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1001 Bissonnet
Houston, 77005-1803 Get Directions
713-639-7515
https://www.mfah.org/calendar/sonita
Events at this venue
Today

MFAH Virtual Films: Native Son

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

Richard Wright’s widely praised 1940 novel exposed the injustices of Black urban life. Bigger Thomas,in prison for murder and sentenced to death, reflects back on the circumstances that led to his incarceration. This new restoration of the 1951 screen adaptation, in the film-noir genre, stars author Richard Wright as Bigger Thomas, and is being released in its original length for the first time. This new restoration of the 1951 film version is preceded by a special filmed introduction by film historians Eddie Muller (Film Noir Foundation) and Jacqueline Najuma Stewart, courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.

$10

Ghosts of Sugar Land

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

Ghosts of Sugar Land examines the radicalization of a young American Muslim. Through interviews with his friends, the documentary tells the story of “Mark,” who converted to Islam before college and became radicalized shortly thereafter. A number of years ago, through Facebook posts, “Mark” stated that he crossed over from Turkey to the “Islamic State.” His friends from Sugar Land, Texas—all masked to protect their identities—hypothesize about what may have happened that led their friend to join ISIS. Ghosts of Sugar Land won the Nonfiction Jury Award for Short Film at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Free

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

This remarkable documentary chronicles the late 20th century into the 21st, as experienced by a woman who might be the original news junkie. Marion Stokes (1929–2012) became known as a passionate activist, articulately espousing her leftist views on local television in Philadelphia.

Recorder pulls you into her secret life, revealing that she spent decades obsessively recording TV programs around the clock. From the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis to the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, Stokes captured revolutions, wars, triumphs, catastrophes, bloopers, talk shows, and commercials on 70,000 VHS tapes. A second marriage brought wealth, but she ultimately became a recluse who saw her life’s work to be protecting the truth by archiving everything on TV.

$7 – $65

Reason (Vivek)

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

In this monumental documentary, veteran Indian filmmaker Anand Patwardhan explores how India’s political climate has moved dramatically away from the nonviolent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Organized in chapters that move from the past to the present, Reason unflinchingly chronicles the rise of right-wing extremism and recent instances of violence, yet concludes with a message of cautious optimism.

Free

HARC People & Nature Speaker Series: Innovative Resilience Financing

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

“Will we be Ready for the Next Harvey? Innovative Funding Strategies and Opportunities for Community Resilience”

On Wednesday, September 12, HARC will continue its People & Nature Speaker Series hosting an evening conversation with six national thought leaders on the topic of innovative resilience financing and the role that the public and private sectors can play to develop new community partnerships and diversified resilience funding mechanisms in Greater Houston.

Free

The 25th Houston Iranian Film Festival

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

This year marks the 25th anniversary of this festival, established by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Rice Cinema. Screenings will take place at both venues and at The Asia Society Texas Center. Following last year’s screening of Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, this year's selections include Breath, Iran’s 2017 Oscar submission. It is one of several narratives by and about young Iranian women, and, like Tehran Taboo, features the innovative use of animation. 24 Frames, the mesmerizing, experimental last film by the internationally celebrated Abbas Kiarostami (1940-2016) will be shown at both the Museum and Rice Cinema.

$8 – $10

The Other Side of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen)

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

This wry, melancholic comedy from Aki Kaurismäki—whose films the MFAH has premiered for more than three decades—speaks to the current refugee situation. Khaled (Sherwan Haji), a displaced Syrian, lands in Helsinki as a stowaway. Meanwhile, middle-aged salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves behind his wife and job and improbably buys a seafood restaurant. Despite being denied asylum, Khaled remains in Finland, and the paths of the two men cross fortuitously. A bittersweet tale of human kindness, The Other Side of Hope is as deadpan as the best of the director’s work, with a deep well of empathy for its down-but-not-out characters—many of them played by members of Kaurismäki's ever-reliable stock company.
A bittersweet tale of human kindness, The Other Side of Hope is as deadpan as the best of the director’s work, with a deep well of empathy for its down-but-not-out characters—many of them played by members of Kaurismäki's ever-reliable stock company.

$7 – $9

Faces, Places

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

On the Oscar short list for this year's Best Documentary Feature!

Agnès Varda, who turned 89 in May 2017 and received an honorary Academy Award the following November, is one of the leading figures of the French New Wave. She codirects this enchanting documentary/road movie with acclaimed 33-year-old French photographer and muralist JR. Kindred spirits, Varda and JR share a lifelong passion for images and how they are created, displayed, and shared. In Faces Places, they travel together around the villages of France in JR’s photo truck—meeting locals, learning their stories, and producing epic-size portraits. The photos are prominently displayed on houses, barns, storefronts, and trains, revealing the humanity in their subjects and themselves. Faces Places records the heartwarming encounters as well as the unlikely, tender friendships created along the way.

“Magnificently moving, funny, and altogether wonderful! Agnès Varda and JR are a screen duo for the ages!” —indiewire.com

$7 – $9

Event Series Sacred

Sacred

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

“Directed by Academy Award–winner Thomas Lennon and shot around the world by 40 filmmaking teams, Sacred immerses the viewer in an exploration of spirituality across cultures and religions. This nomadic film explores faith as primary human experience and shows how people turn to ritual and prayer to navigate the milestones and crises of life.

$7 – $9

Ai Weiwei’s THE HUMAN FLOW

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change, and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow, an epic documentary by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to the massive human migration. Captured over the course of one year in 23 countries, the film witnesses its subjects and their desperate search for safety, shelter, and justice. A visceral work of cinema that begs the question: Will our global society emerge from fear, isolation, and self-interest and choose a path of openness, freedom, and respect for humanity?

$8 – $10

Event Series Film: Sonita

Film: Sonita

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

Sonita Winning two awards at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Sonita tells the inspiring story of Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran, who thinks of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of becoming a big-name rapper. Currently her only fans are the other teenage girls in a Tehran shelter, […]

$9