In 2009, MoMA hosted the first museum retrospective of films by the great Mike Nichols.  An accomplished performer (most notably alongside Elaine May) and renowned stage director, Nichols was, foremost a great American filmmaker.  The laughs or tears in a Nichols film are always born of something tangible, with authentic actions leading to comprehensible results. He invited us to connect with our own devastating, illuminating humanity.

In celebration of the new biography Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris, we are pleased to revisit Nichols’s legacy with five exemplary films: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Catch-22 (1970), The Fortune (1975), Silkwood (1982), and Closer (2004).

February 25, 2021 – March 07, 2021

The Museum of Modern Art

Organized by Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film.

Film at MoMA is made possible by CHANEL.

Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by Debra and Leon D. Black and by Steven Tisch, with major contributions from The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art, the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Karen and Gary Winnick, and The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston. 

  • Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966. USA. Directed by Mike Nichols. Image courtesy of Photofest
  • Catch-22. 1970. USA. Directed by Mike Nichols. Image courtesy of Photofest
  • The Fortune. 1975. USA. Directed by Mike Nichols. Image courtesy of Photofest
  • Silkwood. 1982. USA. Directed by Mike Nichols. Image courtesy of Photofest
  • Closer. 2004. USA. Directed by Mike Nichols. Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures/Photofest