The Cinema of Attractions with Tom Gunning and Daniel Morgan

Followed by a signing with Tom Gunning of his new book The Attractions of the Moving Image: Essays on History, Theory, and the Avant-Garde, edited by Daniel Morgan for the University of Chicago Press,

“The essay ‘The Cinema of Attractions’ transformed the study of early cinema—and of film history more broadly—and it continues to be treated as vital to historical and theoretical studies of the medium,” writes Daniel Morgan in the introduction to his new collection of Tom Gunning’s writing. In this program, Gunning and Morgan will talk about the impact and legacy of Gunning’s notion of a cinema that is “less a way of telling stories than a way of presenting a series of views to an audience.” The program will include screenings of some of the key films written about in the book.

Program includes:

How It Feels to Be Run Over (Cecil Hepworth, 1900, 1 min. Digital)
Conway Castle–Panoramic View of Conway on the L. & N.W. Railway (William K.L. Dickson, 1898, 2 mins., Digital)
Hooligan in Jail (Billy Bitzer, 1903, 1 min. Digital)
The Lonedale Operator (D. W. Griffith, 1911, 17 mins. 16mm)
Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, 1947, 15 mins. 16mm)
Untitled 1977 (Ernie Gehr, 1977, 4 mins.  Silent, 16mm)
Doctor’s Dream (Ken Jacobs, 1978, 23 mins. 16mm)
Monogram (Lewis Klahr, 2019, 9 mins. Digital)
Mothlight (Stan Brakhage, 1963, 3 mins. Silent, 16mm)

Tickets: $17.50 / $12 senior and students / $10 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. 

Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission.