Museum of the Moving Image Announces Schedule for FIRST LOOK Showcase of International Work

OUTSIDE SATAN (HORS SATAN), the breathtaking and provocative new feature directed by Bruno Dumont, will be the opening night film of the Museum of the Moving Image's two-week showcase FIRST LOOK. The Friday, January 4 screening opens the Museum's second annual showcase for inventive, groundbreaking new international cinema, which includes 26 works-feature-length and short films-from Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, and the United States: a highly selective group of films that are distinguished by their artistic audacity. All of the feature films, and nearly all of the short films, are New York premieres. The series closes on Sunday, January 13, with a program of short films by Kleber Mendonça Filho, the acclaimed Brazilian director of NEIGBORING SOUNDS.

Featured FIRST LOOK filmmakers include established masters such as Thom Andersen (appearing with RECONVERSION on January 12), James Benning (with EASY RIDER on January 6), and Bruno Dumont, and such exciting emerging directors as Joana Preiss (appearing with SIBERIA on January 5), Mati Diop (with a program of short films on January 5), Eloy Enciso (appearing in person with ARRAIANOS on January 5), Nicolás Pereda (appearing in person with GREATEST HITS on January 11), and Philip Scheffner (REVISION on January 12). In addition to Dumont's OUTSIDE SATAN, among the highlights are Benning's EASY RIDER, a landscape film that revisits the locations of Dennis Hopper's 1969 movie; IN The Shadows by Thomas Arslan, a major figure in the Berlin School movement (on January 13); and INORI, Mexican filmmaker González-Rubio's (Alamar) haunting look at an aging Japanese village, produced with the assistance of Japanese director Naomi Kawase, and winner of the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival (on January 6).

FIRST LOOK is curated by Dennis Lim, editor of Moving Image Source, the Museum's multimedia magazine; Rachael Rakes, Assistant Curator of Film; and David Schwartz, Chief Curator. Essays on select films will be published on Moving Image Source (http://movingimagesource.us) in early January.

"Many of the films in this year's edition take the form of journeys-geographical, emotional, and artistic," said David Schwartz. "This is truly a series filled with discoveries, and a great way for adventurous filmgoers to start 2013."

"As with last year's inaugural edition, we wanted to showcase the range of innovation the exists in world cinema today," said Dennis Lim. "And we also wanted to draw attention to films that have fallen through the cracks, like Manuel Mozos's XAVIER, a lost classic of recent Portuguese cinema, and IN The Shadows by Thomas Arslan, a major German director whose work has not been widely shown in the States."

"This year, FIRST LOOK has expanded its breadth, with genre-defying, boundary-pushing works of all forms, demonstrating how cinematic creativity can be found in modes as divergent as action movies and the avant-garde," said Rachael Rakes.

With its debut in 2012, FIRST LOOK was instantly recognized as a vital new addition to New York's film scene, an oasis of thoughtful and provocative filmmaking amid the hype and noise of the awards season. It is a great way for New York filmgoers to start the year, just ahead of the Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals.

FIRST LOOK is presented with support from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beyond Kombucha, Cinema Tropical, Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, The Korea Society, and Pragda.

Tickets for screenings (with the exception of opening night) are included with Museum admission ($12 adults / $9 students and senior citizens). A First Look series pass, allowing the holder admission to the Museum and all First Look screenings for the run of the series is available for $40. All screenings, with the exception of the opening event, are free for Museum members (members receive a discount on opening night tickets). Memberships start at $75 with benefits that include year-round free admission to the Museum and its programs, reservation privileges, and discounts on special programs.

Film Schedule for FIRST LOOK Showcase, January 4-13, 2013:

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