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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
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Upcoming Events

There's always something interesting happening here—check out our ongoing events.

Past Events
Saturday Cinema

November 18, 2017 • 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

As does the exhibition Curious Contraptions: Small Tales of Love and Mystery, this whimsical program of expressive short films explores the kinetic realms of cinematic tinkering. From the sublime to the frenetic, these lively animations capture playful creativity. 

Obscurus Projectum

Saturday, November 4, 2017 • 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Simple, centuries-old technology reframes the recognizable San Francisco Bay in Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder’s Obscurus Projectum, a temporary art installation transforming the Exploratorium’s Kanbar Forum into a giant camera obscura.
Collisions

Saturday, October 21, 2017 • 11:00 a.m., Noon, and 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Take a poetic VR journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in remote Western Australia. Wallworth's invites participants to experience an alternative understanding of long‐term decision-making through the perspective of one of the world’s oldest cultures.

After Dark
After Dark: Collisions, Lynette Wallworth, and Chromium

Thursday, October 19, 2017 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Learn the colorful past of a transition metal known for automotive flash at Chromium.  And take a VR journey to the Australian homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in Lynette Wallworth's Collisions.
Collisions

Sunday, October 15, 2017 • 11:00 a.m., Noon, and 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Take a poetic VR journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in remote Western Australia. Wallworth's invites participants to experience an alternative understanding of long‐term decision-making through the perspective of one of the world’s oldest cultures.
Collisions

Saturday, October 14, 2017 • 11:00 a.m., Noon, and 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Take a poetic VR journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in remote Western Australia. Wallworth's invites participants to experience an alternative understanding of long‐term decision-making through the perspective of one of the world’s oldest cultures. 
After Dark: Field of View

Thursday, October 12, 2017 • 6:30–9:30 p.m.

From research using VR headsets to improve eyesight to artworks using headsets to transcend imaginable vision, emerging technologies can trigger surprising perceptual reconfigurations both of the fleeting and rehabilitating kind. Tonight, consider how perception can be expanded and transformed. 
After Dark: Agave, Perception, and Collisions

Thursday, October 12, 2017 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Take a poetic VR journey—Collisions—to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in Western Australia. Explore the ways perceptions can be expanded and transformed at Perception. And enjoy a refreshing conversation about agave at Pairings. 
Collisions

Sunday, October 8, 2017 • 11:00 a.m., Noon, and 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Join us for artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth’s poetic virtual reality journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in the remote Western Australian Pilbara desert. Wallworth's invites participants to experience an alternative understanding of long‐term decision-making through the perspective of one of the world’s oldest cultures.
Collisions

Saturday, October 7, 2017 • 11:00 a.m., Noon, and 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Join us for artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth’s poetic virtual reality journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in the remote Western Australian Pilbara desert. Wallworth's invites participants to experience an alternative understanding of long‐term decision-making through the perspective of one of the world’s oldest cultures. 

After Dark
After Dark: Dangerous Ideas and Collisions

Thursday, October 5, 2017 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.

Whether fixed into ideologies or found roaming the outskirts of social order, ideas rarely seem to end where they begin. Follow the trajectories of some explosive ideas, and explore their actual and potential consequences at Dangerous Ideas. And take a poetic VR journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in remote west Australia in Lynette Wallworth's Collisions. 
Collisions

Sunday, October 1, 2017 • 11:00 a.m., Noon, and 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.

Join us for artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth’s poetic virtual reality journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in the remote Western Australian Pilbara desert. Wallworth's invites participants to experience an alternative understanding of long‐term decision-making through the perspective of one of the world’s oldest cultures.

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