The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced the first round of exhibition rotations, which are scheduled for the 2022–2023 season. These rotations further the museum’s mission to advance the understanding, celebration, and preservation of cinema through dynamic and diverse exhibitions.
What’s Happening:
- Beginning this summer, the Academy Museum will open the expansive exhibition Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971, which will explore the history of Black cinema, from its earliest days to just after the civil rights movement.
- In the fall, the museum will open galleries devoted to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) and the influences of French filmmaker Agnès Varda.
- In early 2023, several new exhibitions will open, including spaces dedicated to BOYZ N THE HOOD (1991), Casablanca (1942), documentarian Lourdes Portillo, and the collaborative work of production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer.
- In late spring 2023, the Academy Museum will open its first permanent exhibition, Hollywoodland, chronicling the founding and the founders of the Hollywood studio system in Los Angeles. In addition, new objects, images, and interviews will be added to numerous galleries, including Gregory Peck’s Oscar for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), storyboards and scripts from Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940) and The Birds (1963), costumes designed by Travis Banton, Edith Head, and Ann Roth, and interviews with film editors Maysie Hoy, Carol Littleton, and Sam Pollard, among others.
- Concurrently, the Academy Museum's public spaces—the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby, the Ted Mann Lobby, the Netflix Lounge, the Walt Disney Company Piazza, the Dolby Family Terrace, the Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman Mezzanine, and the spine of the museum—will be refreshed by Kulapat Yantrasast and WHY Architecture. Incorporating cinematic elements and moments of digital engagement and connectivity, these spaces will be designed to more deeply enhance the visitor experience.
What They’re Saying:
- Bill Kramer, Director and President of the Academy Museum:
- “The history of film is endlessly rich and varied, which is why we envisioned the exhibitions of the Academy Museum as a continually evolving set of installations and virtual content. We are delighted to present a new round of stories, explorations, moving images, props, and other objects that explore the many facets of moviemaking – from the founding of Hollywood to present day. These rotations give our visitors many wonderful reasons to come back, while offering an extraordinary invitation to others to engage with the museum.”
- Jacqueline Stewart, Chief Artistic and Programming Officer of the Academy Museum:
- “In our core exhibition, we are excited to continue offering a multitude of perspectives on film and filmmaking, drawing on the unmatched resources of our collection. These new exhibitions contrast two different versions of a ‘classic’ film with Casablanca and BOYZ N THE HOOD. They highlight different ways in which directors can inspire others with Coppola’s landmark The Godfather and the iconoclastic Agnès Varda. And they showcase two strikingly different approaches to the filmmaking process with the fierce independence of Lourdes Portillo and the deep collaboration of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer. In addition, the epic exhibition Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971 will invite visitors to explore the broad range of Black participation in filmmaking dating back to the beginning of cinema, while Hollywoodland will help visitors better understand how and why Hollywood’s studio system was created here in Los Angeles.”
More About The Exhibitions Coming To The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures:
- Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971
- In August, the Academy Museum will open Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971 —a research-driven, in-depth look at Black participation in American filmmaking. It will highlight the work of independent Black filmmakers from the dawn of cinema to the civil rights movement. The exhibition will elevate this underrepresented aspect of artistic production and present a more inclusive story about film history. Featured artists include Lena Horne, Sidney Poitier, Paul Robeson, William Greaves, Josephine Baker, the Nicholas Brothers, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, and more. The exhibition is co-organized by Doris Berger, Vice President of Curatorial Affairs for the Academy Museum and Rhea L. Combs, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the National Portrait Gallery. Additional details will be announced soon.
- Hollywoodland
- Opening in late Spring 2023, Hollywoodland will trace the history of filmmaking in Los Angeles back to its roots at the beginning of the 20th century, illustrating how and why the city became the world capital of cinema that it still is today. This immersive gallery will convey the evolving topography of Los Angeles along the timeline of the developing movie industry, allowing visitors to feel a tangible proximity to this rich history and encouraging further exploration of the city’s landmarks upon departing the Academy Museum. The exhibition will focus on the predominantly Jewish founders of the early Hollywood studio system, delving into how their personal narratives shaped the distinct characteristics of the movies their respective studios produced. It will foreground the ways in which the birth of the American film industry—and therefore the projected depiction of the American Dream—is truly an immigrant story. In addition to highlighting the origins of the studios commonly known as “The Majors,” the exhibition will also explore the independent producers working in Hollywood in the early 1900s. Among these studios and producers, there are high-stakes stories of ingenuity that will engage visitors and offer a deeper understanding of Hollywood history. The exhibition is organized by Associate Curator Dara Jaffe in collaboration with Associate Curator of Digital Presentations Gary Dauphin.
- Stories of Cinema Exhibit Rotations
- The Art of Moviemaking: The Godfather, will open on November 3, 2022 and will showcase the collaborative process of the making of this masterpiece through a wide array of original objects, images, and stories. In 1972, director Francis Ford Coppola’s interpretation of Mario Puzo’s popular novel provided an operatic and poignant reflection on the American Dream that not only radically transformed the moviegoing experience, but also the moviemaking process. Featured costumes, props, scripts, and equipment will highlight the contributions of each cinematic branch, exploring how they innovated amidst the limitations and freedoms of “New Hollywood.” Object highlights include Don Corleone's desk and chair used in The Godfather Trilogy, Coppola’s original “Godfather notebook,” and a costume worn by Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II. This exhibition is organized by Assistant Curator Sophia Serrano. Leading up to The Godfather gallery rotation, the Academy Museum Store will be releasing an exclusive limited-edition The Godfather LP in partnership with Amoeba Records. The album will feature music from The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and will include music from the trilogy.
- Opening on November 3 is Director’s Inspiration: Agnès Varda. Rather than drawing inspiration from other filmmakers or films, Varda was influenced by her life, experiences, and the world around her. As a result, her work is undeniably personal. This gallery will highlight her influences and films from her six-decade long career ranging from La Pointe Courte (1955) to Varda by Agnès (2019). A photographer prior to becoming a filmmaker, the gallery will explore Varda’s time behind the still camera including prints, contact sheets, and photography related production materials. From her years living in Los Angeles to her familial relationships, the autobiographical elements that permeate all aspects of Varda’s filmography will be represented using personal postcards, props, family photographs, and other production materials. Additionally, Varda’s career as a fine artist and her long standing love of art history which influenced many of her films will be explored using production notebooks, posters, and a model for one of her cinema shack installations. This exhibition is organized by Vice President of Curatorial Affairs Doris Berger and Assistant Curator Ana Santiago.
- In February 2023, the Significant Movies and Moviemakers gallery will reopen with a four-gallery experience that will showcase the classic drama Casablanca (1942), the groundbreaking film BOYZ N THE HOOD (1991), the collaboration between production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, and documentarian Lourdes Portillo .