Carnegie Hall and NYFA
Carnegie Hall has partnered with the New York Film Academy to screen and present a series of classic and iconic films and performances. Aligned on artistic excellence, NYFA and Carnegie Hall are dedicated to providing access to thought-provoking and stimulating visual storytelling.
2025 Series: Nuestros sonidos
Carnegie Hall’s 2025 curated series explores the musical richness of Latin culture. Music lovers can immerse themselves in the diversity of Latin genres during Carnegie Hall’s electrifying 2024–2025 season-long Nuestros sonidos (Our Sounds) festival, celebrating the heritage and influence of Latin culture in the US, including vital contributions from the Caribbean. Through a diverse musical palette that includes classical, pop, salsa, and reggaeton, New York City audiences can dive into the melodies and rhythms that are deeply rooted in Latin music heritage.
Buena Vista Social Club Documentary Screening and Q&A | Monday, April 7, 2025 at 7 PM
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Wim Wenders’s groundbreaking popular music documentary Buena Vista Social Club was first released in 1999. Over the course of several months, the director and musician Ry Cooder accompanied the famed group of Cuban musicians from their home in Havana to their triumphal concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary film, Buena Vista Social Club won in the same category at the European Film Awards, and received the German Film Prize in Gold, Germany’s Golden Camera, and the Grand Prize for Film in Brazil. Special Q&A to follow.
Sabor y Pasión in the Battery – A NYFA Musical Theatre Department Presentation | Monday, April 14, 2025 at 7:30 PM
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The Musical Theatre department at New York Film Academy is thrilled to announce a captivating evening of music and dance that honors more than 80 years of Latin music and its profound impact on American culture. Join us as we celebrate our “sabor y pasión por nuestros sonidos”! This vibrant exploration showcases the genre’s evolution from the 1940’s fusion of Latin and jazz to the contemporary sounds of reggaeton and tropical music—all infused with a musical theatre twist! The live performance features talented students, faculty, and alumni, representing not only Latin America but also countries around the globe.
These events form part of Carnegie Hall’s Nuestros sonidos festival.
Past Events
2024 March & April Series: Weimar Republic
The latest curated series was a retrospective of one of history’s most intricate and impactful periods: Germany’s Weimar Republic from 1919 to 1933. A compelling backdrop for numerous films, this era offers a lens into this tumultuous period through the art of cinema. Films set in this period delve into themes of decadence, disillusionment, and the fragile nature of democracy, providing poignant reflections on a pivotal chapter in German history.
Fritz Lang’s “M” | Monday, March 25 at 7 PM
A classic of Weimar cinema, Fritz Lang’s M is a haunting tale of paranoia and suspense. Starring Peter Lorre, the film is a masterwork that set the standard for the thriller genre. This 1931 tale of a serial child killer has harrowing parallels to contemporary society.
Walther Ruttman’s Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis | Monday, April 1 at 7 PM
This 1927 documentary is a seminal work of Weimar cinema. Portraying one day in Berlin in five acts, Ruttman’s influential work (see Dviga Vertov’s MAN WITH A CAMERA) gives modern audiences a rare glimpse of everyday life in the epicenter of Weimar activity.
Berlin in the Battery: Dancing on the Edge – A NYFA Musical Theatre Department Presentation | Saturday, April 6th at 7 PM
In a convergence of past and present, the talented students of New York Film Academy’s Musical Theatre program, alongside recent alumni and esteemed faculty, paid homage to the Weimar Republic’s musical heritage and embraced the dynamic creativity of today’s emerging artists.
These events formed part of Carnegie Hall’s Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice festival.
2022 March Series: Afrofuturism in Cinema: Infinity, Creativity and Beyond
What Makes You Scared? (Film Screening & Panel Discussion)
Event: Screening of horror feature PHLO directed by Jim Fielder and produced by Tim Fielder.
Panelists:
Randall Dottin (Moderator)
Jim Fielder – PHLO Director
Tim Fielder – PHLO Producer
About PHLO
PHLO is a fiction feature film that chronicles the life of a young child who is taken and raised by his kidnappers who also happen to have an insatiable taste for blood.
PHLO is a horror film that explores a journey of a young man caught in a crucible between false loyalty and freedom. Ezekiel was but a child when he was abducted and raised by his kidnappers. Now as a teenager on the verge of manhood, Ezekiel is torn between going away to live his life, young love and staying with his kidnapper parents.
A New Era? (Panel Discussion)
A panel of black filmmakers discussed the growth and impact of the Afrofuturism movement in cinema.
Panelists:
Mishka Brown (Moderator) – Film Producer
Reynaldo Anderson – Co-Founder, Black Speculative Arts Movement
Jonathan Gayle – Professor at Georgia State University
Tim Fielder – Artist, Film Producer
Jim Fielder – Director, Producer
About the Panel
A panel of tastemakers, artists, filmmakers and scholars explored whether the current wave of Afrofuturism represents a new era in Black Cinema or whether what’s happening now is simply the evolution of a continuum that has been brewing for more than a century.
Infinity and Possibility (Film Screenings & Panel Discussion)
Event: This event showcased 4 Afro-Futurist works from around the world followed by a
panel discussion.
Panelists:
Randall Dottin (Moderator)
Tim Fielder
Jim Fielder
David Kirkman
This event showcased 4 Afro-Futurist works from around the world:
Opal by Alain Bidard – 15 minutes
Battledream Chronicle by Alain Bidard – 15 minutes
Hardware by David Kirkman – 30 minutes
The Dieselfunk Show by Tim and Jim Fielder – 30 minutes
This screening was a mixture of classic films that defined the genre as well as new works.
The Expanded Universe (Film Screening & Panel Discussion)
Event: Screening of documentary featured Black Metropolis: 30 Years of Afro-Futurism. The
Screening was followed by a panel discussion.
Panelists:
Reynaldo Anderson (Moderator)
Tim Fielder
Jim Fielder
Afro-Futurists and twin brothers Tim Fielder and Jim Fielder have made contributions to the genre for more than 30 years. The documentary feature, Black Metropolis: 30 Years of Afro-Futurism charts the journey of Tim Fielder’s career as a visual Afro-Futurist and is screening in conjunction with an exhibition in Harlem.