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Screening at the JBFC on May 22, 2025 at 7:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 21, 2025 at 7:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 20, 2025 at 7:00 and May 21, 2025 at 4:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 19, 2025 at 7:00 with Live Musical Accompaniment by Ben Model

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 18, 2025 at 1:00 with Live Musical Accompaniment by Makia Matsumura

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 18, 2025 at 4:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 18, 2025 at 7:00 & May 22, 2025 at 4:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 17, 2025 at 7:00 & May 20, 2025 at 4:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC in 3D on May 17, 2025 at 1:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 17 & 19, 2025 at 4:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 16, 2025 at 7:00 followed by a Q&A with James Ivory.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 16, 2025 at 4:00 & May 21, 2025 at 1:00.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on May 15, 2025 at 7:00 & May 16, 2025 at 1:00 with a pre-recorded introduction by filmmaker Alexander Payne.

Part of JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival 2025

Screening at the JBFC on Saturday, May 3 & 10 at 11:00 and Sunday, May 4 at 11:00 (Sensory Friendly Screening) as a part of JBFC Kids.
*The May 10 screening will be followed by an art activity with Super Awesome Artland!

Starting in April 2025, all JBFC Kids screenings will offer $5 tickets for everyone—kids and adults alike! Enjoy family-friendly films every Saturday at 11:00 AM, plus our monthly sensory friendly screenings all at this new, lower price.

Screening on Saturday, April 19 & 26 at 11:00 as a part of JBFC Kids.

Starting in April 2025, all JBFC Kids screenings will offer $5 tickets for everyone—kids and adults alike! Enjoy family-friendly films every Saturday at 11:00 AM, plus our monthly sensory friendly screenings all at this new, lower price.

Screening in 3D at the JBFC on Saturday, April 5 & 12 at 11:00 and Sunday, April 6 at 11:00 (Sensory Friendly Screening) as a part of JBFC Kids.

Starting in April 2025, all JBFC Kids screenings will offer $5 tickets for everyone—kids and adults alike! Enjoy family-friendly films every Saturday at 11:00 AM, plus our monthly sensory friendly screenings all at this new, lower price.

Opens at the JBFC on April 18, 2025.

Opens at the JBFC on March 28, 2025.

Preview Screening on Sunday, April 20 at 7:00 followed by a Q&A with "Beatleologist" Scott Freiman and Music Writer Dr. Kenneth Womack.
Opens at the JBFC on April 4, 2025

Opens at the JBFC for a run on April 4.

JBFC Programming Coordinator, Ian LoCascio writes, "Actor and co-writer Tom Basden has described The Ballad of Wallis Island as being an example of “art imitating life,” noting that it’s a film about characters in their 40s looking back on the art they made in their 20s, just as the film’s creators are adapting a short film they made while in their 20s.

For as much as the characters in The Ballad of Wallis Island spend the film reckoning with the past—I think that it’s ultimately a film about people learning, or re-learning, how to connect with each other and look toward a brighter future. It’s a very optimistic film, and I think it offers a welcome respite from this tense and divided world we find ourselves in today."

Opens at the JBFC for a run on April 4.

Opens at the JBFC for a run on March 28.

Opens at the JBFC for a run on March 28

Screening at the JBFC on March 27 followed by a Q&A with Director Isabel Sandoval and Author Marya E. Gates

Screened at the JBFC on March 16. 2025 with an introduction by Cinematographer and frequent David Lynch collaborator, Frederick Elmes.

Screened at the JBFC on March 16. 2025 with a post-screening Q&A with Cinematographer and frequent David Lynch collaborator, Frederick Elmes

Opened at the JBFC for a run on Feb. 14, 2025

Opened at the JBFC for a run on Feb. 14, 2025

Opened at the JBFC on March 7, 2025

Monica Castillo, JBFC Senior Film Programmer writes, “Carson Lund’s feature debut Eephus is unlike any other baseball movie you’ve seen. The players aren’t kids or pros. They’ve seen their fair share of seasons, but on this day in October 1994, it will be their last game on their trusty old field. A school is slated to take over the lot, and the weekly ritual of gathering around this green diamond will come to an end. But before anyone gets too teary eyed about the times a-changin’, there’s a game to play, a team to beat, and some celebratory beer to drink with fireworks. Lund, who’s filmed other movies like Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point, builds on his love of baseball, its lore, and routines to create a love letter to the sport and the end of an era, the nostalgia we feel for days gone by and the friends (and rivals) we made along the way.

In a sense, the movie Eephus, named after a complex pitch, has much more in common with Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show than it does with The Pride of the Yankees, but this is the kind of character-driven sports movie that anyone can root for and is a unique treat for the baseball fans in our audience.”

Opened at the JBFC on March 14, 2025

Opens at the JBFC on March 21, 2025

Chris Holliday, JBFC Interim Director of Film Programming writes, “One of my favorite films of the year so far, A24’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl is an impactful, darkly funny sophomore feature from director Rungano Nyoni, who cements herself as a stunning storyteller in this film about family secrets, abuse, and community response. Set in Zambia, but with themes that transcend geography, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a powerful, at times, playful watch. Nyoni’s style of filmmaking and use of imagery are enchanting; her vision is extraordinary.”

Opened at the JBFC on Feb. 28, 2025

Opened at the JBFC on Feb. 28, 2025

Opened at the JBFC on Feb. 28, 2025

Opened at the JBFC for a run on March 7, 2025.

Screening at the JBFC on Sunday, April 20 at 2:00

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Screening at the JBFC on Thursday, April 17 at 1:00 & 7:00

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Presented on 35mm at the JBFC on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Screening at the JBFC on Sunday, April 13 at 2:00

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Screening at the JBFC on Saturday, April 12 at 2:00

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Presented on 35mm at the JBFC on Thursday, April 10 at 1:00 & 7:00.

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Screening at the JBFC on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:00.

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Final Cut of the film will be screening at the JBFC on Sunday, April 6 at 2:00.

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Screening in 3D at the JBFC on Thursday, April 3 at 7:00 & Friday, April 4 at 1:00.

Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Opened at the Jacob Burns Film Center on Feb. 7 2025.

Opened at the Jacob Burns Film Center on Feb. 7 2025.

Opened at the Jacob Burns Film Center on Feb. 14, 2025.

Opened at the Jacob Burns Film Center on Jan. 24, 2025.

Opened at the Jacob Burns Film Center on Jan. 17 2025.

Preview Screening with Pamela Anderson, director Gia Coppola, and writer Kate Bersten in-person at the JBFC on Nov. 10, 2024.

