Dryden Theatre

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Dryden Theatre

The George Eastman Museum's exhibition space for showcasing its unparalleled collection of motion pictures, as well as new foreign and independent films.
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The Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House is the Museum's largest exhibition space for showcasing its unparalleled collection of motion pictures, selections from archives around the world, as well as new foreign and independent films. With such diverse programming, the Dryden remains an essential part of the Museum experience and continues to be an important institution not only for the Rochester

community, but internationally as well. The Dryden Theatre was constructed in 1951 after George Eastman House received a generous donation from George and Ellen Dryden. The first film to be shown at the Dryden was Jean Renoir’s silent film Nana (1924). James Card (1915 – 2000) established the motion picture collection at George Eastman House. Card was a pioneer in the archival world and he single-handedly helped contribute to the appreciation of film as an art form. FILM
The projection booth is equipped with two reel-to-reel 35mm/16mm Kinoton projectors, and two 35mm Century projectors. Both sets of projectors have adaptable lenses for the following aspect ratios:

1.18: 1
Silent 1.33: 1
Academy 1.37: 1
1.66: 1
1.85: 1
Anamorphic 2.39: 1

VIDEO
The Dryden Theatre is equipped with an InFocus SP 777 DLP Projector. Video capabilities include: BetacamSP, Blu-ray, DVD, DigiBeta, U-Matic and VHS. SOUND
The theatre is outfitted with an up-to-date sound system designed to reproduce soundtracks for both contemporary and archival screenings. Designed and installed by Boston Light & Sound, it features a Dolby 7.1 system, able to reproduce the following stereo formats: Mono, Dolby A-Type, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, and also DTS. NITRATE
The Dryden Theatre projection booth is also customized to handle highly volatile Nitrate film. Discontinued around the mid-20th Century due to its highly flammable nature, nitrate film stock – the combination of a silver nitrate base and orthochromatic or panchromatic emulsion – provided a shimmering, luminous motion picture experience for moviegoers during the entire first half of movie history. One of only a handful of venues in the world that is still safely equipped to show 35mm nitrate prints, the Dryden Theatre is occasionally able to re-introduce audiences to this special kind of cinema magic with classic films from our vaults or other leading archives. Because no nitrate film stock is being produced today, these rare screenings of vintage prints may represent your only opportunity to experience this distinctive aesthetic visual pleasure.

07/10/2026

High Anxiety (35mm)
📅 Saturday, July 11, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: 100 Years of Mel Brooks

Comedic genius Brooks plays Dr. Thorndyke, the new administrator for the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. When he is wrongfully accused of murder he must overcome his fear of heights or "high anxiety" in order to uncover a sinister plot hatched by Dr. Charles Montague (Harvey Korman) and his do******ix assistant Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). Brooks' parodic homage to the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock (including Vertigo, Psycho, and The Birds) also features Brooks favorite Madeline Kahn as the love interest with a dark secret. A must-see for fans of both Brooks and Hitchcock!

07/09/2026

The Help (DCP)
📅 Friday, July 10, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: 2026 George Eastman Award Winner: Octavia Spencer

Octavia Spencer earned an Academy Award on her first nomination in this film based on the best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett. Set in early-1960s Jackson, Mississippi, the story follows “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone), recently graduated from college and looking to become a writer. When she lands a job at the local newspaper as the “domestic columnist,” she consults the bevy of maids that work at local white households, prompting her to conceive a project that tells their stories. Integral to this plan are Aibileen (Viola Davis), who works for Skeeter’s friend Elizabeth (Ahna O’Reilly) and Minny (Spencer), who has worked for many families, currently in the Walters house. As word of the book spreads, each of these women find themselves in precarious positions. Spencer is a stand-out in a stacked cast that includes Sissy Spacek, Jessica Chastain, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Mary Steenburgen, and Cicely Tyson.

07/09/2026

Shots from the bench! Join us THIS SATURDAY EVENING at 7:30pm for the second to last installment in our 100 Years of Mel Brooks series, HIGH ANXIETY 😱Once again, this amazing 35mm print comes from our collection! 🎞️

📸Photos taken during inspection by one of our amazing projectionists, Casey Sanders!

