The Films of Emile de Antonio / "Painters Painting" and "Mr. Hoover and I"

In Painters Painting, de Antonio and cinematographer Ed Emshwiller chronicle the work of 13 painters in New York through interviews and substantial studio observation. As one contemporary reviewer noted, “It’s a great big, cheerfully uncritical hug of a movie about a subject [de Antonio] adores: the contemporary New York art scene and the people who make it hustle.” De Antonio’s final film, Mr. Hoover and I, is a combination personal essay and documentary exposé of J. Edgar Hoover. Without collage or biting juxtaposition, the filmmaker takes us through his own 10,000-page FBI file, rounding out the picture with a variety of supplemental footage: a conversation with John Cage about art, a college speaking engagement on Joseph McCarthy and the Iran-Contra hearings, and a haircut by his wife Nancy. “Mr. Hoover and I is made of poor means,” de Antonio wrote, “but it is ambitious—more ambitious than Batman.”

$5 general, students, and seniors. Double features: films offered on the same date are included in one ticket. Program tickets are available at the Museum (no surcharge) or through http://www.sfmoma.org/tickets (surcharge applies).