🎫 Get tickets and showtimes here 🎫

• Drop Dead City
• Sinners
• Bonjour Tristesse
• Caught by the Tides
• Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
• Friendship
• The Wizard of Oz

"The second edition of JBFC Restored & Rediscovered makes room for works by film titans like John Ford, Jean-Luc Godard, Chantal Akerman, Peter Weir, Sergei Parajanov, and Charles Burnett, along with recently rediscovered films like Zeinabu irene Davis’ Compensation, Lino Brocka’s Bona, and Jim McKay’s Girl’s Town. Don’t miss a one-night-only Q&A with James Ivory, two screenings with live musical accompaniment, a 3D noir from the ‘50s, and our on Film Restoration in Action.

With over half of pre-1950 U.S. films lost—and even more from the silent era—our series raises awareness about the urgent need for preservation. us in honoring these restored works and the organizations working to save our cinematic heritage.”

– Series Curator and Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo

• The Searchers
• Golden Eighties
• Roseland
• Compensation
• The Glass Web
• Picnic at Hanging Rock
• A Woman Is a Woman
• Bona
• Just Around the Corner
• 7th Heaven

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• On Swift Horses

  Opens for a run at the JBFC on April 25

• The Legend of Ochi

  Opens for a run at the JBFC on April 25

• The Shrouds

  Opens for a run at the JBFC on May 2.

• There Is Another Way

  Opens for a run at the JBFC in May.

• Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

Starting April 1, all JBFC Kids screenings will now be just $5 for everyone. This new, lower ticket price makes it easier than ever for families, friends, and film lovers of all ages to experience the joy of cinema together.

JBFC Kids programming introduces young audiences to film by celebrating cherished stories both new and old, revisiting those that are overlooked, and highlighting cultures from around the world.

Catch a JBFC Kids screening every Saturday at 11:00 and a sensory friendly screening the first Sunday of every month!

• Despicable Me

  Screening in 3D at the JBFC on Saturday, April 5 & 12 at 11:00 and Sunday, April 6 at 11:00 (Sensory Friendly Screening).

  Starting in April, all JBFC Kids screenings will offer $5 tickets for everyone—kids and adults alike! Enjoy family-friendly films every Saturday at 11:00 AM, plus our monthly sensory friendly screenings all at this new, lower price.

• Raya and the Last Dragon

  Screening on Saturday, April 19 & 26 at 11:00 as a part of JBFC Kids.

  Starting in April 2025, all JBFC Kids screenings will offer $5 tickets for everyone—kids and adults alike! Enjoy family-friendly films every Saturday at 11:00 AM, plus our monthly sensory friendly screenings all at this new, lower price.

• WALL·E

  Screening at the JBFC on Saturday, May 3 & 10 at 11:00 and Sunday, May 4 at 11:00 (Sensory Friendly Screening) as a part of JBFC Kids.
  *The May 10 screening will be followed by an art activity with Super Awesome Artland!

  Starting in April 2025, all JBFC Kids screenings will offer $5 tickets for everyone—kids and adults alike! Enjoy family-friendly films every Saturday at 11:00 AM, plus our monthly sensory friendly screenings all at this new, lower price.

• Safety Last!
• Mary Poppins
• The Muppet Movie
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Labyrinth
• The Witches
• Coraline

...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

JBFC Preview Club offers an exclusive first look at highly anticipated independent and foreign films before their public release. Each month, JBFC programmers Monica Castillo and Ian LoCascio host a secret screening, followed by a talkback where they share behind-the-scenes insights and lead a discussion on the film’s themes and impact.

Below are the films screened as part of Preview Club, along with excerpts from each programmer’s wrap-up. Become a JBFC member today so you can the next time Preview Club hips are on sale!

• Hard Truths

  "Mike Leigh has spoken at length about how he only wants to work with “character actors”—a term which he explains to mean a talented actor who has the curiosity, intelligence, sense of humor, and generosity of spirit to not only play a character but to serve as a true storytelling collaborator.

  Over the course of his career, Leigh has proven himself to be a true actor’s director—and any list of the actors he has worked with could very easily double as a list of the greatest working actors in the United Kingdom. If we only limit the list to the actors who, like Marianne Jean-Baptiste, had their breakthrough performance in a film by Mike Leigh—it would still include such names as Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Brenda Blethyn, Sally Hawkins, and David Thewlis.

  It’s also worth noting that it’s rare for Mike Leigh to only work with an actor once. In the case of Marianne Jean-Baptiste, she first worked with Mike Leigh two years prior to Secrets and Lies when she acted in a play he wrote called It's a Great Big Shame. Nearly thirty years later, Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s co-star from that play, Michelle Austin, would go on to play Pansy’s sister Chantal in Hard Truths. Once you have entered the creative world of Mike Leigh—it seems all but impossible to leave."

• Driving Madeleine
• Between Two Worlds
• Fallen Leaves
• Scrapper
• She Came to Me
• NYAD
• My Old Ass
• Between the Temples
• The Room Next Door

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The films in the 23rd edition of the JBFC’s Jewish Film Festival offer close encounters with remarkable individuals in a wide range of fiction films and documentaries. In all of these films, personal stories lead to broader perspectives on history, culture, and society.

–David Schwartz, Festival Curator

• Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire

  Opening Night of the 23rd Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC on Wednesday, April 23 at 7:00 with Columbia Film Professor Annette Insdorf, moderated by Jewish Film Festival Curator David Schwartz

  Encore Screening on Thursday, April 24 at 4:00

• ADA - My Mother the Architect

  Screening on Thursday, April 24 at 7:00 followed by a Q&A with director Yael Melamede
  Encore Screening on Friday, April 25 at 1:00

  Screening as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• The Inheritance

  Screening on Friday, April 25 at 4:00 under the title THE HEIRESSES

  Screening as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• Midas Man

  Screening on Friday, April 25 at 7:00 and Saturday, April 26 at 12:00 as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• Come Closer

  Screening on Saturday, April 26 at 4:45 and Monday, April 28 at 7:00, as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• Janis Ian: Breaking Silence

  Screening on Saturday, April 26 at 7:20 as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• Of Dogs and Men

  Screening on Saturday, April 26 at 2:35 and Monday, April 28 at 4:00, as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• Breaking Home Ties

  Screening on Sunday, April 27 at 7:30, as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• Duck Soup

  Screening on Sunday, April 27 at 12:40 with an introduction by Film Critic J. Hoberman, as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

• Avalon

  Screening on 35mm on Sunday, April 27 at 2:30 as a part of the 2025 Jewish Film Festival at the JBFC.

