Events & Activities

Films

Movies at a museum? We may not have popcorn, but we do screen thought-provoking art films and films that relate to special exhibitions or the Museum's collection. Topic experts introduce most screenings and lead a discussion after.

Films are free on a first-come, first-seated basis unless otherwise noted.

	Asian Arts Council Spring Film Series: Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Troops) May 16, 7pm Set in the Sumatran island of Belitong, Laskar Pelangi tells the story of 2 remarkable teachers and their 10 extraordinary students. Muslimah and Harfan struggle to keep their tiny school open in one of Indonesia's poorest districts. (in Indonesain with English subtitles) Laskar Pelangi was an official selection of the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. Runtime: 124 minutes. Watch trailer here. Film introduction by Chris Lundry, Assistant Research Professor for the Center for Strategic Communication at Arizona State University. His research is focused on Indonesia and East Timor, and he proofread and helped translate the English language version of Laskar Pelangi. Admission is FREE for Museum members, Asian Arts Council Members, and Students w/ ID. $5 Non-Member General Admission. Tickets available here. Presented by Asian Arts Council; Sponsored by Center for Asian Research at ASU
	Ab/Ex Film Series: Rothko's Rooms April 28, 1pm May 20, 1pm In the late 1940s and '50s, Mark Rothko (1903-70) was one of the leading American artists who created wall-scale abstract paintings that filled the viewer's field of vision and became a form of environment. Rothko spoke of wanting the spectator to feel inside the pictorial space, enveloped in his canvases' luminous colour and apparitional surfaces. Together with painters such as Barnett Newman and Clyfford Still, he wanted to express a sense of the sublime, an idea associated with religious awe, vastness and natural magnificence. Rothko's Rooms in part chronicles the long journey his so-called Seagram murals made from New York to the Tate Modern in London. Runtime: 60 min. Watch trailer here. 2 showtimes to choose from! Rothko's Rooms is part 4 of a 4 part film series chronicling Abstract Expressionism, the first important American art movement of the 20th century. Films in this series will run Feb - May. The Ab/Ex Film Series is brought to you by Ellen and Howard C. Katz.
	Local Film Community Panel May 30, 7pm Join us as we take the pulse of the local film community! Panelists and guests will be discussing the challenges and victories of the past year, the ups, the downs, where local film has been and where its going. Representatives from all sectors of the film world will be present, including film festivals, film schools, film exhibitors, and filmmaking. This event is FREE and open to the public. Confirmed panelists include: ● Kelly Aubey. Owner & Operator, FilmBar. ● Jason Carney. Executive Director, Phoenix Film Festival, Phoenix Film Foundation and Phoenix Film Society. ● Bob Marquis. Filmmaker and founder of Sailbear labs, Inc. ● Webb Pickersgill. Executive Director of IFP-Phoenix. Other guests to be announced soon!
	This American Life June 1, 7pm June 3, 2pm WBEZ Chicago's hit radio show This American Life comes to select movie screens nationwide this May. Host Ira Glass and popular contributors present stories, plus things you could never do on the radio - including dance, animation, video and more. Captured live May 10 and broadcast from the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the event will feature stories by David Rakoff and Glynn Washington, a new short film by Mike Birbiglia, music by OK Go, comedy by Tig Notaro, and special surprise guests.* Don't miss the opportunity to experience radio brought to life as This American Life is simulcast to Phoenix Art Musuem. *Event participants are subject to change 2 chances to see the show! ● Friday June 1st - 7pm ● Sunday June 3rd - 2pm Tickets are $15 for Museum Members and students w/ ID and $18 for General Admission. Tickets available here!
	Between The Folds June 2, 1pm The award–winning documentary Between the Folds chronicles the stories of ten fine artists and intrepid theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and scoffed at hard–earned graduate degrees—all to forge unconventional lives as modern–day paperfolders. As they converge on the unlikely medium of origami, these artists and scientists reinterpret the world in paper, and bring forth a bold mix of sensibilities towards art, expressiveness, creativity and meaning. And, together these offbeat and provocative minds demonstrate the innumerable ways that art and science come to bear as we struggle to understand and honor the world around us—as artists, scientists, creators, collaborators, preservers, and simply curious beings. "Luminously photographed", with a "haunting" original score featuring the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the film paints an arresting portrait of the mysterious creative threads that bind us all–fusing science and sculpture, form and function, ancient and new. Runtime: 60 min. Watch trailer here. Between the Folds is being shown in conjunction with Paper! on view May 26th - Sept 23rd. FREE for all guests.
