The Museum of Modern Art in New York unveiled its annual film series “The Contenders” on Tuesday, with Steve McQueen’s heist thriller “Widows” kicking off the opening night of screenings.
Running from Nov. 8 to Jan. 8 at The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters at MoMA, the end-of-year series is entering into its 11th year and will feature a mix of blockbusters, documentaries, independent films, awards darlings and more, many accompanied by special presentations and post-screening conversations with the filmmakers.
McQueen and producer Iain Canning will be present on the series’ opening night for a post-screening discussion of the film starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Debicki.
Today’s initial announcement of the 2018 lineup also includes spotlight screenings of critical darlings “BlacKkKlansman,” “Private Life,” the documentary “Free Solo” and even Marvel’s “Black Panther.”
A forthcoming announcement listing additional films in this year’s lineup will be made later this year.
“The 2018 Contenders lineup features a cross section of the best new cinema from around the world, from the best of Hollywood (and Wakanda!) to smaller films like Lucretia Martel’s ‘Zama’ and ‘Hale County This Morning, This Evening’ from RaMell Ross,” said Rajendra Roy, MoMA’s Celeste Bartos chief curator of film in a statement. “Steve McQueen returning to MoMA on opening night with ‘Widows’ will be a great moment for our enthusiastic audience, and having everyone from Paul Schrader to John Krasinski join us for discussions speaks to the breadth and depth of the program.”
Tickets for the MoMA screenings go on sale two weeks prior to each screening at 9:30 a.m. at The Museum of Modern Art and online at moma.org/contenders, where you can find a full list of screenings.