On the eve of the new millennium, a new science-fiction action film premiered that would change the genre, fashion, and the ubiquity of philosophical discussion forever. Buoyed by their script for the Sylvester Stallone film Assassins and their directing debut Bound, Lilly and Lana Wachowski were given a three-picture deal with Warner Bros. Their project? The Matrix. The plan for the film was too big, dense, and ambitious for studio executives to understand, so the directors hired comic book artists to create a 600-page shot-by-shot storyboard for the film that the studio still didn’t understand, but at least they could see what they were getting. The film became one of the biggest grossers of the year and spawned three sequels. Between Christmas and New Year’s, The Dryden is presenting the entire series on our big screen for the first time.

Two special screenings of Oppenheimer's films, with Oppenheimer in attendance on December 10th.

Joshua Oppenheimer immediately made a name for himself in the world of documentary filmmaking with The Act of Killing, a film about the Indonesian genocide, an episode of Indonesian history still so repressed by its government that Oppenheimer has been banned from filming in the country. In that genre-bending documentary, Oppenheimer proved he was interested in more than non-fiction, and with his latest film The End, he creates a fictional depiction of lonely souls at the end of the world.

The George Eastman Museum celebrated 75 years on November 9, 2024. Since its opening, the museum has had a film collection, begun by James Card, the first director of the film department. Since that time, the collection has grown to more than 28,000 titles across all periods of cinema, and while half of the films screened at the Dryden Theatre come from that collection, there are still many treasures in the vaults yet to be seen by its audience. Throughout 2025, the Dryden will bring these treasures out in three sub-series: Recent Acquisitions, Prized Preservations, and The Astonishing Archive: Unexpected Finds. These films may also cross over with other series, so keep an eye out for these special screenings!

January 2: Nothing Personal (Urszula Antoniak, 2009, 85 min., 35mm) 

January 7: Silent Short Film Preservation

January 8: The Falcon and the Snowman (John Schlesinger, 1985, 131 min., 35mm)

January 9: Company (Ram Gopal Varma, 2002, 142 min., 35mm) 

January 16: Ab Tak Chhappan (Shimit Amin, 2004, 129 min., 35mm) 

January 23: Ek Hasina Thi (Sriram Raghavan, 2004, 120 min., 35mm)

January 30: Johnny Gaddaar (Sriram Raghavan, 2007, 135 min., 35mm)

February 7: All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre, Pedro Almodóvar, 1999, 101 min., 35mm)

February 14: Down with Love (Peyton Reed, 2003, 101 min., 35mm) 

February 21: Elizabeth (Shekhar Kapur, 1998, 124 min., 35mm)

February 28: Guinevere (Audrey Wells, 1999, 104 min., 35mm)

The Moving Image Department has an active acquisition policy, seeking films that expand and enrich the larger collection. These come to the museum in many ways, whether it be our own preservation, exchanges with other film archives, or donations from collectors and other individuals who recognized the world-class staff and facilities at the George Eastman Museum. Pulling films that have come into the collection in the last decade, this series will highlight not only the best of these additions, but demonstrate how the museum is growing and assembling a world-class collection.
 

January 2: Nothing Personal (Urszula Antoniak, 2009, 85 min., 35mm) 

January 7: Silent Short Film Preservation

January 8: The Falcon and the Snowman (John Schlesinger, 1985, 131 min., 35mm)

January 9: Company (Ram Gopal Varma, 2002, 142 min., 35mm) 

January 16: Ab Tak Chhappan (Shimit Amin, 2004, 129 min., 35mm) 

January 23: Ek Hasina Thi (Sriram Raghavan, 2004, 120 min., 35mm)

January 30: Johnny Gaddaar (Sriram Raghavan, 2007, 135 min., 35mm)

February 7: All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre, Pedro Almodóvar, 1999, 101 min., 35mm)

February 14: Down with Love (Peyton Reed, 2003, 101 min., 35mm) 

February 21: Elizabeth (Shekhar Kapur, 1998, 124 min., 35mm)

February 28: Guinevere (Audrey Wells, 1999, 104 min., 35mm)

There are several prominent actors, actresses, and directors reaching the 100th anniversary of their birth in 2025, including Robert Altman, Tony Curtis, Angela Lansbury, Jack Lemmon, Paul Newman, Sam Peckinpah, and Peter Sellers. Through a series of short series throughout the year, the Dryden will celebrate these cinematic luminaries the best way we know how—by bringing their films to the big screen for everyone to enjoy.

Paul Newman was born January 26, 1925. Coming out of Ohio, he worked in summer stock and attended Yale Drama School for a year before moving to New York and studying under Lee Strasberg at The Actors Studio. He appeared in the original Broadway productions of Picnic and The Desperate Hours (and later Sweet Bird of Youth) before bursting onto the film scene with his performance as Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me. Over the next fifty years, Newman would create one of the most indelible careers in Hollywood, leaving an extensive number of tough but charming individualists as his legacy. This January, the Dryden presents five of Newman’s best-known performances from the zenith of his career.

Dates and Titles:

January 3: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Richard Brooks, 1958, 108 min., 35mm)

January 10: Hud (Martin Ritt, 1963, 112 min., 35mm)

January 17: Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg, 1967, 127 min., 35mm)

January 24: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969, 110 min., 35mm)

January 25 (2 p.m.): Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969, 110 min., 35mm) 

January 31: The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973, 129 min., DCP) 

As part of our Recent Acquisitions series, this set of Indian films toured Europe and the United States before being donated to the George Eastman Museum. Curated by Galen Rosenthal, who lived in India for ten years and worked as a screenwriter, these films represent some of the best crime movies made in India at the beginning of the 21st Century. With the museum’s reputation as the largest repository of South Asian films outside of the region, it has attracted several smaller collections of these films that have been donated. Crime knows no boundaries, and these gritty films reveal a side of Indian cinema overwhelmed by the glitzy musicals the country’s film industry is known for.