Pollinator Count Science Project
In Focus: How Samuel Yellin Transformed Eastman's Conservatory
Story Stroll
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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
Dryden Theatre Piano Fundraiser: The Ten Commandments (35mm)
Special Screenings | Piano Fundraiser The spectacle of spectacles. Not only a great cast, but the great director of spectacles himself Cecil B. DeMille guides this great story he liked so much that he filmed it twice. DeMille’s earliest epic production, this version, instead of being content with one story or one time period, starts with the Biblical Exodus story and moves to modern times (1923) with another story of good and evil, temptation and redemption, with a moral.
James Card's First Programs
The first director of what was known then as the Film Department of the George Eastman Museum, James Card was an influential archivist, scholar, and educator who alone handled the administration of the department, including the curation of the film program. In addition to bi-weekly screenings of feature films, he also offered weekly programs that meticulously charted the rise and development of the motion picture in its first decades. Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Dryden Theatre, we are re-creating these early screenings while also recognizing the 75 years of discoveries and preservations that have come along in the meantime. From drama to comedy to spectacle, these screenings pull back the veil on the mystery of early cinema to reveal how the pictures came to be.
Dates and Titles:
March 17: James Card Program #1: The Pioneers (approx. 80 min., 35mm/16mm/Digital)
March 31: James Card Program #2: Development of the Narrative
April 14: James Card Program #3: The Development of Comedy
April 28: James Card Program #4: From Narrative to Drama
May 12: James Card Program #5: Enlarged Vistas: Film Spectacle
Legend of the Mountain (DCP)
Lose Yourself Few directors in the history of world cinema have so masterfully bridged the gap between the visceral energy of the action genre and the contemplative depth of classical art as King Hu. A multifaceted director who frequently produced, edited, and designed his own sets and costumes, Hu transformed the wuxia (martial arts) film from a studio-bound commodity into a vehicle for existential inquiry and Buddhist transcendence.
Wings of Desire (DCP)
A Summer Trip through Europe(an Cinema) Guardian angels left to watch over West Berlin after the Second World War listen to the thoughts and dreams of its citizens from the city’s rooftops.
Matinee: Blazing Saddles (35mm)
100 Years of Mel Brooks Mel Brooks’s third feature, and his first box-office blockbuster, turns the western upside down and inside out. Scheming politician Hedley (not Hedy!) Lamarr (Harvey Korman) appoints a Black sheriff (Cleavon Little) to the small town of Rock Ridge in order to drive the people away.
Agatha's Almanac (DCP)
Rochester Premiere Fiercely independent 90-year-old Agatha Bock lives alone on her ancestral farm. Despite health challenges, she defiantly tends to her land, cultivating heirloom seeds passed down through generations.
Silent Movie (35mm)
100 Years of Mel Brooks Mel Funn (Brooks), a washed-up Hollywood director, announces his plans to make a contemporary silent movie. With the help of collaborators Dom Bell (Dom DeLuise) and Marty Eggs (Marty Feldman), Mel sets out to recruit a top-notch cast (Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli, Paul Newman, Marcel Marceau and Anne Bancroft) in order to secure funding for his magnum opus.
Persona (35mm)
A Summer Trip through Europe(an Cinema) | The Sight & Sound Club Bergman’s once and future muses star together in this psychological drama examining the nature of identity. A young actress, Elisabet (Liv Ullmann), has suddenly stopped moving and speaking, leading to a stay in a hospital.
Larks on a String (35mm)
A Summer Trip through Europe(an Cinema) Private moments are hard to come by in post-war Czechoslovakia. Whether it’s the recitation of a poem, a philosophical conversation, the playing of a saxophone, or a simple flirtation, all are looked on with suspicion by the government and its agents.
Ordet (DCP)
A Summer Trip through Europe(an Cinema) | The Sight & Sound Club Director Dreyer explores multiple issues of faith through a family on the Danish highlands in 1925.
Renoir (DCP)
Rochester Premiere Chie Hayakawa’s debut feature, Plan 75, generated a lot of discussion around the Dryden when it screened in 2023. Her follow-up is a tender, often unsettling portrait of childhood grief and the sinuous imagination of an inquisitive young girl.
Trainspotting (DCP)
Lose Yourself Based on Irvine Welsh’s 1993 novel of the same name, Trainspotting follows a group of heroin addict friends in late 1980s Edinburgh. Dissatisfied with the way drug addiction has taken over his life, Mark "Rent Boy" Renton (Ewan McGregor), attempts to “Choose Life” and get clean.