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

“Across the 100+ year history of cinema, few genres or styles of filmmaking have remained as critically lauded and culturally ubiquitous as the cinema epic. From Academy Award-winning blockbusters like Ben-Hur and Titanic and international classics like The Leopard and Andrei Rublev, to contemporary classics-in-the-making like Oppenheimer and The Brutalist, many of the most celebrated films of all time have been epics. With the inherent spectacle and vast creative canvas an epic provides, it comes as no surprise how many stand as fan-favorites among filmmakers and film-lovers alike. In many ways, the epic is the original event film: a film of such scope and grandeur that it all but demands to be seen on the big screen.

As such, the Jacob Burns Film Center is excited to present Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic. Throughout the month of April, the JBFC will present nine of the greatest, biggest films ever made—on the big screen, where they belong.”

– Ian LoCascio, Series Curator

• Titanic

  Screening in 3D at the JBFC on Thursday, April 3 at 7:00 & Friday, April 4 at 1:00.

  Part of JBFC seriesBig Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• Apocalypse Now

  Final Cut of the film will be screening at the JBFC on Sunday, April 6 at 2:00.

  Part of JBFC seriesBig Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• Andrei Rublev

  Screening at the JBFC on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:00.

  Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• Barry Lyndon

  Presented on 35mm at the JBFC on Thursday, April 10 at 1:00 & 7:00.

  Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• Once Upon a Time in America

  Screening at the JBFC on Saturday, April 12 at 2:00

  Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• A Brighter Summer Day

  Screening at the JBFC on Sunday, April 13 at 2:00

  Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• Malcolm X

  Presented on 35mm at the JBFC on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00

  Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• The Leopard

  Screening at the JBFC on Thursday, April 17 at 1:00 & 7:00

  Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

• Ben-Hur

  Screening at the JBFC on Sunday, April 20 at 2:00

  Part of JBFC series Big Screen, Big Movies: A Celebration of the Cinema Epic.

Feb. 13–20, 2025

This February, fall in love with cinema’s greatest romances – the ions that burn up the screen and the crushes that make one blush. Whether the movies end in heartbreak or happily ever after, these are the affairs to and watch again and again. Won’t you be our Valentine?

Sip, Celebrate, and Save This Galentine’s and Valentine’s Day!
Buy one prosecco, get the second 50% off—February 13 & 14 at Take 3 Wine Bar & Cafe.

• Only You

  One night only 35mm screening on Thursday, Feb. 13 2025 at 7:00.

  Sip, Celebrate, and Save This Galentine’s Day! Buy one prosecco, get the second 50% off—February 13 & 14 at Take 3 Wine Bar & Cafe.

• Moonstruck

  Valentine's Day screening on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:00. Encore Screening on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 4:00.

  Sip, Celebrate, and Save This Valentine’s Day! Buy one prosecco, get the second 50% off—February 14 at Take 3 Wine Bar & Cafe.

• Weekend

  One night only screening on Saturday, Feb. 15 2025 at 4:30.

• Mississippi Masala

  One night only screening on Monday, Feb. 17 2025 at 7:00.

• Brief Encounter

  80th Anniversary screenings on Sunday, Feb. 16 2025 at 7:00 and Monday, Feb. 17 at 4:00.

• You've Got Mail

  One night only screening on Thursday, Feb. 20 2025 at 7:00 followed by a Q&A with Author Esther Zuckerman. Esther's new book "Falling in Love at the Movies: Rom-Coms from the Screwball Era to Today" will be available for sale thanks to our friends at The Village Bookstore.

Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2025
As one of the most incisive filmmakers of his time – and perhaps in all of Hollywood history, director Billy Wilder left an indelible legacy of sharp movies that cut to the core of American culture, touched on unspoken social taboos of the day, and displayed a stunning versatility as his work spanned genres from film noir to romantic comedies. Wilder’s most iconic films never seem to leave movie theater screens, including ours. us and educators from NYU Tisch School of the Arts for a series of film screenings paired with in-depth discussions for a close-up on Billy Wilder.

• Ace in the Hole
• Love in the Afternoon
• A Foreign Affair

A matinee series of outstanding repertory films programmed to appeal to senior moviegoers.

• The Philadelphia Story
• Trouble in Paradise
• To Be or Not to Be
• Heaven Can Wait
• The Heiress
• Hester Street
• North by Northwest
• Only Angels Have Wings
• Charade
• The Night of the Hunter

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Bring your best blood curdling screams for the JBFC’s 12-hour horror movie marathon on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2023 starting at 8 pm. Stay up all night for seven spine-tingling films, trailers, and other weird movie surprises. Don’t forget your costume: we’ll have prizes for the best dressed, plus other giveaways and trick-or-treats to-be-announced. We’ll get the party started with a pre-marathon reception, then us (if you dare) for a movie marathon full of terror, splatter, and spirits. Bring a friend or your favorite zombie/vampire/ghoul, and we’ll see you there.

• Jennifer's Body
• The Blair Witch Project
• Slumber Party Massacre II
• Cure
• The House on Sorority Row
• City of the Living Dead
• Halloween

Stay updated on the one-night-only screenings and events we host at the Jacob Burns Film Center!

• Wings Over Water
• 32 Sounds
• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Argentina 1985
• Black Narcissus
• Flower
• Judy Blume Forever
• Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street
• Navalny
• Nelly & Nadine

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A series of anniversary screenings highlighting iconic and influential classics from around the globe.

• Dazed and Confused
• Touki Bouki
• High and Low
• Roman Holiday
• My Architect: A Son's Journey
• The Red Shoes

An ongoing series that showcases the best of repertory and contemporary genre cinema, with a particular emphasis on horror and cult classics.

Save over $85 with our VIP All-Access – which gets you into all 17 After Hours films. Limited es available for $99 each.

Mark your calendar for our Halloween Marathon on October 27!

• Bride of Chucky
• Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
• Small Soldiers
• M3GAN
• Dirty Dancing
• Serial Mom
• Wet Hot American Summer
• Single White Female
• Poltergeist
• Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This June, the JBFC celebrates LGBTQ+ stories with a selection of one-off screenings and events.

Discover the black queer origins of rock n’ roll in Little Richard: I Am Everything, celebrate trans lives with a special Community Matters event, and George Mackay, Bill Nighy, and Imelda Staunton in the feel-good true story of British LGBT activists, Pride.

Plus, relive iconic moments from queer cinema history with The Watermelon Woman and Funeral Parade of Roses!

