Films at the Whitney Archive

Films Crossing Borders presented migration stories that traverse diverse and shifting boundaries, from the geopolitical and material to the social and conceptual. Across five nights, the series followed Mixtec women navigating painful returns, Syrian refugees filming survival at sea, and other journeys that ask: What does it mean to cross borders—seen and unseen?

Curated by Alexa De La Fuente, Ph.D. student in American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Zoe Guiney, Ph.D. student in Spanish and Portuguese

Work/Place traced the cinematic relationship between labor and its environments, from salt mines and city streets to harbors and factories. With features and shorts from thirteen countries, including France, China, Mali, the United States, and Mexico, this five-night series depicted what the place of work has been—and could be—in the lives of people around the globe.

Curated by Annie Berman, Ph.D. student in American Studies and Film and Media Studies, and Nathaniel LaCelle-Peterson, Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature and Film and Media Studies

Palestine through Film chronicled key moments in Palestinian history—from the Nakba of 1948 to the present occupation. These weekly screenings of documentaries, historical dramas, and shorts opened a window onto the mosaic of life in Palestine.

Screening South Africa, Past and Present was offered in conjunction with Yale University Art Gallery’s exhibition David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive. Expanding upon the documentary genre in distinct ways, these three films share the common motive of exposing the rippling effects of apartheid in South Africa, from the 1950s to the present day.

Generously sponsored by Jane P. Watkins, M.P.H. 1979. Cosponsored by the Yale University Art Gallery and the Whitney Humanities Center

World Documentaries Today celebrated new and cutting-edge nonfiction films that bring urgent global issues—from political disinformation to cultural repatriation—into sharp focus through innovative storytelling.

Curated by Lora Maslenitsyna, Ph.D. student in Film and Media Studies and Slavic Languages and Literatures 

The political instability, hyperinflation, mass unemployment, and urban conflict that defined 1920s Germany in the aftermath of World War I gave rise to expressionist cinema, inspiring hallucinatory films full of nightmares, mystery, crime, madness, and desire. In partnership with the Yale University Art Gallery, Films at the Whitney presented two striking examples to accompany the exhibition Munch and Kirchner: Anxiety and Expression.

Curated by Lorenz Hegel, Ph.D. candidate in the combined program in Film and Media Studies and German Studies

Early Ousmane Sembène: The First Films from the Father of African Cinema celebrated the centenary of an unparalleled Senegalese filmmaker. Running throughout the fall of 2023, this series included Sembène’s first five feature-length films and two of his early shorts, supplemented by introductions and a panel discussion.

Co-presented by the Yale Film Archive and the Whitney Humanities Center

Sister, Sister explored the theme of sisterhood through an expansive range of films—from MARIE ANTOINETTE and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO to PEPPERMINT SODA—bringing together Hollywood classics and overlooked masterpieces alike. The series aimed to appeal to students and general audiences, presenting films that anyone in New Haven could discover and appreciate.


Curated by Carlos Valladares, Ph.D. student in Film and Media Studies and the History of Art, and Joji Baratelli ’24

In honor of the Yale University Art Gallery’s special exhibition Bámigbóyè: A Master Sculptor of the Yorùbá Tradition, Films at the Whitney presented a three-part series celebrating Nigerian cinema. Selected to commemorate Bámigbóyè’s 50-year career, the films focus on themes of migration, identity, and the legacy of historic artworks and tradition in Nigerian society.

Co-presented by the Yale University Art Gallery and the Whitney Humanities Center