In 2007, Rajendra Roy joined The Museum of Modern Art as the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, a role in which he leads MoMA’s year-round initiatives to exhibit and preserve works from its collection of over 30,000 titles. In collaboration with colleagues at MoMA and partner institutions, he has organized numerous exhibitions, including Julia Reichert: 50 Years in Film (2019), “The Chelsea Girls” Exploded (2018), Teiji Furuhashi: Lovers (2016–17), Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (2016–17), Pedro Almodovar (2016), Bruce LaBruce (2015), Wim Wenders (2015), The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule (2013), Tim Burton (2010), and Mike Nichols (2009). For the Museum’s imprint, Roy authored (with Anke Leweke) The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule (2013).
Roy is a member of the selection committee for New Directors/New Films, presented annually with Film at Lincoln Center. He has also served on juries for organizations such as the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. In addition, he serves on the National Film Preservation Board and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences International Film Executive Committee, and he has lectured at events worldwide. he served as Director of Programming (2002–06) and Artistic Director (2006–07) for the Hamptons International Film Festival. From 2004 to 2008 he was the sole American member of the Competition Selection Committee of the Berlin International Film Festival.
From 1995 to 2002, Roy worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the Film and Media Arts Program, collaborating with curators to coordinate film, video, and new media exhibitions in New York, Bilbao, and Berlin. Exhibitions included The Worlds of Nam June Paik (2000), Between Shadows and Light: Italian Cinematography (2001), and Drama Queens: Women Behind the Camera (2001). From 1996 to 2000, he was Executive Director of the MIX Festival, one of the world’s longest-running experimental film and video festivals. Roy graduated from the University of California, San Diego, in 1994 with a BA in political science and French literature. He has contributed to Empire, Frieze, indieWIRE, Moving Pictures, Turbulences Video, and other publications.