The Dryden Theatre and The Little Theatre, this fourteen-film retrospective recognizes just some of the highlights of this storied career.
Dates and Titles:
February 14: The Way We Were (Sydney Pollack, US 1973, 118 min., DCP)
February 28: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969, 110 min., 35mm) - Little Theatre
March 7: Barefoot in the Park (Gene Saks, US 1967, 106 min., DCP)
March 13: Out of Africa (Sydney Pollack, US 1985, 161 min., DCP) - Little Theatre
March 20: The Candidate (Michael Ritchie, US 1972, 110 min., 35mm)
March 21: Three Days of the Condor (Sydney Pollack, US 1975, 117 min., 35mm)
March 27: The Hot Rock (Peter Yates, US 1972, 101 min., DCP)
March 28: Ordinary People (Robert Redford, US 1980, 124 min., DCP)
April 1: The Natural (Barry Levinson, US 1984, 138 min., DCP)
April 11: Jeremiah Johnson (Sydney Pollack, US 1972, 108 min., DCP)
April 17: The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973, 129 min., DCP) - Little Theatre
April 18: The Electric Horseman (Sydney Pollack, US 1979, 121 min., 35mm)
April 24: A River Runs Through It (Robert Redford, US 1992, 123 min., 35mm)
April 25: Sneakers (Phil Alden Robinson, US 1992, 126 min., DCP)
The Japanese Paper Film Project
AAPI Heritage Month Screenings In the 1930s, several Japanese companies produced films made on paper (“kami firumu”) instead of celluloid. The Japanese Paper Film Project preserves the surviving movies and promotes scholarship about these films. From 1932 to 1938, two Japanese companies dominated the paper film market. Most well-known are REFCY, based in Tokyo, and Katei Toki (“Home Talkie”), based in Osaka.
Historic Landscape
Hollywood as Historian
Collaborating once again with honors students from St. John Fisher University, Hollywood as Historian, as a class, seeks to focus on the fascinating ideological role that Hollywood in particular has played in shaping our vision of ourselves as Americans. As a film series, we narrow the focus to films about journalism, in which the participants on screen are, themselves, writing “the first rough draft of history,” as Washington Post publisher Philip L. Graham said in a 1963 speech to Newsweek correspondents. His widow, Kay Graham, is at the center of the opening film as she and her staff debate the merits of publishing the Pentagon Papers in The Post. From there, we move through modern history, exploring cover-ups and scandals through the fourth estate, and through film.
Dates and Titles:
March 25: Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, US 2005, 93 min., 35mm)
April 8: The Post (Steven Spielberg, US 2017, 116 min., DCP)
April 15: Shattered Glass (Billy Ray, US 2005, 94 min., DCP)
April 22: Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, US 2015, 129 min., DCP)
Street Scene (35mm)
George Award Winners: King Vidor Upon its release, Street Scene was criticized for its realism, with one reviewer noting that “It’s too fiercely true to life — the sort of life that’s found in the tenements”. Indeed, Street Scene captures the unbiased reality of the intersections of those skirting poverty in Great Depression-era New York City, in the particularly raw way that only pre-codes were able to achieve.
Garden Vibes: Guabaza
Garden Vibes
We are excited to announce our Garden Vibes concert series lineup this summer! Bring your blanket or lawn chair, pack a picnic or stop at Open Face or one of the food trucks, and enjoy a night of fun on our east lawn. Cash Bar! Sorry, no BYOB due to New York State liquor laws.
Gates open at 5 p.m.; Concerts begins at 6 p.m.
No rain date. Look to the website and social media for cancellation information.
George Eastman Museum Announces Major 2025 Acquisition of Over 900 Photographic Works
Score (DCP)
Lose Yourself If you took Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, softened it, candy-coated it, and thrust it into the devil-may-care post-sexual revolution era, you would get Radley Metzger’s Score. Metzger’s films have been described as the champagne of erotic cinema, and you’ll be unlikely to find an X-rated film, which is classier and breezier than this 1974 softcore masterpiece.
Jesus Christ Superstar (DCP): Ted Neeley Farewell Tour
Special Event Ted Neeley, iconic actor and star of Norman Jewison's classic 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar, will visit the Dryden Theatre at the historic George Eastman Museum for a special screening of a remastered version of the film. His visit is part of the nationwide Ted Neeley Farewell Tour.
Historic Gardens Now Open for the Season at George Eastman Museum
Pollinator Count Science Project
In Focus: How Samuel Yellin Transformed Eastman's Conservatory
Story Stroll
Discovery Room
Historic Dryden Theatre Celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Four Films on Screen
George Award Winners
One of the ways we’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Dryden Theatre is to highlight each of our George Eastman Award recipients with a three-film retrospective. With seventy-one recipients since 1955, the series will expand beyond 2026, but each has their own qualities to celebrate. Starting with the First Festival of Film Artists, which honored twenty actors, actresses, directors, and cinematographers for their achievements through 1925, the George Eastman Museum has continued to laud film artists for their distinguished contribution to film, up to and including Rita Moreno in 2025. Throughout the coming years, the Dryden will continue to honor these recipients and our own past through these small snapshots of a life in film.
