exploratorium

The Cinema Arts Program

Approaching movies as an active viewing experience, staff in the Cinema Arts Program view the projection screen as a portal to investigation. We engage with filmmakers who create works that inspire the imagination and instigate conversation. Animation, documentary, poetic observations, and abstract visuals serve a broad spectrum of curious audiences while blending the methods and aesthetics of artists and scientists. Through our programming, we aim to provide an opportunity for visitors to explore the compelling people, places, and ideas that extend through the museum and beyond. Our collection of films and events offer a rich resource for public audiences, and also provide an important research collection for both our teaching programs and exhibit development teams.

Daytime Tickets
After Dark Tickets
Plan Your Visit

Upcoming Events
At Home: Prelinger Archives Home Movie Collection

Tuesday, January 7–Sunday, February 2, 2020

These selections showcase personal stories with universal appeal. From families traveling to far-flung landscapes to birthday parties for toddlers, these intimate films made by strangers feel quite familiar.

Feb
1
Cinema Arts: Color Visions

Saturday, February 1, 2020 • Noon and 2:00 p.m.

In this collection of shorts, watch vibrant colors pop off the screen that reflect the pigments of the natural world, conjure saturated landscapes, and creatively display the rainbow spectrum. 

Feb
2
Cinema Arts: Color Visions

Sunday, February 2, 2020 • Noon and 2:00 p.m.

In this collection of shorts, watch vibrant colors pop off the screen that reflect the pigments of the natural world, conjure saturated landscapes, and creatively display the rainbow spectrum. 

Past Events
Brent Green and Sam Green: Live Cinema

Friday, May 13, 2016 • 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.

Join animator Brent Green and Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Sam Green where they'll combine the energy and immediacy of a rock show with the storytelling magic of cinema. They’ll alternate screening short works and share a stellar band.

After Dark: 5-12-2016
After Dark

Thursday, May 12, 2016 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Join us for Brent Green and Sam Green: Live Cinema, a rare collaboration combining the energy of a rock show with the storytelling magic of cinema, and Pairings: Seaweed, a robust presentation and refreshing conversation to inspire your scientific palate alongside a delectable tasting menu.

After Dark: 4-21-2016
After Dark

Thursday, April 21, 2016 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Join us for Playback 1966, presented in collaboration with BAVC, a special symposium celebrating the media art innovations of John Sanborn, Skip Sweeney, and Jane Veeder. Or come be in your elements with Exploratorium host and scientific raconteur Ron Hipschman for Everything Matters: Aluminum.

Saturday Cinema: Navajo Math Circles

Saturday April 16, 2016 • 2:00 p.m

Navajo Math Circles (2016, 58 min.) by George Csicsery follows Navajo students through the course of their studies in lively collaboration with mathematicians from around the country.
Saturday Cinema: Rites of Spring

Saturday, April 9, 2016 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Dancing flowers, burgeoning growth, and a joyous harmonics of color and sound greet the new season in this fresh selection of films combining vibrant imagery and innovative techniques to highlight rituals of spring.
Sense and Place

Saturday, April 2, 2016 • 7:00pm

Exploratorium Cinema Arts presents an interactive array of short films designed to inspire wonder, play, and discovery in our favorite offsite outdoor venue, PROXY. Many of these visual delights have rarely screened outside the museum.
Saturday Cinema: Circular Logic

Saturday, March 19, 2016 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Using round frames and swirling imagery, these films celebrate the circle. Roll through singular stories and abstract animation in this engaging program of circular shorts.

After Dark: 3-17-2016
After Dark

Thursday, March 17, 2016 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Reinvent your Thursday nights at After Dark. Experience a fascinating array of unique, adult-only programs and events that change each week. Grab dinner by the Bay, play with hundreds of hands-on exhibits, crawl through our pitch-black Tactile Dome, sip cocktails, and explore.
Saturday Cinema: Kiddie Matinee
Trailers from the Academy Vaults

Saturday, March 5, 2016 • 2:00 p.m.

Join us for a family-friendly trek through a delightful, but often forgotten, facet of cinema history. Cassie Blake, an Academy film archivist, will present a one-of-a-kind trailer show curated from the world’s largest known collection of coming attractions on film.

After Dark: Extended Cinemas
After Dark: Extended Cinemas

Thursday, March 3, 2016 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Listen, peer, touch, and interact as Exploratorium Cinema Arts takes over museum spaces to provide experiences—both on and off the screen—created by artists and filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond. 
Saturday Cinema: Experimental Films for Kids

Saturday, February 27, 2016 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

This family-friendly introduction to the mind-expanding potential of alternative cinema features seminal works from the history of avant-garde filmmaking as well as new works highlighting technological and narrative innovations.
After Dark

Thursday, February 18, 2016 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Reinvent your Thursday nights at After Dark. Experience a fascinating array of unique, adult-only programs and events that change each week. Grab dinner by the Bay, play with hundreds of hands-on exhibits, crawl through our pitch-black Tactile Dome, sip cocktails, and explore.

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