07/08/2026

First Man (DCP)
📅 Thursday, July 9, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: America in Space

Ryan Gosling plays the legendary Neil Armstrong in this adaptation of the James Hansen biography, directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash, Babylon). Focusing on Armstrong’s professional career and his journey to become the first man to walk on the moon, the film opens with the distracted pilot escaping a dangerous flight, yet still under threat of being grounded. He applies for Project Gemini and is accepted to the space program. Meanwhile, his daughter has a been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and Armstrong spends his personal time detailing her symptoms and researching possible treatments. Unfolding over a decade of professional success and personal loss, First Man is a portrait of the man behind the icon. Chazelle’s attention to detail extends to the visuals and soundscape that put you in the cockpit with Armstrong.

07/08/2026

Shots from the bench! Join us TOMORROW evening for the next stop on our Summer Trip Through Europe(an Cinema) series, ETERNITY AND A DAY. This beautiful 35mm print comes from our collection 🎞️

📸Photos taken during inspection by one of our amazing projectionists, Casey Sanders!

07/08/2026

Eternity and a Day (35mm)
📅 Wednesday, July 8, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: A Summer Trip through Europe(an Cinema)

An elderly poet in Greece, alone and near death, takes comfort in memories of a happier time and the companionship of a young Albanian refugee. Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire) stars in a poignant performance as the dying author, and Eleni Karaindrou's music contributes greatly to a moving meditation on life, loss, and memory - the winner of the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or.

07/06/2026

The Way I Spent the End of the World (35mm)
📅 Tuesday, July 7, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: A Summer Trip through Europe(an Cinema)

Contemporary with the emergence of the Romanian New Wave with The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days (2007), this film about a family struggling during the last days of the Ceauşescu government received a limited release in this country. Eva (Dorotheea Petre) is a seventeen-year-old girl who gets into trouble at school and is expelled. Her younger brother, Lilu (Timotei Duma), joins a choir tasked with singing for the president while absorbing the grumblings of neighbors and relatives. Both seek to find a way to escape what seems to be a pre-determined fate. Alternately charming and heart-braking, Mitulescu’s first feature provides a personal glimpse into the circumstances that brought about the end of Communism in Romania.

07/03/2026

The Right Stuff (35mm)
📅 Friday, July 3, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: America in Space

Thrilling, comedic, and epic, writer-director Philip Kaufman adapts Tom Wolfe’s docu-drama novel about the Mercury program, NASA’s first steps toward space flight. Seeking out test pilots, who they deem to have the “right stuff,” physical, mental, technological, and ethical boundaries are pushed in the efforts to beat the Soviets to space. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the film features a deep cast, most of whom were just beginning their film careers, including Sam Shepard, Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Lance Henriksen, Barbara Hershey, Jeff Goldblum, and Harry Shearer. With aerial photography that continues to amaze forty years after the film’s release, this big-screen spectacle should not be missed.

07/02/2026

Shots from the bench! Join us TOMORROW, July 3, at 7:30pm to kick off our America in Space series with THE RIGHT STUFF! 🚀

📸Photos taken during inspection by one of our amazing projectionists, Casey Sanders!

07/01/2026

Herbaria (DCP)
📅 Thursday, July 2, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: Rochester Premiere | Steichen and the Garden

Argentinian filmmaker and programmer Leandro Listorti offers a contemplation on the parallels between extinct plant life and lost film. An herbarium is an archived collection of preserved plant specimens, involving plants pressed flat, dried, and mounted for future study and research. In the film, Listorti draws comparisons between herbaria and film archives, which are collecting, conserving, and, in best conditions, restoring the images stored there. Featuring footage from both the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden and the Museo del Cine, Listorti follows professionals at both institutions as they attempt to identify, catalog, and preserve Argentina’s history, natural and cinematic. The film takes a poetic turn as Listorti considers the future of both, and the work necessary to achieving these goals.

Address

900 East Avenue
Rochester, NY
14607

Telephone

(585) 327-4800

Website

http://eastman.org/dryden-theatre

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