NYC Fosters Appreciation of Cinematic History

The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York is almost entirely publicly funded and recently received an additional $54.7 million from the Bloomberg administration to double its size.
NYC Fosters Appreciation of Cinematic History
NEW FACE: The Museum of the Moving Image got a $54.7 million makeover. (COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF MOVING IMAGES) (Courtesy of The Museum of Moving Images )
Tara MacIsaac
1/13/2011
Updated:
1/13/2011
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/facade_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/facade_medium.jpg" alt="NEW FACE: The Museum of the Moving Image got a $54.7 million makeover. (COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF MOVING IMAGES) (Courtesy of The Museum of Moving Images )" title="NEW FACE: The Museum of the Moving Image got a $54.7 million makeover. (COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF MOVING IMAGES) (Courtesy of The Museum of Moving Images )" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-118788"/></a>
NEW FACE: The Museum of the Moving Image got a $54.7 million makeover. (COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF MOVING IMAGES) (Courtesy of The Museum of Moving Images )
NEW YORK—The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, is almost entirely publicly funded and recently received an additional $54.7 million from the Bloomberg administration to double its size.

“Our city is really the birthplace of modern cinema,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the ceremonial opening of the newly revamped museum on Thursday, Jan. 13.

New York City is at the heart of movie industry. It’s the home of Thomas Edison, who invented the first movie-viewing machine, and the original capital of the movie industry before media moguls migrated to Hollywood.

The museum cultivates an appreciation of this history. Films from all eras and in every format can be viewed with state-of-the-art technology in the museum’s theater. One of the treats offered up on Saturday, when the museum opens to the public, is a screening of the Stanley Kubrick classic “2001: A Space Odyssey” in a restored 70 mm version.

Over 1,200 artifacts—including props, original action figures and more—are on display in the core exhibition Behind the Screen.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/new1theater_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/new1theater_medium.jpg" alt="BETTER VIEW: The theater at the Museum of the Moving Image features new projectors for sharper, high-definition video.  (Courtesy of The Museum of Moving Images)" title="BETTER VIEW: The theater at the Museum of the Moving Image features new projectors for sharper, high-definition video.  (Courtesy of The Museum of Moving Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-118789"/></a>
BETTER VIEW: The theater at the Museum of the Moving Image features new projectors for sharper, high-definition video.  (Courtesy of The Museum of Moving Images)
The movie industry is far from dead and gone in the city, with approximately 100,000 New Yorkers employed in film, television, or digital arts, noted the mayor.
The city’s investment will facilitate the instruction of 60,000 students of all ages in the new media and production labs.

Professional development workshops are also offered for teachers: Film and Television in the Classroom, Teaching History through Documentary, and more.