Cinema
The Walker Cinema presents moving image on a global scale, hosting artist films, lecture series, experiments in sound and image, and more.
The Cinema serves as the hub for the Walker Art Center’s expansive moving image program. It supports a wide range of contemporary and historical artist film practices, from narrative shorts to longform documentaries, experimental sound and image to multidisciplinary performances. As a home base for film culture at large, the space also hosts artist residencies and long-standing programs such as the Walker Dialogues and Retrospectives Series. More than a movie theater, the Cinema embodies the ethos of film as a space for discovery and dialogue.
Located off the Walker’s Main Lobby entrance, the Cinema is a state-of-the-art presentation space. Renovated in 2012 with a $1 million grant from the Bentson Foundation, the enhanced 21st-century theater is one of the best places to view films in the country. The 340-seat auditorium boasts 16mm, 35mm, and digital cinema projection with a robust surround-sound system.
To learn more about the latest film programming, head to the Moving Image department page.
Screenings
Muhammad Ali, the Greatest by William Klein
Peter Hujar’s Day by Ira Sachs
Endless Cookie by Seth Scriver and Peter Scriver
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Bentson Mediatheque
The Bentson Mediatheque is a free, self-select cinema experience unique to the Walker, featuring titles from the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection.
The Bentson Mediatheque is a self-select cinema experience unique to the Walker. This 60-seat mini-cinema is an intimate screening room that functions as a gallery for the moving image collection. Visitors are invited to use the touchscreen interface to browse curated film playlists, or choose from over 400 titles to project onto the big screen. Drawing from the Walker’s adventurous Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection, the offerings span early video art, experimental cinema, family-friendly movies, and more.
The Bentson Mediatheque is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours, no Walker admission required. The space can also be reserved for educational visits and research.
Learn more about the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection
Walker dialogues
The Walker’s Dialogues and Retrospectives Series provides an intimate forum celebrating innovative moving image artists of our time.
The Walker Art Center’s Dialogues and Retrospectives Series brings innovative moving image artists into conversation with leading cinematic thinkers of our time.
Each program in the Dialogues and Retrospectives Series provides an intimate space for featured guest artists to discuss their creative processes, influences, and bodies of work. Since 1990, the series has hosted many notable contributors to the moving image art form, including international directors, artists, and leading screen actors. Past guests have included Bong Joon Ho, Chloé Zhao, Alanis Obomsawin, Steve McQueen, and many more.
Incorporating film clips, anecdotes, and personal insights, these conversations take place in the state-of-the-art, 340-seat Walker Cinema. Dialogues are accompanied by a selection of film screenings spotlighting the guest artist’s oeuvre while providing deeper insight into their ideas and practices. The series as a whole aims to reshape the way we think about contemporary film.
Walker Dialogues and Retrospectives, which launched with support from the MacArthur Foundation from 1990 to 1993, was later funded by the Regis Foundation from 1994 to 2012 and has continued with support from Myron and Anita Kunin.