The Mahabharata (8K)

In October 1987, BAM made New York theater history by staging English director Peter Brook’s nine-hour adaptation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata in a long-dormant Fulton Street theater rechristened the BAM Majestic. It’s fitting that the same venue—now known as the Harvey Theater at BAM Strong—proudly hosts Brook’s 1989 film adaptation of that historic production on the Steinberg Screen. Marking the late director’s centenary in 2025, the film is screening in a stunning new 8K restoration undertaken by his son, Simon Brook, which premiered in the Official Selection of the 2024 Venice Film Festival.

Shot in Paris and condensed from its original form to a more concise yet still sweeping cinematic experience, The Mahabharata features an international cast performing in English in an artful distillation of the foundational Hindu epic. Focused on a conflict between two families descended from the same royal house, the film depicts a bitter rivalry that explodes into war, with victory achieved at an unthinkable cost.

New 8K restoration