Mike welcomes Eric Hynes and Edo Choi, curators of First Look 2025 at the Museum of the Moving Image, running running March 12-16 in Astoria, New York. Now in its 14th year, the festival remains a vital showcase for bold, boundary-pushing cinema from around the world.
This year’s lineup includes 38 films—20 features and numerous shorts—spanning 21 countries, with three world premieres and 24 U.S. or North American premieres. Each evening culminates in a Showcase Screening at MoMI’s Sumner Redstone Theater. The festival opens with the U.S. premiere of Durga Chew-Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse, a contemporary take on the classic novel, and closes with Giovanni Tortorici’s Diciannove, an intimate portrait of a young man’s journey across Italy.
Mike, Eric, and Edo dive into the festival’s mission of discovery, its rigorous selection process, and the importance of in-person filmmaker appearances. They also highlight First Look’s unique inclusion of work-in-progress screenings and discussions, offering a behind-the-scenes look at emerging cinematic voices. Whether you’re attending or just love adventurous filmmaking, this episode provides an insightful preview of what makes First Look a can’t-miss event for cinephiles.
On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike talks with Curator of Film Eric Hynes and Associate Curator of Film Edo Choi about the First Look 2023 program from the Museum of the Moving Image.
First Look, the Museum’s festival of new and innovative international cinema, will take place March 15–19, 2023. The festival introduces New York audiences to formally inventive works that seek to redefine the art form while engaging in a wide range of subjects and styles. The 2023 lineup includes both nonfiction and fiction, features and shorts, as well as forms that fall outside the boundaries of traditional theatrical distribution. This year, the festival will premiere 44 works, including 18 features representing more than 22 countries.
On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike speaks with Eric Hynes (Curator of Film at MoMI) and Edo Choi (Assistant Curator of Film) about the Moving Image's First Look film festival. They discuss the mission of the festival while highlighting just a few of the many titles playing at the 2022 event which runs March 16-20, 2022.
Special Guests: Edo Choi, Eric Hynes
Special Guests: 
Special Guests: