Jan 23 – Orphans at MoMA: Not in So Many Words [silent film accompaniment]
When: Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 at 1:30PM
What: Orphans at MoMA: Not in So Many Words
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/7517
To Save and Project’s annual collaboration with the NYU Orphan Film Symposium, curated by Orphans founding director Dan Streible, features an eclectic mix of rediscovered and newly preserved films, from some of the earliest projected motion pictures to the world restoration premieres of Hollis Frampton’s Public Domain (1972) and outtakes from James Baldwin: From Another Place (1973). Silent-era cinema, a crucial aspect of the orphan film phenomenon, is amply represented in this program, including the landmark Something Good—Negro Kiss (1898) in an alternate version, and what may well be the first student film ever made, The Maid of McMillan, a whimsical romance shot in 1916 by law students from Washington University in St. Louis. Much of the lineup focuses on films made in the 1960s and ’70s with unconventional soundtracks that shy away from dialogue to artful effect. Together they illustrate a catalog of orphan film keywords: amateur, animated, avant-garde; fragments, outtakes, found footage, found sound; independent, nontheatrical, silent, and student films. Among the many attractions: I Believe in Spring (USSR, 1962), the first film by Slava Tsukerman, director of the 1982 cult classic Liquid Sky; and early works in new restoration premieres by animators Caroline and Frank Mouris, together with their most celebrated film, the not-orphaned, Oscar-winning Frank Film (1973) in a glorious new 35mm restoration by the Academy Film Archive. Silent films accompanied by Makia Matsumura. Program approximately 120 min.
Deyo. 1897. USA. American Mutoscope. Preserved by the Library of Congress.
The Tramp and the Dog. USA. Selig Polyscope. 1896. Preserved by the National Library of Norway. World premiere.
Something Good—Negro Kiss [alternate version]. 1898. USA. Selig Polyscope. Preserved by the National Library of Norway. World premiere.
Ringling Bros. Circus Parade. USA. Selig Polyscope. 1902. Preserved by the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. World premiere.
The Maid of McMillan. 1916. USA. Directed by G. D. Bartlett, D. W. Stewart, J. D. Lambert. Preserved by the Washington University Film and Media Archive. World premiere.
Unmasked. 1917. USA. Directed by Grace Cunard, Francis Ford. Preserved by George Eastman Museum.
I Believe in Spring. 1962. USSR. Directed by Slava Tsukerman. Preserved by Cinema Plus, Moscow; NYU Libraries. World premiere.
Public Domain. 1972. USA. Directed by Hollis Frampton. World premiere. Preserved by Anthology Film Archives. World premiere.
You’re Not Real Pretty but You’re Mine. . . . 1968. USA. Directed by Frank Mouris. Preserved by Yale Film Archive.
Chemical Architecture. 1968. USA. Directed by Peter Schlaifer, Frank Mouris. Preserved by Yale Film Archive.
Impasse. 1978. USA. Directed by Caroline Mouris, Frank Mouris. Preserved by Yale Film Archive. World premiere.
James Baldwin: From Another Place [outtakes]. 1973. Turkey. Directed by S. Pakay. With James Baldwin. Preserved by Yale Film Archive, with thanks to Cinema Conservancy. World premiere.
Frank Film. 1973. USA. Directed by Caroline Mouris, Frank Mouris. Restored by the Academy Film Archive.
This program accompanies To Save and Project: The 18th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation.
Where: The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2 at the Museum of Modern Art
11 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
Directions: http://www.moma.org/visit/
Nearest Subway: 5 Ave/53 St on M/V, 57 St on F, 47-50 Sts on B/D/F/M
Admission: $12 ($10 for senior citizens, $8 for students / free for children ages 16 and under & Museum members, screening ticket required)
Admission to the day’s film program is free for Museum ticket holders, but separate screening tickets are required.
Film admission is partial Museum admission. The price of a film ticket can be applied toward the price of Museum admission or MoMA membership within 30 days of your purchase. For more info, visit https://www.moma.org/visit/film.
