MoMA Presents Rialto at 25

Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (Alphaville). 1965. France. Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Courtesy of Photofest

April 19, 2023 – May 22, 2023

The Museum of Modern Art

Founded in 1997 by Bruce Goldstein, who was joined a year later by partner Adrienne Halpern, New York–based Rialto Pictures has become a leading theatrical distributor of classic foreign and American films in the US, with a catalog that ranges from Alfred Hitchcock’s silent The Ring (1927) to John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981)—including generous selections of French New Wave and poetic realism, British and French film noir, Ealing comedies, British social realism, American cult classics, and commedia all’italiana in between.

Rialto specializes in relaunching venerable classics in new 35mm prints or 4K digital restorations—after decades of being circulated only in inferior copies—with updated subtitles and creative new posters and trailers. But it’s also known for rediscovering overlooked, undistributed, and underappreciated films like Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows, Claude Sautet’s Classe tous risques, Robert Hamer’s It Always Rains on Sunday, Jean Renoir’s The Crime of Monsieur Lange, and Dino Risi’s Una vita difficile. And, as the US theatrical representative of the vast Studiocanal library, the company now handles such unexpected titles as Ted Kotcheff’s First Blood, Joe Dante’s The Howling, James Cameron’s Terminator 2, and Mel Brooks’s The Producers. This monthlong series features both audience favorites and under-seen gems from Rialto’s 25-year history, beginning with the world premiere of a new restoration of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 science-fiction provocation Alphaville.

Organized by Dave Kehr, Curator, Department 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, 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, and Karen and Gary Winnick.

Series Overview and Screening Schedule