AUTHOR: ANNE MORRA

Filmoteca de Catalunya in Barcelona

Chief film curator Rajendra Roy and I attended the 69th congress of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), in Barcelona, Spain, April 21–27. Each year the member and associate film archives convene in a city where the annual congress is hosted by a local FIAF institution Read more

Nick Adams and Andy Griffith in No Time for Sergeants. 1958. USA. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy

I may be a film curator, but I certainly haven’t seen every film ever made. First, such an aspiration is impossible. When do you do the laundry? Second, discovering a film one has not yet seen is too much fun to give up. Read more

Montgomery Clift collection film cans. Photo by Art Wehrhahn, Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center manager

The provenance of a work of art is an important part of the acquisition process. What is a provenance? By definition, the noun provenance—with respect to art and archeological specimens—is a place or source of origin. Read more

Robert Brownjohn. Preparatory study for Goldfinger title sequence. 1964. Silver-gelatin print. Photograph by Herbert Spencer. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Don Goeman. © 2012 Eliza Brownjohn

The 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger is not only an exhilarating classic of the spy genre, but also a recurring influence in art and popular culture. During the month of October, visitors to MoMA can experience the Goldfinger phenomenon in a variety of distinct configurations. Read more

Last year my colleagues Juliet Kinchin and Aidan O’Connor invited me to think about organizing a discrete film exhibition in conjunction with their gallery exhibition, Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900–2000. Read more

D. W. Griffith. A Corner in Wheat. 1909. USA. Film: 35mm, black-and-white, silent, approx. 15 min. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Actinograph Corp. Preserved with funding from The Lillian Gish Trust for Film Preservation

Ripped from the headlines! Based on a true story!

Oftentimes the story on which a film is based derives from real life events. Inspiration from actual historic or contemporaneous incidents is not a new phenomenon in the cinema. Read more

The Story of Temple Drake. 1933. USA. Directed by Stephen Roberts

As part of The Museum of Modern Art’s multiyear institutional collaboration with the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, I was invited to curate a film series that would give filmgoers in Atlanta an opportunity to view historic and contemporary cinematic treasures from MoMA’s Department of Film collection. Read more

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Un Chien andalou. 1928. France. 35mm print, black and white, silent, approx. 16 min. Gift of Luis Buñuel

Between 1964 and 1966 Andy Warhol commenced an ambitious project in which he would photograph, using 16mm motion picture film, his Factory superstars, art world luminaries, underground celebrities, fashionistas, rock and roll gods, bold-faced Hollywood names, drag queens, and aimless teenagers who gravitated to the avant garde, Pop art world of New York in the mid-1960s. Read more

Bye Bye Birdie. 1963. USA. Directed by George Sidney

As a regular contributor to Inside/Out, I endeavor to bring topics related to MoMA’s Department of Film and cinema history to you, the reader. I am always interested in talking and writing about films, debating their aesthetic merits, content, form, performances—and I am also very curious to know which films my colleagues across the Museum are seeing, and why. Read more