Masks are required for all visitors 2+. Vaccines recommended. Plan your visit
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.
Saturday, June 18–Monday, September 5, 2022
Celebrate the spirit of playfulness in moviemaking. These shorts explore creative uses of familiar materials, revealing imaginative landscapes, humorous inventions, and curious surprises.
Saturday, July 9, 2022 • 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. PT
An array of animated and kinetic short films explore the inventive ways that amateurs, artists, and tinkerers manipulate the moving image in surprising and/or captivating ways.
Saturday, July 16, 2022 • 1:00 p.m. PT
In celebration of our summer exhibition The Art of Tinkering, we are pleased to be joined by filmmaker Mark Decena for the Bay Area theatrical premiere Me & My Robot, which documents the 2018 World Robot Olympiad in Thailand.
Saturday, July 19, 2014 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.
Treat your eyes to an earful with these synaesthetic shorts. Translating sound into responsive and harmonized imagery, these works of visual music revolve around innovative and memorable soundtracksThursday, July 17, 2014 • 7:00 p.m.
Los Angeles–based artist Madison Brookshire presents a two-part program of his cinematic works concluding with his ambitious, cameraless Color Series. Exploring the tactile elements of the cinematic experience, Brookshire’s films produce complex, unexpected physical reactions.Saturday, July 12, 2014 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.
A playful, do-it-yourself spirit pervades this collection of handcrafted shorts featuring paper sets, inventive uses of familiar objects, and astonishing patterns.
Saturday, June 28, 2014 • 2:00 p.m.
In this entertaining program, Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman merges a cinematic laser show with the science behind their development. The program concludes with a selection of laser show-related films.
Thursday, June 19, 2014 • 7:00 p.m.
In this innovative and singular video memoir, local artist John Sanborn explores the seismic artistic upheaval wrought by three great artists: John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, and Nam June Paik.
Saturday, June 14, 2014 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.
This program celebrates the sun and the lure of summer. From films that literally look at the sun to joyful works creating that summertime state of mind, these pieces encourage us to bask in the screen’s glow and let the warmth of cinema wash over.
Saturday, June 7, 2014 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.
Natural surroundings trigger narrative drama in these quietly hilarious films. Stunning microphotography reveals surprising interspecies interactions in Catherine Chalmers’ Safari, while Anna Frances Ewart’s Into the Middle of Nowhere documents the often invisible, inner world of children at play.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 • 7:00 p.m.
Join artist Mike Henderson for a screening of his award-winning experimental films from the 1970s and ’80s, and stay for a performance by the Mike Henderson Blues Band.
Sunday, June 1, 2014 • 9:00 p.m.
Join us for a co-presentation of The Navigator, one of Buster Keaton’s most successful films, as well as one of his personal favorites.
Saturday, May 31, 2014 • 12:00 p.m.
World-famous preservationist and entertainer Serge Bromberg will present rare footage from his treasure trove and accompany on piano.
Thursday, May 29, 2014 • 8:00 p.m.
These new and newly preserved experimental shorts craft visual illusions and allusions that flicker in your mind’s eye long after appearing on screen.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 • 7:00 p.m.
Enjoy archivist favorites, unexpected gems, and rarely seen treats curated by staff from the Bay Area Video Coalition’s preservation program.