The Contenders: two cities with different film schedules
· BehindLines newsroom
This year's cinema enters the museum with The Contenders. New York's Museum of Modern Art has scheduled its nineteenth edition from October 28 to December 17. In Los Angeles, the Discover Los Angeles guide announces screenings at the Hammer Museum beginning October 29. The two events share a name, but their opening screenings differ.
New York, from Barker to Nolan
MoMA has chosen Curry Barker's Obsession to open its series. Its programme schedules a conversation with the director, moderated by Rian Johnson, after the October 28 screening.
At the other end of the calendar, the museum announces a December 17 screening of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey on a 35 mm print. The projection format is therefore part of the event presented to audiences. The museum says this is Nolan's fifth appearance in The Contenders. MoMA programme.
A different opening at the Hammer
The guide published by Discover Los Angeles on October 27 lists Coyote vs. Acme as the Hammer's opening screening on October 29. It then lists I Want Your Sex on November 5, Obsession on the 6th, Project Hail Mary on the 12th and All of a Sudden on the 13th.
These are the first dates announced in that guide. The list does not establish November 13 as the definitive end of the whole series. Indeed, the guide says more films are due to be announced.
One name does not mean one shared screening
Obsession illustrates the difference: it opens the New York series, then appears at a later date in California. Viewers should therefore check the city and screening rather than infer a time from the series name alone.
These announcements describe a programme. They are neither reports of the conversations nor new film reviews. For anyone planning a visit, the relevant museum's updated programme remains the useful starting point.