	National Theatre Live: One Man, Two Guvnors June 10, 2pm As the National's smash hit One Man, Two Guvnors makes it way to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway this Spring you can watch an encore performance of the original production from London! In Richard Bean's hilarious English version update of Carlo Goldoni's classic Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters (updated from 18th Century Italy to Brighton in the swinging 1960s), sex, food and money are high on the agenda. Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancée's dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Holed up at The Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple. "Sheer, joyous pandemonium." - The Sunday Times "A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National's history." - The Guardian. "Slapstick, satire and gags galore: a classic comedy hilariously updated." - The Times of London. As a part of the National Theatre Live series, One Man, Two Guvnors will be recorded live in London and simulcast to the Museum. Phoenix Art Museum is the exclusive Phoenix-area venue for this thrilling series of great plays. Cost: $15 Museum Members, Arizona Theatre subscribers and students with ID; $18 general admission. Presented in high definition and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Runtime: TBD. Multi-ticket packages are also available! Tickets here! Presented by Arizona Theatre Company
	National Theatre Live: Frankenstein June 13, 7pm June 24, 2pm Back by popular demand! Phoenix Art Museum and National Theatre Live are thrilled to announce encore presentations of last year's smash hit Frankenstein. Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein's bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, forthcoming Dark Shadows) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Warhorse, BBC's Sherlock, forthcoming Star Trek sequel) alternate roles in Danny Boyle's (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) adaptation of the Mary Shelly classic. Both versions will be shown. ● Wednesday, June 13, 7pm – Version 1 (Jonny Lee Miller as the Monster, Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Frankenstein.) ● Sunday, June 24, 2pm – Version 2 (Benedict Cumberbatch as the Monster, Jonny Lee Miller as Dr. Frankenstein.) As a part of the National Theatre Live series, One Man, Two Guvnors will be recorded live in London and simulcast to the Museum. Phoenix Art Museum is the exclusive Phoenix-area venue for this thrilling series of great plays. Cost: $15 Museum Members, Arizona Theatre subscribers and students with ID; $18 general admission. Presented in high definition and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Runtime: TBD. Multi-ticket packages are also available! Tickets here. Presented by Arizona Theatre Company
	CF's Summer Film Series: It's not just black and white June 20, 7pm A video and mediated performance by Gregory Sale with videographer Jason Dillon For the first film in Contemporary Forum's 2012 Summer Film Festival, we will show a new work by Gregory Sales, who was awarded the 2011 Contemporary Forum Mid-Career Artist Award for his multidisciplinary and socially-engaged art practice. As part of the exhibition celebrating that award, he will present a video that grew out of his 2011 social art project It's not just black and white at Arizona State University Art Museum. That series of events examined civic justice and Arizona's penal systems in order to provide a context in which to think about punishment as a complex social system. FREE for all guests. Film 1 of 4 in Contemporary Forum's Annual Summer Film Series.
	Linotype: The Film July 8, 1pm The Linotype (pronounced "line-o-type") completely transformed the communication of information similarly to how the internet is now changing communication again. Although these machines were revolutionary, technology began to supersede the Linotype and they were scrapped and melted-down by the thousands. Today, very few machines are still in existence. The highly-skilled operators of the Linotype are in a battle against time. If their skills are not passed along to a new generation of operators, the machine will die completely. There is a small group of former operators that want to save the Linotype from the scrap yard, but some see this as a fruitless endeavor. Linotype: The Film is a feature-length documentary centered around the Linotype type casting machine. Called the "Eighth Wonder of the World" by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society. The film tells the charming and emotional story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it impacted the world. Runtime: 75 min. Watch trailer here. Linotype: The Film is being shown in conjunction with Paper! on view May 26th - Sept 23rd. Cost: FREE for Museum Members, $5 Non-members. Tickets available soon!
	The Tempest July 29, 2pm The Tempest, starring Academy-Award Winner Christopher Plummer will be captured live in high-definition at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada this June for simulcast in July. "Christopher Plummer is quite simply one of the greatest actors of our time, both on stage and on screen. The opportunity to see him as Prospero in The Tempest - one of the greatest roles ever written and one he has longed to play - is nothing short of historic." - Des McAnuff, Artistic Director, Stratford Shakespeare Festival. The Tempest pits the desire for revenge against the demands of love and asks if man is capable of creating a brave new world. The story focuses on Prospero (Christopher Plummer), the banished Duke of Milan. Marooned on a distant island with his daughter, Miranda (Trish Lindström), Prospero has spent twelve years perfecting his magic arts. Now, with the help of the spirit Ariel (Julyana Soelistyo), he raises a storm at sea, bringing within his grasp the enemies who robbed him of his dukedom. In addition to the 131 minute presentation of the theatrical play, the presentation will include a 20 minute Q&A with Christopher Plummer (also to be captured live). Watch trailer here. Cost: $15 Museum Members, students with ID; $18 general admission. Presented in high definition and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Runtime: approx 155 minutes. Multi-ticket packages are also available! Tickets available soon.