The Congress

Apr 24, 2012 — An unverifiable, if heartfelt, assertion: For the quarter century between 1945 and 1970 (or from Rome Open City to Fellini Satyricon), the world’s greatest popular cinema was produced in Italy—a realm of glamorous superstars, sensational comedians, and great genre flicks....

Apr 22, 2011 — At a time when many talk of cinephilia as going the way of the woolly mammoth, it’s more than a little inspiring to come upon a place like the Aperture Cinema in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This two-screen art-house theater (which...

Oct 25, 1994 — Jim McBride’s David Holzman’s Diary, made for less than $3000 over 5 days of principal photography, manages to be twenty years ahead of its time and perfectly of its time. Spiritual forebear to the contemporary low-budget American independent film movement...

Nov 7, 2019 — Kasi Lemmons is an award-winning filmmaker. Her 1997 directorial debut, Eve’s Bayou, has been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. Her latest film is Harriet, based on the life of Harriet Tubman.Photo by...

Haskell Wexler is the two-time Academy Award–winning cinematographer behind Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Bound for Glory. The 1969 film Medium Cool, which he wrote, directed, and shot, was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in 2003.

Oct 2, 2025 — The festival presents new films from Gianfranco Rosi, Kahlil Joseph, Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, and Lucrecia Martel.

Dec 18, 2024 — The bulk of this year’s selections comes from a three-decade stretch from the early 1970s to the late ’90s.

Jan 23, 2019 — Checking in on how the nominees are currently faring with critics and awards prognosticators.

Dec 12, 2018 — Selection to the registry ensures that “these films will be preserved for all time.”

Jun 29, 2016 — In this essay, first published in Grand Street in 1994, Dr. Strangelove coscreenwriter Terry Southern offers a lively behind-the-scenes look at the film’s production.