• Little Richard: I Am Everything
• Pride
• Mutt
• The Watermelon Woman
• Funeral Parade of Roses

The JBFC celebrates its 22nd anniversary this year and to mark this special occasion, we bring to you 22 all-time summer favorites hand-picked by our incredible Programming team composed of:

Ryan Harrington, Director of Film Programs, Curator-in-Chief

Monica Castillo, Senior Film Programmer

Chris Holliday, Director of Special Event Programming

Ian LoCascio, Programming Coordinator

Ryan, Monica, Chris, and Ian curate all the programs we show at the Burns.
They consume films for a living so rest assured you are in for a cinematic treat!

• Do the Right Thing

  JBFC Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo's summer favorite!

• Summertime

  JBFC Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo's summer favorite!

• Dirty Dancing

  JBFC Director of Film Programs & Curator-in-Chief Ryan Harrington and JBFC Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo's summer favorite!

• In the Heights

  JBFC Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo's summer favorite!

• Body Heat

  JBFC Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo's summer favorite!

• Beautiful Thing

  JBFC Director of Special Event Programming Chris Holliday's summer favorite!

• Stand by Me

  JBFC Director of Film Programs & Curator-in-Chief Ryan Harrington and JBFC Director of Special Event Programming Chris Holliday's summer favorite!

• Grease

  JBFC Director of Special Event Programming Chris Holliday's summer favorite!

• Y Tu Mamá También

  JBFC Director of Special Event Programming Chris Holliday's summer favorite!

• Stranger by the Lake

  JBFC Director of Special Event Programming Chris Holliday's summer favorite!

...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

From the Purple One to a folk music legend, this year’s Sounds of Summer will bring in a variety of musical styles, all under one roof at the Jacob Burns Film Center. Starting the party with Prince’s 1987 concert film Sign ‘O’ the Times as well as his earlier movies Purple Rain and Under the Cherry Moon, the series will go on to explore the work of musicians and singers like Carole King, David Crosby, Selena, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and more. We’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop with the iconic documentary Rhyme & Reason, explore innovations by women in electronic music in Sisters with Transistors, transport ourselves back to the heyday of doo-wop with Heart & Soul, commemorate Tito Puente’s centennial with his appearance in The Mambo Kings, and then toast the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story. Finally, we’ll close out the series with a triple screening featuring Bob Dylan as an actor in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, a performer in a series of rare shorts, and the subject of Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There.

This year, we’re trying something new with Sounds of Summer. Our cinematic mixtape will expand beyond strictly concert films and documentaries to include a few dramatic movies with music at the center. This way, we can pay tribute to artists like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Celia Cruz, David Bowie, and Selena, as well as highlight performances from Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Julie London in The Girl Can’t Help It. Plus, there will be several special introductions, one-night-only events, and even a class that will take your music and movie appreciation to the next level.

So whether you’re tuning in for The Beatles or Public Enemy, I hope everyone will find a band to jam with or a title that will introduce you to your next favorite artist. This Sounds of Summer lineup will keep you dancing to the beat all summer long.

With every ticket you buy to a Sounds of Summer screening, you’ll be entered to win one of three fabulous prize packs! Learn more on the JBFC Blog.

• Prince: Sign O' the Times
• Purple Rain
• Under the Cherry Moon
• Soul Power
• Carole King: Home Again - Live in Central Park
• In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50
• The Mambo Kings
• Selena
• David Crosby: My Name
• The Girl Can't Help It

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The Jacob Burns Film Center is thrilled to announce the 22nd Annual Jewish Film Festival from May 17–25, 2023. The lineup boasts stunning, thought-provoking, mesmerizing, and often humorous works from around the world including seven new diverse cinematic narratives and documentaries, and four beloved films from past Jewish Film Festivals. A host of renowned filmmakers and actors will us for Q&As, and two post-screening receptions will offer opportunities for community fellowship.
The festival is sponsored by Roberta & Joseph Rosenblum, American Jewish Committee (AJC) Westchester/Fairfield, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

• SHTTL
• Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery in WWII
• Our Almost Completely True Story
• Let It Be Morning
• iMordecai
• Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
• America
• The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
• A Fish in the Bathtub
• March 1968

From Series Curator Adrienne Frank,

Despite the growing visibility of Pride Month in recent years, the LGBTQIA community has continued to face discrimination and violence, with attacks on trans children, “don’t say gay” bills flooding the country, and a rise in hate crimes. It’s clear now more than ever — the work is far from done. In a time where Pride has become increasingly commercialized, it’s vital to that it’s more than just one month of parades and PR campaigns. Pride is the force within us that allows us to be ourselves, to show up to the world in all our authenticity, to love without abandon, and to never give up in the fight for equality.

In Pride Over Prejudice: Queer Life Across Generations, we bear witness to those who have dedicated their lives to fighting for one another, for equality, and for happiness. In presenting these films, we want to raise the voices of those who have been pushed to the margins—not just of society, but even within queer spaces—such as people of color, trans individuals, and women. We also celebrate that in the midst of struggle and setbacks, we find deep, overflowing, queer joy in our community, in music, in art, and in living.

These films invite us to honor the legacies of those who came before us, celebrate their triumphs, grieve for their losses, and fight fearlessly for future generations.

• Rebel Dykes
• Moroni for President
• Keyboard Fantasies
• The Whistle

Peruse the full lineup of one-night-only screenings and events we hosted at the Theater in 2022! How many did you see at the JBFC?

• A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks
• A Couple
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• Coast
• Control
• Down with the King
• Elf
• Fanny: The Right to Rock
• God's Creatures
• Hidden Letters

...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Global Watch: Crisis & Social Action is a year-round documentary series that untangles the stories behind the headlines, sheds light in dark corners, and introduces us to the people working to make the world a better place. Check out the films we showed as part of Global Watch in 2022!

Global Watch: Crisis & Social Action is sponsored by The Louis & Anne Abrons Foundation and The Theodore & Renee Weiler Foundation. It is presented with generous from the National Endowment for the Arts.

• A Night of Knowing Nothing
• All That Breathes
• And So I Stayed
• Ascension
• Flee
• President
• The Territory
• We Feed People
• Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
• Writing with Fire

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Senior Afternoon Cinema is a matinee series featuring outstanding repertory films programmed to appeal to senior moviegoers.

This series is sponsored by The Knolls—A Bethel Community and ArtsWestchester.

• Reds
• Stavisky...
• Gypsy
• The Front Page
• One, Two, Three
• The Fortune Cookie
• Now, Voyager
• All That Heaven Allows
• Love with the Proper Stranger
• My Man Godfrey

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

From Oct. 6–20, 2022, we were thrilled to present the Jacob Burns Film Center’s 21st annual Jewish Film Festival. This year’s selection included more than two dozen entertaining, thought-provoking, mesmerizing, and often humorous films, as well as narratives and documentaries from Israel, the US, and around the world.

• Cinema Sabaya
• Concerned Citizen
• The Conductor
• Farewell, Mr. Haffmann
• Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen
• The Forger
• iMordecai
• Jews of the Wild West
• Karaoke
• Kinder der Hoffnung

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

From Associate Director of Film Programming, Andrew Jupin:

As part of our 20th anniversary celebration, we’re delighted to offer this jam-packed lineup featuring some of the stellar music docs we’ve screened in Sounds of Summer over the years. Sounds is such a fun series to put together each year, and attending these screenings is one of the absolute best experiences you can have at the JBFC: sitting in a theater with a crowd of music-loving cinephiles, watching fantastic performances on a huge screen with incredible music pumping through our sound system—you can’t beat it.

This year’s series features a wide array of films covering all sorts of artists and genres, so even in this greatest hits lineup of stone-cold classics, there’s something for everyone. Prepare to have your socks knocked off (again) by the force of nature that is Aretha Franklin in Amazing Grace; get a double dose of Dylan with Dont Look Back and Rolling Thunder Revue; revisit the Cuban Cinderella story of Wim Wenders’ Buena Vista Social Club; get your festival fix from films like Jazz on a Summer’s Day, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, Monterey Pop, and Wattstax; witness Madison Square Garden vibrate in Shut Up and Play the Hits and Awesome; I F*ckin’ Shot That!; and don’t miss our annual tribute screening of Stop Making Sense in honor of our dear friend, Jonathan Demme.

All this and more will play in the series as we celebrate being a part of this community for two decades! Sounds is one of my favorite series to curate for the JBFC, and we’re so excited to offer our audience the chance to groove through the hot summer months with some excellent music films and a heaping helping of air conditioning.

• Monterey Pop
• 20 Feet from Stardom
• A Poem Is a Naked Person
• Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese
• Buena Vista Social Club
• Dave Chappelle's Block Party
• Gimme Shelter
• Jazz on a Summer's Day
• Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That!
• Amazing Grace

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

From Associate Director of Film Programming, Andrew Jupin:

"For two decades, Magnolia Pictures has continuously released top-tier narratives and documentaries from around the world, and the JBFC has worked alongside them all the while to present titles from their annual slate of films—a lineup that seems to grow more impressive and adventurous with each ing year—to our filmgoing community. Whether you notice distributor logos at the beginning of a film or not, I guarantee you’ve seen several Magnolia Pictures titles here at the JBFC.

I’m so thrilled we are able to present this selection of films from Magnolia’s ouput over the last twenty years—an ittedly small fraction of their massive catalog of sensational work—and I’m delighted to have this series run right before we open Magnolia’s next great doc, the fabulous Bitterbrush, which comes from 2018 JBFC Artist-in-Residence Emelie Mahdavian and opens June 24.

But for now, I strongly encourage you to check out as many of these films as you can; it’s a solid mix of powerful, striking documentaries and groundbreaking, knock-out narratives. You can’t go wrong with anything in this lineup."

• Force Majeure
• The Host
• I Am Not Your Negro
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi
• Let the Right One In
• Man on Wire
• Melancholia
• Shoplifters
• the Girls
• Tangerine

• No Bears
• Turn Every Page - The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
• A Man Called Otto
• Living
• Roman Holiday

  70th Anniversary Screening as a part of the 'Movie Milestones' series.

  Screened on Feb 14.

REMIX is a year-round series examining the legacy of institutional racism and the black experience in film, media, and art. us for programs that will challenge perceptions, inspire dialogue, and celebrate the richness and breadth of cinema that is too often overlooked. Catch up on what we showed in 2022, including films from our "To Sidney, with Love: The Films of Sidney Poitier" retrospective!

Remix is presented with from ArtsWestchester, as well as generous from the National Endowment for the Arts.

• Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years 1984-1992
• Chameleon Street
• Eyes on the Prize
• Faya Dayi
• Set It Off
• Tongues Untied
• No Regret
• A Raisin in the Sun
• A Warm December
• Buck and the Preacher

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

JBFC Kids programming introduces young audiences to film by celebrating cherished stories both new and old, revisiting those that are overlooked, and highlighting cultures from around the world. It is our mission to cultivate a new generation of cinema lovers who appreciate, engage, and learn through facilitated talkbacks and a sense of community.

JBFC Kids events offer a welcoming space for young people and their families to experiment, play, and learn filmmaking techniques and concepts through hands-on activities.

Check out the films we showed as part of JBFC Kids in 2022!

JBFC Kids is presented in partnership with the Westchester Library System.

• An American Tail
• Cats Don't Dance
• Charlotte's Web
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Encanto
• My Neighbor Totoro
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• The Boxtrolls
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
• The Lego Movie

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

As awards season kicks into high gear, what better way to celebrate the cinematic medium than by highlighting all the films that moved us in 2022? We compiled “Best of 2022” lists from staff across the Jacob Burns Film Center, and proudly present the full list here! Featuring a wide range of titles that made us laugh, cry, grow, think, reflect, and cheer, this compilation of lists is a testament to our staff’s undying love for film, and the ways it can bring us together—especially when we’ve been apart for so long.

Want to see who chose which film? Check out our staff ' individual lists on the JBFC blog! bit.ly/3ZN8ehW

• Aftersun
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
• The Automat
• The Banshees of Inisherin
• The Batman
• The Bob's Burgers Movie
• Bodies Bodies Bodies
• Bones and All
• Brian and Charles
• Bros

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In celebration of the JBFC's 19th birthday on Sunday, June 21, 2020, we've put together a few curated watchlists to encapsulate the quintessential JBFC experience and enable you to celebrate with us from home. Get started with this sampling of new release films we've screened, shared, and enjoyed over the past 19 years!

• Brokeback Mountain

  Opened as a new release in 2005, and screened as part of Adapted: Page to Screen in 2019.

• Whale Rider

  Originally opened as a new release, and is now a mainstay of the JBFC Education Film Library.

• Persepolis

  Opened as a new release in 2007 before going on to become a mainstay of the JBFC Education Film Library; the film returned in 2017 for a week of screenings in of The Seventh Art Stand, an ongoing act of cinematic solidarity against Islamophobia and the Muslim Ban.

• Slumdog Millionaire

  Opened as a new release; filmmaker Danny Boyle and actor Dev Patel subsequently ed us for a JBFC Live Q&A.

• Dogtooth

  Opened as a new release before winning the Foreign Language Film Oscar. We’ve gone on to open multiple films by Lanthimos since, including THE LOBSTER and THE FAVOURITE.