Dates and Titles:
January 6: The Mortal Storm (Frank Borzage, US 1940, 100 min., 35mm)
January 14: Winchester ‘73 (Anthony Mann, US 1950, 92 min., 35mm)
January 20: The Naked City (Jules Dassin, US 1948, 96 min., DCP)
January 27: Reunion in Vienna (Sidney Franklin, US 1933, 98 min., 35mm)
February 3: Green Dolphin Street (Victor Saville, US 1947, 141 min., 35mm)
February 10: All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone US 1932, 152 min., 35mm)
February 11: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Stanley Donen, US 1954, 102 min., 35mm)
February 17: They Drive by Night (Raoul Walsh, US 1940, 95 min., 35mm)
February 24: The Lost World (Harry O. Hoyt, US 1925, 110 min., 35mm) March 24: Stage Struck (Allan Dwan, US 1925, 70 min., 35mm)
March 26: Queen Kelly (Erich von Stroheim, US 1929, 101 min., 35mm)
April 4: Roger Corman Double Feature: Death Race 2000 (Paul Bartel, US 1975, 80 min., 35mm) and Deathsport (Allan Arkush & Nicholas Niciphor, US 1978, 82 min., 35mm)
April 7: Happiness (King Vidor, US 1924, 76 min., 35mm)
April 16: H.M. Pulham, Esq. (King Vidor, US 1941, 120 min., 35mm)
April 17: Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, US 1950, 110 min., 35mm)
April 23: The Little Shop of Horrors (Roger Corman, US 1960, 73 min., DCP)
April 29: Street Scene (King Vidor, US 1931, 80 min., 35mm) May 6: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Norman Taurog, US 1938, 91 min., 35mm)
May 20: Bell, Book, and Candle (Richard Quine, US 1958, 106 min., 35mm)
May 23 (2 p.m.): Bell, Book, and Candle (Richard Quine, US 1958, 106 min., 35mm)
May 27: Seconds (John Frankenheimer, US 1966, 106 min., 35mm)
Silent Spring
An integral part of Dryden Theatre programming, the silent film is presented as it was intended to be experienced, with live accompaniment. Twice a year the theater presents a months-long series dedicated to the first thirty-five years of cinema. This spring, that focus encompasses revered restorations, classic adventure tales, and Russian re-discoveries, highlights some of the period’s most influential artists, and celebrates the theater’s 75th anniversary with re-creations of some of its earliest programs. Both released in the mid-1920s, The Lost World and The Sea Beast demonstrate how the silent screen could get the audience’s heart racing. Our series dedicated to the museum’s growing roster of George Eastman Award honorees highlights Gloria Swanson and King Vidor. Rarely seen, the films of director Boris Barnet come to the Dryden, and our 75th anniversary celebration continues with re-creations of original director James Card’s educational lectures on the beginnings of silent film. As a special treat, renowned composer and pianist Makia Matsumura makes her long-awaited return to the Dryden to accompany Stage Struck (March 24). All other accompaniment is provided by house musician Philip Carli.
Dates and Titles:
February 24: The Lost World (Harry O. Hoyt, US 1925, 110 min., 35mm)
March 10: The Sea Beast (Millard Webb, US 1926, 136 min., 16mm)
March 13: Nana (Jean Renoir, France 1926, 115 min., 35mm)
March 14 (11 a.m.): Short Silent Comedies
March 17: James Card Program #1: The Pioneers
March 24: Stage Struck (Allan Dwan, US 1925, 70 min., 35mm)
March 31: James Card Program #2: Development of the Narrative
April 7: Happiness (King Vidor, US 1924, 76 min., 35mm)
April 14: James Card Program #3: The Development of Comedy
April 21: The Girl with the Hat Box (Boris Barnet, Soviet Union 1927, 66 min., 35mm)
April 28: James Card Program #4: From Narrative to Drama
May 5: The House on Trubnaya (Dom na Trubnoy, Boris Barnet, USSR 1928, 64 min., 35mm)
May 12: James Card Program #5: Enlarged Vistas: Film Spectacle
May 19: Steichen and the Garden
AAPI Heritage Month screenings
Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month has been celebrated throughout the month of May for more than thirty years, honoring the contributions made throughout the history of the country. Unsurprisingly, these contributions are reflected in the cinema of this country as well, in addition to the long legacy of cinema brought to the United States from across the globe. Celebrating these cinematic contributions in May, the Dryden is proud to present The Japanese Paper Film Project on May 29, with free admission for all, sponsored by the Monroe County Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This multi-year project uncovers the previously hidden technique of creating moving images on paper instead of film in the 1930s. Presented by Project Supervisor Eric Faden of Bucknell University, and accompanied by Duo Yumeno, a koto and cellist combo, this fascinating piece of history is now available for everyone to enjoy. In addition, the Dryden will be presenting three films photographed by James Wong Howe, a legendary groundbreaking cinematographer and the first Asian-American recipient of the George Eastman Award.
Dates and Titles:
May 6: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Norman Taurog, US 1938, 91 min., 35mm)
May 20: Bell, Book, and Candle (Richard Quine, US 1958, 106 min., 35mm)
May 27: Seconds (John Frankenheimer, US 1966, 106 min., 35mm)
May 29: The Japanese Paper Film Project
