Programs
Film
Presenting classic films, premieres, festivals, and retrospectives, with appearances by filmmakers, actors, and critics.
“[A] vital arts center…dedicated to forgotten and overlooked…directors." —Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
Leadership support for BAM Film programs
provided by The
Thompson Family Foundation
Major support for BAM Film provided by the Ford Foundation
In the name of independence and sisterhood, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists with a little help from her friends.
This wickedly dark comedy from director Zachary Wigon (The Heart Machine) follows a dominatrix and her wealthy client as they engage in a high stakes role playing game for power and control.
From acclaimed filmmaker Nicole Holofcener comes a sharply observed comedy about a novelist whose long standing marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband give his honest reaction to her latest book
This special screening celebrates the 20th anniversary of Animation Block Party, the East Coast’s largest animation festival, featuring past festival winners, bonus animated exclusives, behind-the-scenes footage, and much more.
These cinematic masterpieces—all over the three-hour mark—are sprawling in ambition, but rich and resonant in their observation and human insight.
A fireman-in-training embarks on a passionate, radical romance with his instructor in this queer love story from the incomparable Portuguese auteur João Pedro Rodrigues.
Historian Quinn Slobodian and writer Hari Kunzru discuss how hypercapitalism has destabilized democracy and present a secret 1978 libertarian film, in honor of the publication of Slobodian’s Crack-Up Capitalism.
This retrospective gathers acclaimed filmmaker Natalia Almada’s personal and political examinations of recent Mexican history as her latest feature, the Sundance winner Users, opens at BAM.
Screened at BAMcinemaFest 2022, Happer’s Comet is a dreamlike, gentle, and strangely ominous meditation on late-night life in a quiet Long Island town.
This documentary by director Alexandre Philippe offers a side door into David Lynch’s mind by examining his body of work through the lens of one of his greatest cinematic influences, The Wizard of Oz.
The attendees of a Junior Stargazer convention in a desert town are confronted with world-changing events in Wes Anderson’s panoramic, 50s-era comedy, led by Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Hanks.
With gorgeous, lived-in street photography and stylish performances, this heartbreaking film centers on a community of street preachers, sex workers, dealers, and users in Juliet Berto’s directorial debut.
Join us for an advance screening of Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama in this special double-feature event that pairs the film with Michael Haneke’s Code Unknown, a key influence on the writer-director’s debut.
Acclaimed musician Mdou Moctar is effortlessly cool as a guitarist struggling to make it against all odds in this ingenious and deliriously entertaining remake of Purple Rain, set in Niger’s Tuareg guitar scene.
This year's program of recently-restored masterpieces brings together work from Claire Denis, Peter Greenaway, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Yvonne Rainer, Cauleen Smith, Orson Welles, and more.
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, this pulse-pounding film tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the enigmatic physicist who conceptualized and led the effort to create the atom bombs that changed the trajectory of World War II.
In writer-director Celine Song’s debut film, two deeply connected childhood friends who were pulled apart when one of them emigrated from South Korea to the United States reunite decades later as adults.
Cate Blanchett gives a career-high performance as a renowned composer in Todd Field’s drama.
Artist Nan Goldin fights to hold the Sacklers accountable for the opioid crisis.
From Darren Aronofsky, a story about a recluse who attempts to reconnect with his daughter.
Sarah Polley’s drama of religious crisis with Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, and Frances McDormand.
Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva star in Damien Chazelle’s tale of excess in 20s LA.
A poignant journey through Whitney Houston’s trailblazing life, career, and beloved hits.
A documentary exploring the 50-year relationship between a writer and his longtime editor.
A retelling of the life of Pauli Murray, pioneering attorney, activist, priest, and writer.
Activists try to save the world with a public meeting in Back to Back Theatre’s dark comedy.
Rare portraits of the transformative writer in London, Istanbul, and Paris—newly restored.
Explore the path-breaking filmmaker’s formally inventive, fearlessly personal body of work.
A young widowed mother also cares for her sick father while falling for her married friend.
Haile Gerima’s blistering, elaborately stylized Afrocentric interrogation of the past.
Celebrate the richness of Caribbean cinema with a weekend festival of deeply personal works.
Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and a runaway leopard collide in this screwball classic.
Tales of sexual awakening, friendship, and existential revelation told in singular styles.
These international shorts explore estrangement, desire, fear, and the vastness of nature.
A series exploring life writing in cinema—and recent shifts in creation and representation.
Rebel and misfit Emily Brontë finds her literary voice and falls in love in this sleek drama.
Discover the best in recent Polish cinema with this festival of boundary-pushing new works.
An incarcerated Mexican migrant shares his life story of multilayered border crossings.
A reckless young woman visits her birth country for the first time in this riveting drama.
Unreleased footage shows Thelonious Monk’s battle to assert his personhood, on and off stage.
An expansive, genre-crossing look at filmmakers’ responses to our viral past and present.
Willem Dafoe takes a twisted descent into madness as an art thief trapped in a NYC penthouse.
True story: A woman changes history in 2012 by discovering the remains of King Richard III.
The first US retrospective of one of the most original cinematic voices in France today.
Inez and Terry keep their secret and bond after she kidnaps him from foster care in NYC.
Shohei Imamura’s fantastical love story is rich with magical realism, sensuality, and humor.
Michael Jordan's early partnership with Nike's basketball division, directed by Ben Affleck.
This series of rollicking adventures and cult curios is full of fury and queer AF.
A mysterious anti-colonial drama from Angolan-born Portuguese filmmaker Carlos Conceição.
Director Kelly Reichardt reunites with Michelle Williams, who plays a struggling sculptor.
A paranoid man embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother.
A Brazilian woman goes from prison to an all-female gang in radical political resistance.
The director is their own star in this globe-trotting series spanning the history of cinema.
A teen with albinism sets out to become a model, sparking a journey toward self-acceptance.
A gripping portrait of ethnic and economic resentments tearing at the fabric of a small town.
Multi-venue NYC showcase of experimental documentary and avant-garde film returns May 3—7.
A timid married man in Pakistan falls in love with a trans woman while working in a Bollywood style burlesque club.
Dive into the legendary Brazilian modernist novel Macunaíma at this special event.
Kasi Lemmons’ Southern Gothic stew of sex, lies, and voodoo—newly restored in 4K.
A definitive portrait of the WNBA as it evolves from fledgling venture to flourishing enterprise.
Nia Long and Larenz Tate scintillate in the ultimate Black romantic comedy.
The life of a young man in Phnom Penh is disrupted when his stable environment crumbles.
A woman returns home to care for her ailing mother, who she hasn’t seen in years.
This film follows the profound, complex relationship between two childhood friends who grew up together in an isolated mountainside village in Italy.
Three troubled teenagers go on the run after one of them accidentally kills a store clerk in Gregg Araki’s cornerstone queer classic.
A cinematic companion to the annual DanceAfrica, highlighting films from and about Ghana.
Parker Posey delivers one of her most beloved performances in this influential cult classic.