• Meek's Cutoff

  Initially screened as part of Catching Up in 2011. In 2017, filmmaker Kelly Reichardt ed Jonathan Demme at the JBFC for a Saddle Up Saturdays screening that, unbeknownst to us at the time, would ultimately become Demme’s last Q&A at the JBFC.

• Beasts of the Southern Wild

  Opened as a new release; filmmaker Ben Zeitlin participated in multiple JBFC Educational programs.

• Manchester by the Sea

  One of our most successful new releases of all time!

• Embrace of the Serpent

  Opened as a new release before going on to screen as part of Programmers' Picks the following year.

• Parasite

  Our most successful new release of 2019 comes from director Bong Joon-ho, who was an International Artist-in-Residence at the JBFC back in 2015, during which time he worked on pre-production for OKJA.

In celebration of the JBFC's 19th birthday on Sunday, June 21, 2020, we've put together a few curated watchlists so you can party with us from home. Get started with this sampling of films that encapsulate the quintessential JBFC experience, from repertory classics and holiday traditions to special events and one-of-a-kind cinematic presentations.

• Big Night

  The first film *ever* screened at the Burns, BIG NIGHT graced screens in our opening week back in 2001 before returning as part of Film to Table in 2019.

• Spirited Away

  A beloved classic, SPIRITED AWAY has screened multiple times at the Burns, first as part of Movies for Kids (and their Families)—later known as JBFC Kids—and most recently as part of The Meditative Life in 2019.

• Roman Holiday

  A recurring Valentine's Day favorite!

• Black Orpheus

  Screened as part of Jazz Sessions across multiple years, most recently on 35mm in 2019.

• It's a Wonderful Life

  Screens annually as part of our holiday programming.

• Metropolis

  Screened in 2005 as part of The Golden Age of German Cinema, accompanied by a live score.

• Le Cercle Rouge

  LE CERCLE ROUGE has screened in multiple series, popping up every few years at the JBFC since our opening. Most recently, it screened on 35mm as part of Melville at 100 in 2018.

• The Searchers

  Screened as part of Steven Spielberg and Some of His Favorites in 2011, and again during Saddle Up Saturdays with Jonathan Demme in 2016-2017.

• Paris, Texas

  Screened as part of Around the World in 18 Films in 2014, and again during Wim Wenders: Portraits Along the Road in 2016.

• Pete Seeger: The Power of Song

  Screened as part of Focus on Nature in 2019, followed by a live performance of some of Seeger’s beloved songs.

In celebration of the JBFC's 19th birthday on Sunday, June 21, 2020, we've put together a few curated watchlists to encapsulate the quintessential JBFC experience and enable you to celebrate with us from home. Get started with this sampling of films we've screened, shared, and enjoyed in our unique, carefully curated film series and festivals over the past 19 years!

• Jazz on a Summer's Day

  Screened as part of Jazz Sessions across multiple years.

• Stop Making Sense

  Screened multiple years as part of After Dark, and now screens annually as part of Sounds of Summer, a tradition established in 2017 in memory of the late, beloved filmmaker and JBFC community member Jonathan Demme.

• Bonnie and Clyde

  Screened as part of Pictures at a Revolution in our early years, and now shows up regularly at the Burns - the theater scene serves as the basis for one of our No Talking PSAs!

• Devil in a Blue Dress

  Screened as part of International Noir in 2009 and REMIX: The Black Experience in Film, Media, and Art in 2019.

• Ran

  Screened as part of ongoing series Retro Revival.

• Modern Times

  Screened as part of our Charlie Chaplin series in 2011, and has screened as part of JBFC Kids in multiple years since.

• Wadjda

  Screened as part of Contemporary Arab Cinema in 2014, and is now a mainstay of the JBFC Education Film Library.

• Heart of a Dog

  Screened as part of Programmers' Picks in 2015, and later as part of The Meditative Life in 2019.

• Ishtar

  Screened as part of the 2016 Westchester Jewish Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Elaine May, as part of our 2016 WJFF spotlight on May's career.

• Grey Gardens

  Screened as part of year-round series Senior Afternoon Cinema in 2019.

In celebration of the JBFC's 19th birthday on Sunday, June 21, 2020, we've put together a few curated watchlists to encapsulate the quintessential JBFC experience and enable you to celebrate with us from home. Get started with this sampling of documentaries we've screened, shared, and enjoyed in the past 19 years!

• Spellbound

  Screened as part of "Best of Current Documentaries" in 2003.

• Neil Young: Heart of Gold

  Opened as a New Release at the JBFC, and later provided the theme for a JBFC Gala honoring Neil Young.

• Taxi to the Dark Side

  Screened as part of Global Watch in 2007; we've welcomed filmmaker Alex Gibney to the Burns multiple times since!

• Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened...

  Screened as part of Life on the Stage: Conversation and Film in 2016, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Lonny Price, actress Liz Callaway, and JBFC Board Member/series Dori Berinstein.

• Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

  Opened as a new release in 2018, and also screened as part of the 2018 Westchester Jewish Film Festival, during which filmmaker Alexandra Dean ed us for JBFC Live Q&A.

• The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

  Screened as part of Global Watch in 2011 and as part of REMIX: The Black Experience in Film, Media, and Art in 2019.

• 20 Feet from Stardom

  Opened as a new release in 2013 and later screened as part of Sounds of Summer.

• The Act of Killing

  Screened as part of Global Watch in 2013.

• Meru

  Screened as part of Programmers' Picks in 2015, followed by a JBFC Live Q&A with the filmmakers.

• I Am Not Your Negro

  Opened as a new release in 2016-2017; now streaming as part of the JBFC’s “Three Essential Documentaries” spotlight here: burnsfilmcenter.org/three-essential-documentaries/

We're thrilled to share another contribution to our fantastic lineup of staff watchlists, this time from Creative Culture Director Sean Weiner, who notes that this list "is certainly one for a time of quarantine but, I guess, less as it concerns the theme of the films and more of a 'Reflections from a Sean watching films in Quarantine' list." Click on each film for streaming details!

• The Apartment

  Available on Prime Video
  The tale of a ladder-climber at a Manhattan insurance firm who proffers his flat to higher up execs for their extramarital affairs. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine work magic with director Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s quick-witted screenplay. More than a classic, this unexpectedly dark comedy pioneers with its critical examination of corporate culture’s ill effects on human behavior.

• Atlantics

  Available on Netflix.
  While in quarantine I have spent time watching filmmakers’ first features. Mati Diop’s 2019 debut, Atlantiques is a seaside love story set in modern day Dakar — where my mother was born. It’s a thrilling story unafraid of bending genre in that refreshing way a few filmmakers (think Jordan Peele, Yorgos Lanthimos) have been doing as of late. Certainly a film to watch without reading about ahead of time.

