Rousseau Film Series: Shorts Program
Saturday, January 10, 1 – 4pm
Still from Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou.
$15; members and students free
About the Event
This special three-part film series is presented with our latest exhibition, Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets. Curated by BlackStar Film Festival founder Maori Karmael Holmes, each screening highlights directors and collaborators who were influenced by Rousseau and the generation of surrealist artists he inspired. The films’ use of whimsy, mystical themes, deep blacks, and, in some cases, lush forest imagery evoke Rousseau’s best-known works.
Today’s screening features short films that meditate on philosophy, memory, and surrealism: Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Sakda (Rousseau). The screening will be followed by a brief lecture and conversation with independent curator Anthony Elms.
This program takes place in the Comcast NBCUniversal Auditorium and includes access to the Barnes collection and Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets.
Don’t miss our other film screenings:
November 8: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
December 13: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
About the Films
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) is a silent surrealist short film by the Spanish and Mexican director Luis Buñuel and cowritten with Salvador Dalí. The first film by Buñuel, it was initially released in a limited showing at Studio des Ursulines in Paris but became so popular it ran for eight months.
Duration: 16 min
This film is not rated. It contains graphic imagery and simulated violence; viewer discretion is advised.
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Sakda (Rousseau) (2012)
Created to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, this short film centers on a monologue delivered by a modern-day artist in Thailand who appears to be his reincarnation. The film is a fragmentary essay that ruminates on the boundaries between memory and fantasy.
Duration: 5 min
Speakers
Maori Karmael Holmes
Holmes is the chief executive and artistic officer of BlackStar Projects. She has organized programs at Anthology Film Archives and Whitney Museum, as well as exhibitions at ICA and Pearlstein Gallery. Holmes was named one of Kennedy Center’s #Next50, a 2023 United States Artists Berresford Prize recipient, and a 2022 Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Fellow.
Anthony Elms
Elms served as chief curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, from 2015 to 2021, organizing exhibitions on Cauleen Smith, Christopher Knowles, and Milford Graves, among others. He curated Rodney McMillian: Neighbors at the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, on view through May 2026. Elms’s writing appears in numerous catalogues, collections, and periodicals. His essay “Ellipsesverse,” on artist Oliver Ressler, was published in fall 2025 for the exhibition Scenes from the Invention of Democracy at Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland.
Go Further
Daily Gallery Talks
Every day, our gallery specialists offer talks about the Barnes collection. Learn more about our history, founder, and collection.
Deep Dive: Matisse’s Music Lesson and Studio with Goldfish
An in-depth discussion about two paintings by Henri Matisse with Penn MA student Nina Huang. Free with admission; Room 19
Rousseau Film Series: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
This series, curated by BlackStar Film Festival founder Maori Karmael Holmes, reflects on themes in Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets.