Museum of the Moving Image welcomes the Halloween season with the screening series Handcrafted Horrors, featuring 12 scary movies that use models, puppets, makeup artistry, or hand-drawn animation to create their surreal, physical other worlds; presents free public programs as part of its Open Worlds initiative that range from a showcase of independent video games to an Internet Walk; special screenings marking the 100th anniversaries of two silent German classics, Lotte Reiniger’s “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” and F. W. Murnau’s “Faust,” plus Murnau’s “Nosferatu” (1922); the launch of Phone-Free Fridays, as part of MoMI LAB programs; a roster of special guests; and more.
On October 10, the Museum will open a new exhibition, Seeing the Cinema: Photographic Visions of Movie Theaters, featuring photographs by Thomas R. Schiff, Hiroshi Sugimoto, John Margolies, and Joseph Holmes. The exhibition will be accompanied by a monthly screening series that casts cinemas as key locations, starting October 30 with Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn.
Among other film highlights, New Yorkers can catch back-to-back screenings of Disney’s “Fantasia” and F. W. Murnau’s “Faust,” the 100-year-old film that features imagery that would directly inspire the “Night on Bald Mountain” segment of “Fantasia,” on October 17; the Greek Film Expo, co-presented by the Hellenic Film Society USA, October 16–18, featuring a retrospective of films by Michael Cacoyannis, including the classic “Zorba the Greek;” an afternoon with film critic and author J. Hoberman, with the films “Southland Tales” and “Peeping Tom,” in conjunction with his new anthology book, Across the Movi-verse: Writing on Film 2011–2021 (2026, The Film Desk) on October 11; silent films “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” (1926, 35mm, October 10), with live music by Charlie Judkins, and “Nosferatu” (1922, 35mm, October 30) with live music by Makia Matsumura.
Year-round, the Museum’s Open Worlds initiative invites the public to access the lobby, café, and ground-floor spaces for free and attend community events. In October, these include industry talks, workshops, and a Halloween party. In addition, the final Open Worlds: Science program of the year takes place October 17: Arcade Science Day of Play, featuring game designers and scientists in conversation and demonstrating their work, with access to unique independent games.
Unless noted, all programs take place at Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Ave, Astoria, NY 11106. Screenings are presented in the Sumner M. Redstone Theater and/or the Celeste and Armand Bartos Screening Room. Schedule and tickets are available at movingimage.org.
Nosferatu (dir. F. W. Murnau, 1922) / Courtesy of Kino Lorber