• Certified Copy

  Available on Prime Video
  The gift of film is that there are always life-changing stories to discover that you have missed. I finally saw this film as part of a Kiarostami retrospective at the JBFC last year. In it, the Iranian master tells what seems like a straightforward story of two folks getting to know each other over a single day (think Linklater’s Before Sunset) that then thrillingly warps into a filmic exploration of authenticity in art as in love.

• Corpo Celeste

  Available on Kanopy
  Continuing my tour of first features, auteur Alice Rorwacher has quickly rooted herself as a profound mirror on present-day Italian identity. Corpo Celeste tells the parallel coming-of-age stories of teen Marta and the Catholic Church in Italy. A film stunning in its world-building, craftsmanship, patience and subtlety — all things terribly rare in a debut feature.

• Groundhog Day

  Available on Netflix
  Imagine repeating the same day over and over again? Oh right, that’s everyday now. This one hits a bit differently in the time of Covid. Legend has it an early version of the film rooted the plot’s fantastic cycles in a shaman’s curse at the film’s outset (a very 90’s culturally obtuse story mechanism). Brilliance is realized in discarding that mechanism transforming Phil Connors’ curse from mystical to existential. Also, a babyfaced Michael Shannon plays a bit role!

• Honeyland

  Available on Hulu and Prime Video
  Real life has a habit of unfolding in more compelling ways than fiction. In what I believe was last year’s best documentary, Honeyland takes us to an isolated mountain deep in the Balkans where the last female wild beekeeper in Europe, Hatidze Muratova, lives with her ailing mother in a village without roads, electricity or running water.

• In the Mood for Love

  Available on Criterion
  This week marked 20 year’s since its premiere at Cannes. A poetic masterpiece that takes us to crowded 1960’s Hong Kong and two neighbors whose spouses are having an affair. Things to die for: the lyrical camerawork, the deep sadness, the exquisite cheongsams, the Nat King Cole soundtrack. This film changed everything for me and it is my life’s duty to share it with as many folks as possible. Spending time in Wong Kar Wai’s world is heavenly.

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

  Available on Prime Video
  In search of an hours eater in this moment, I recently watched all twelve and half hours of Lord of the Rings: Extended Version as if it were a series instead of three absurdly long films — an hour or so a time. It was delightful! And, in more reasonably sized portions, the magnitude of information is digestible and the film’s devastatingly brilliant craftsmanship can be appreciated.

• Never Rarely Sometimes Always

  Available on Prime Video
  Lost in this unprecedented time are phenomenal films that we should have been gathering in a theater to watch together. This is one of them. If you have not seen films from master of nuance Eliza Hittman — you’ve been missing out. In her third feature, a young woman challenged by an unplanned pregnancy travels with her cousin across state lines to NYC. A quiet narrative that harvests wisdom from the exploration of the everyday.

• Your Sister's Sister

  Available on Prime Video
  A week ago, the independent film world lost a cherished filmmaker in Lynn Shelton. Inspired by Claire Denis’ story of becoming a filmmaker later in life, Shelton followed suit and steadily made heartfelt comedies that transcended the genre in their investigation of intimacy. Your Sister’s Sister was recommended to me by so many after we learned of Shelton’s ing. I’ll be watching as soon as I can and so should you.

• Little Women
• Integration Report 1
• I Am Somebody
• The Rest I Make Up
• Clemency
• Atlantics
• A Sister
• Brotherhood
• Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)
• Life Overtakes Me

...plus 25 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• 20 Feet from Stardom
• A Private War
• A Separation
• Anna Karenina
• Annie Hall
• The Big Sick
• Booksmart
• Casablanca
• Children of a Lesser God
• The Conversation

...plus 48 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The entire team at the Jacob Burns Film Center and I are thinking about our community at this strange time, as we learn to pause our usual routines and change our habits for the health of ours and all communities around the globe.

I will miss welcoming and engaging with you, filmmakers, and other special guests at the 2020 Westchester Jewish Film Festival, but I’m eager to share with you ten fabulous hits from recent WJFFs. Thanks to Menemsha Films, a distributor that the Jacob Burns Film Center works with throughout the year and most especially during WJFF, these films can be rented or purchased for a discount on iTunes and Amazon Prime.

We look forward to welcoming you back at the JBFC soon and hope that the 2020 Westchester Jewish Film Festival can be rescheduled for later this year.

Bruni Burres, festival curator, Westchester Jewish Film Festival

• 1945
• Across the Waters
• In Search of Israeli Cuisine
• The Interpreter
• Let Yourself Go
• Mr. Kaplan
• Rabin in His Own Words
• Streit's: Matzo and the American Dream
• The Waldheim Waltz
• The Women's Balcony

• Mary Queen of Scots
• On the Basis of Sex
• Capernaum
• Birds of age
• Liyana
• Woman Walks Ahead
• Night Comes On
• Edgecombe
• You Were Never Really Here
• Happy as Lazzaro

...plus 45 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Making the theater-going experience inviting for kids.

• The Iron Giant
• Liyana
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales
• The Book of Life
• Rookie of the Year
• The Land Before Time
• Pedicab
• Babies
• The Princess Bride

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Breadwinner
• Novitiate
• Faces Places
• Swallows and Amazons
• Children of a Lesser God
• The Party
• Lady Bird
• The Rape of Recy Taylor
• Wasted! The Story of Food Waste
• Miss Kiet's Children

...plus 57 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This series represents our commitment to the world of retrospective cinema. Every month we will present remastered or rereleased versions of great films from the history of cinema that we’ve always wanted to experience together with a crowd of fans.

• The Deer Hunter
• When You Read This Letter
• The Producers
• Andrei Rublev
• The Big Chill
• A Fistful of Dollars
• Jenny Lamour
• Le Corbeau
• Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
• Affliction

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These filmed screened at the Jacob Burns Film Center in 2017 were directed or codirected by women filmmakers.

• Breaking News
• That Trip We Took with Dad
• The Breadwinner
• Almost a Woman
• Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars
• Bob Dylan - Trouble No More
• Lady Bird
• Unrest
• In the Steps of Trisha Brown
• Bobbi Jene

...plus 71 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These filmed screened at the Jacob Burns Film Center in 2016 were directed or codirected by women filmmakers.

• The Uncondemned
• Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing
• 13th
• Alive and Kicking
• Certain Women
• A Revolution in Four Seasons
• Things to Come
• American Honey
• Sonita
• The Dressmaker

...plus 50 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This abundantly diverse selection showcases brilliant musical acts and soulful characters.

