The night School at NY New Museum

Screening: Le fond de l'air est rouge (The Grin Without a Cat), 1977: Night School Public Seminar 5: The Politics of Spectacle

Directed by Chris Marker. Running time: 180 min
Thursday, May 29 | 7:00 PM* | Free

A Grin Without a Cat is Chris Marker's epic film essay on the worldwide political wars of the 1960s and 70s: Vietnam, Bolivia, May '68, Prague, Chile, and the fate of the New Left. From 1967 - the year Marker argues was the key turning point - the film is a sweeping, global contemplation of a defining ten years' political history.

Screening: The Case of the Grinning Cat, 2004 followed by moderated discussion with Jake Perlin: Night School Public Seminar 5: The Politics of Spectacle

Directed by Chris Marker. Running time: 58 mins
Friday, May 30 | 7:30 PM | Free with Museum admission

In his most recent film, Chris Marker reflects on French and international politics, art, and culture at the start of the new millennium. This engaging record of Marker's cinematic peregrinations throughout the city chronicles strikes, memorials, election campaigns, celebrity scandals, international political incidents, and a seemingly endless variety of political protests. The commentary running throughout The Case of the Grinning Cat offers the learned and witty reflections of the filmmaker, now in his early eighties, on the contemporary and historical implications of these varied events and personalities.

The screening will be followed by a moderated discussion with Jake Perlin, Assistant Film Curator/BAMCinematek and founder of The Film Desk.

Lecture by Okwui Enwezor: Night School Public Seminar 5: The Politics of Spectacle

Saturday, May 31 | 3:00 PM | Free with Museum admission

Okwui Enwezor lectures on the politics of spectacle. Enwezor is Dean of Academic Affairs and Senior Vice President at San Francisco Art Institute. He is Adjunct Curator at International Center of Photography, New York and previously Adjunct Curator of Contemporary Art, at the Art Institute of Chicago. Enwezor is Artistic Director of the 7th Gwangju Biennale, opening September 2008.

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Night School is an artist's project by Anton Vidokle in the form of a temporary school. A yearlong program of monthly seminars and workshops, Night School draws upon a group of local and international artists, writers, and theorists to conceptualize and conduct the program. This month's seminar is conceived by Okwui Enwezor.

All events are in the New Museum theater. Events are free or free with Museum admission but tickets are required.