The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the San Francisco Film Society—two of the biggest names in visual art and film in the country—have joined forces to launch Modern Cinema, a new cinematheque-style film series kicking off October 7th at SFMOMA's gorgeous, newly renovated Phyllis Wattis Theater.

Modern Cinema, which will be comprised of three annual seasons, explores the dynamic relationship between past and present cinema as one of the modern era's essential visual art forms.

The collaboration begins with an inaugural season dedicated to the legendary exhibitors, distributors, and preservationists at the Criterion Collection and Janus Films. Founded in 1984, Criterion and Janus have championed filmmakers and films that have made a significant impact on critics, audiences and artists alike. The result is a canon of works that bring the defining moments of cinema to a wide audience, and Modern Cinema will present a diverse international cross-section of films from their remarkable catalog of classics.

FIRST WEEKEND PICKS

Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1950, 88 min.)

Friday October 7, 6pm

With an introduction by local filmmaker Philip Kaufman!

A riveting psychological thriller that investigates the nature of truth and the meaning of justice, Rashomon is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Four people give different accounts of a man's murder and the rape of his wife, which director Akira Kurosawa presents with striking imagery and an ingenious use of flashbacks.

L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1960, 143 min.)

Saturday October 8, 8pm

Michelangelo Antonioni invented a new film grammar with this masterwork. An iconic piece of challenging 1960s cinema and a gripping narrative on its own terms, L'Avventura concerns the enigmatic disappearance of a young woman during a yachting trip off the coast of Sicily, and the search taken up by her disaffected lover (Gabriele Ferzetti) and best friend (Monica Vitti, in her breakout role). Antonioni's controversial international sensation is a gorgeously shot tale of modern ennui and spiritual isolation.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles(Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France, 1975, 201 min.)

Sunday October 9, 7:15pm

A singular work in film history, Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles meticulously details, with a sense of impending doom, the daily routine of a middle-aged widow, whose chores include making the beds, cooking dinner for her son—and turning the occasional trick. Whether seen as an exacting character study or one of cinema's most hypnotic and complete depictions of space and time, Jeanne Dielman is an astonishing, compelling movie experiment; one that has been analyzed and argued over for decades.

Tickets & Information

Tickets are $12 for the general public and $10 for SFMOMA and SFFS members. Tickets can be purchased online or onsite at the museum during regular business hours. Modern Cinema tickets do not include admission to SFMOMA galleries. Guests for Modern Cinema should enter through SFMOMA's Joyce and Larry Stupski Entrance on Minna Street. For up-to-date program information and tickets, visit sfmoma.org/modern-cinema.