• Monterey Pop
• Two Trains Runnin'
• Jimi Plays Monterey
• Shake! Otis at Monterey
• The Last Waltz
• Buena Vista Social Club
• Samba & Jazz
• Gimme Danger
• Stop Making Sense
• I Am The Blues

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

An exploration of thinking, being, loving, and living—and the ways ideas about consciousness and spirituality are seeping into our understanding of health, aging, and life in general.

• Sacred
• Golden Kingdom
• A Night at the Opera
• Seven Songs for a Long Life
• The Last Shaman
• Portrait of a Garden
• The Happy Film
• The Sunshine Makers
• Notes on Blindness

Our annual program celebrates all things jazz with an opening night party in honor of Louis Armstrong and four nights of film and live performances—by the Alphonso Horne Quartet, the John Pizzarelli Quartet (with special guest Ken Peplowski), the Terell Stafford Quintet, and pianist/composer Fred Hersch. Plus, a definitive new documentary about John Coltrane.

Jazz Sessions is programmed by Kathy Bonomi.

Jazz Sessions is sponsored by Adam R. Rose and Peter R. McQuillan

• Chasing Trane
• I Called Him Morgan
• The Ballad of Fred Hersch

Wild at Heart and Weird on Top: A Tribute to David Lynch
by JBFC Marketing Manager Paige Grand Pré

When I heard the news that David Lynch had ed, it took everything in me not to weep at my desk. As with David Bowie’s death, it was shocking simply because it was hard to even think of David Lynch as mortal; he seemed to exist on another plane of existence entirely, one far removed from the trifling, quotidian troubles of us mere humans. The fact that I have a “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign bobblehead mounted atop my desktop computer only made reading tributes to him throughout the day harder. Yet I couldn’t help thinking that Lynch would’ve loved the cruelly ironic juxtaposition of my goofy bobblehead against the brutal finality of his obituary. I realized Lynch’s death was hard to process not only because his works have meant so much to me over the years, but also because he had literally recalibrated the way I think about film, art, and life—even now, after his ing, I was comforting myself with the thought that he’d like the dark humor of my desktop tableau, as though he was an old friend I knew intimately and not a celebrity with whom I’d never spoken.

So much has already been said about David Lynch as a visionary: how he seamlessly blended the morbid with the mundane to dazzling yet discomforting effect, how his vision was so singular, so unique, that “Lynchian” quickly became an adjective to describe the dark undercurrents that lurk beneath our placid, petty existence. After all, how many other artists have created their own genre?

He was a visionary in the purest sense of the word, but he was also so much more. He was a gateway drug for movie lovers dipping a toe into the world of art films, a conduit that brought magical realism to the masses, an enigmatic idol around whom oddballs convalesced and over whom they bonded, and a true lover of life. He was occasionally criticized for being too opaque, too abstract, too avant-garde. But these critiques conflate surrealism with inaccessibility, which couldn’t be further from the truth. To Lynch, the more abstract an idea, the more people could engage with it—precisely because it defied straightforward interpretation. For someone who is arguably the most famous and impactful art film director of all time, he was violently allergic to pretentiousness.
For Lynch, a nonconformist whose eccentricities made other misfits feel less alone, there is no distinction between high and low art. How else could he have created heavy-hitting cinematic masterpieces like Mulholland Drive (2001) or Blue Velvet (1986) while also elevating the melodrama of soap operas to the status of art films with Twin Peaks (1990-1991) and Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)? Many posthumous tributes have noted how, despite Lynch’s demonstrated eloquence, he rarely commented on or analyzed his own work. As Kyle MacLachlan noted, “words were insufficient;” he’d released it in the language of cinema, after all, and believed that the work spoke for itself. The work wasn’t even necessarily meant to be understood or analyzed—it was to be felt, experienced, absorbed, pondered, replayed over and over as you tried (surely, in vain) to answer all the questions it raised. Don’t understand a Lynch film? Good. That’s the point.

That’s the beauty of David Lynch—never wanting to “put his thumb on the scale,” he vehemently resisted explicit explanations of his work, and rejected suggestions that there was any one single interpretation of his narratives. He wanted us to project our own meaning onto his art, hoped that we would parse out themes and ideas that even he hadn’t considered, and loved the idea that a single work could produce such a multitude of interpretations. That way, his work could mean something to everyone—which is, I think, why Lynch’s death has produced such profound and widespread mourning among art and film fans of all ages, and why his works will continue to resonate for generations to come. No one individual holds a monopoly on understanding Lynch’s work—David Lynch is for everyone.

But even more than that, I think what makes David Lynch—as an artist and an individual—such an enduring figure is the fact that at the core of all these dark, twisted works that probed the depths of our souls was a loving individual whose joie de vivre was so saccharine it almost seemed insincere. He took pleasure in the little things—coffee, cigarettes, local radio stations, pieces of pie, sunshine—and encouraged others to do so, too. He approached every aspect of his art, relationships with others, and life with a level of endearing enthusiasm that feels almost ironic for a “serious” artist of his stature. But he was as genuine as they come. He navigated the world with a sense of childlike wonder and uninhibited joy, but the darkness of his works makes clear that this eagerness and sincerity was not the product of naïveté. To be sure, he understood the depths of despair all too well; rather, his optimism was the result of staring into the void and hoping—nay, believing—that we could be better. That even in darkness, there is light. That pain, trauma, horror, and agony coexist with joy, triumph, laughter, and love. And in the space in between? That’s where art lives. Lynch was not afraid to feel things—he just wanted us all to feel them, too.
By all s, he was a pleasure to work and spend time with. He had his crews on set applaud every performance after a scene had wrapped, and he told people—from muses and frequent collaborators to mere extras just ing through—that he loved them, early and often. He argued that no one should suffer for their art: that there is enough suffering in the world already, an artist needn’t be tortured to create something of value, and that suffering may even inhibit the creative process to the point where pain is unproductive. He reminded artists to practice self-care before the concept had even really entered the zeitgeist. He encouraged others to meditate in hopes of finding inner peace or healing, to know thy selves, to dive deep in search of inspiration, to make art—however bad—in an attempt to express yourself, to “fix your hearts or die.”

It is Lynch’s unshakeable belief in the cathartic power of art, and the importance of creating art for art’s sake, that makes him such an anomaly in an increasingly commercialized artistic landscape—and exactly what makes him so worthy of hero worship. David Lynch is an artist’s artist and a filmmaker’s filmmaker, but above all else he saw, believed in, and encouraged the artist in all of us. How lucky we are to have shared the sky with a star that burned so bright.

Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.

DAVID LYNCH FOREVER.