Harry Smith’s Film #18, Mahagonny in 4K
Harry Smith’s Film #18, Mahagonny in 4K
Introduction by Hilary Staff, Harry Smith Archives.
Introduction by Hilary Staff, Harry Smith Archives.
“You have to live Mahagonny, in fact be Mahagonny in order to work on it.” — Harry Smith
Experimental filmmaker, anthropologist, painter, and musicologist Harry Smith’s final film, Mahagonny, was an epic four-screen projection. Smith worked on this cinematic transformation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for over ten years and considered it his magnum opus. Mahagonny explores the needs and desires of man amid the rituals of daily life in New York City. Much of the film takes place within the Chelsea Hotel and contains cameos of important avant-garde figures such as Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, and Jonas Mekas, intercut with installation pieces from Robert Mapplethorpe’s studio, New York City landmarks of the era, and Smith’s visionary animation. This screening represents the completion of an ambitious preservation project by the Harry Smith Archives with the assistance of Anthology Film Archives. The artist’s original intention was to screen the film with four 16mm projectors; the original masters have been optically printed onto a single “tiled” 35mm film negative. This presentation is a new restoration of the film.
Programmed by Hyesung ii and K.J. Relth-Miller.
Note by Rani Singh, Harry Smith Archives.
Thanks to Rani Singh and Hilary Staff.
DIRECTED BY: Harry Smith. 1970–80. 141 min. USA. Color. 4K DCP.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
Explore our current quarterly print Film Calendar and browse the archive.
Theater accessibility accommodations available upon request. Learn more about our accessibility initiatives.
Back to Main Series
More in Series
Film Program
Latent Image: Three Films on Space, Time, and Change
In person: Tacita Dean, Margaret Honda, and Daïchi Saïto.
Film Program
Thu, Jul 14, 2022
An Evening with Christopher Harris: New Restorations
Christopher Harris in conversation with Academy Museum Chief Artistic and Programming Officer Jacqueline Stewart.
Film Program
Thu, Aug 4, 2022
Animation from Another World: Chronopolis and Shorts by Piotr Kamler
A selection of five of Piotr Kamler’s incredible short animated films followed by a rare 35mm presentation of his widely acclaimed masterwork, Chronopolis (1982/1988).
Film Program
Thu, Sept 15, 2022
Derek Jarman: Super 8 Revelations
An eclectic array of Derek Jarman’s Super 8 films chosen especially for this occasion. In-person: James Mackay
Film Program
Mon, Oct 24, 2022
Sally Cruikshank & Vince Collins: Cartoons for Convoluted Craniums!
In person: Sally Cruikshank.
Film Program
Wed, November 16, 2022
J.P. Sniadecki: Two Films, A Decade Apart…
In person: J.P. Sniadecki.
Film Program
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Mike Henderson: The Blues and the Abstract Truth
In person: Mike Henderson
Film Program
Monday, May 15, 2023
Harry Gamboa Jr.
Special guest: Post-screening conversation with artist, author, and educator Harry Gamboa Jr.
Film Program
Saturday, June 3, 2023
Made in Hollywood by Bruce and Norman Yonemoto
In person: Bruce Yonemoto and Patricia Arquette.
Film Program
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
You & Me & the Cosmos Makes Three: An Evening with Deborah Stratman
In person: Deborah Stratman.
Film Program
Friday, September 22, 2023
The Tawdry Visions of George and Mike Kuchar
Special guest: Post-screening conversation with filmmaker Mike Kuchar.
Film Program
Friday, November 17, 2023
Maureen Selwood: Animating the Interior
In person: Maureen Selwood.
Film Program
Friday, December 1, 2023
Film Program
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket and Roman Candles with live commentary by John Waters
John Waters himself will present his first two short films with live, in-person commentary.
Film Program
Fri, Jul 5, 2024
Film Program
Fri, Aug 23, 2024
Los Angeles Site Seeing: Views of the City and the Academy Film Archive
Views of the City from the Academy Film Archive