Dryden Theatre

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.

A peek at what's on our screen this week! 😍
09/06/2026

A peek at what's on our screen this week! 😍

Hills of Home (35mm)📅 Saturday, September 5, 2 p.m.🎬 Series: Adventures of LassieRecalling similar nostalgic films such ...
09/04/2026

Hills of Home (35mm)
📅 Saturday, September 5, 2 p.m.
🎬 Series: Adventures of Lassie

Recalling similar nostalgic films such as How Green Was My Valley, the title refers to the Scottish Highlands where Dr. William MacLure (Edmund Gwenn, in his second Lassie film) adopts Lassie in return for services rendered before he learns that she has an unnatural aversion to water. Meanwhile, the doctor has also been apprenticing young Tammas Milton (Tom Drake) as a potential replacement when he retires, unbeknownst to his disapproving father. Lassie must overcome her fears in order to help the doctor in his life-saving procedures, setting the stage for a dramatic operation that will change all of their lives. The cast also includes Donald Crisp (a Lassie regular and star of How Green Was My Valley), Janet Leigh, and Reginald Owen. 35mm print from the George Eastman Museum collection.

Remake (DCP)📅 Saturday, September 5, 7:30 p.m.🎬 Series: Two by McElweeRoss McElwee’s films have often been autobiographi...
09/04/2026

Remake (DCP)
📅 Saturday, September 5, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: Two by McElwee

Ross McElwee’s films have often been autobiographical and his last film, Photographic Memories, shows the director trying to understand his teenage son, Adrian, by digging into his own past and maturation. When Adrian died in 2016, McElwee returned to filmmaking for the first time in fourteen years. Simultaneously tracing the failed Hollywood remake of McElwee’s Sherman’s March and Adrian’s descent into a deepening drug addiction, the film painfully combines footage shot by two generations of McElwees in an examination of the film frame and whether truth lies inside of it or out of sight. Remake is an exploration of the passage of time after a life spent behind the camera. DCP from Music Box Films.

Check out our October calendar! 👻🎃🍂🗓️ Here's what's coming up:🎹 The continuation of Silent Tuesdays with three more film...
09/04/2026

Check out our October calendar! 👻🎃🍂

🗓️ Here's what's coming up:

🎹 The continuation of Silent Tuesdays with three more films! Comedies, epics, westerns, horror films, and the avant-garde were all part of early cinema, and are all represented in our series this fall. Accompanied by Philip Carli on our 1925 Knabe piano, this is as close as you’ll get to re-creating the original cinematic experience, short of inventing a time machine.

🎼 The last two films in our Art of Music in the Movies series. Either Mark Watters or Charity Lofthouse will introduce the film and follow the screening with an in-depth discussion with Jared Case.

🛠️ Four films in our Labor Film series. A partnership between the Dryden Theatre and the Rochester Labor Council since 1989, the Labor Film Series, the oldest in the United States, brings together classic films and new releases in an exploration of work, workers, and labor issues from across the world.

🌍 The last three films in our Latin Cinematic Heritage series! For the second year in a row, the Dryden Theatre is partnering with the to highlight the often-overlooked contributions Latin Americans have made to cinema worldwide.

🌍 The first two films in our Filmi Fest 2000 series! The George Eastman Museum’s South Asian collection is composed largely of films from the first decade of the century, a time when the Indian film industry was seeing a large expansion to other countries. As part of our ongoing efforts to bring these films to our big screen, this fall we take our audiences back to the dawn of the millennium, exploring some of the earliest films in the collection.

💀 All three films in our Lovecraftian series! H.P. Lovecraft was one of the most influential authors of horror in history, to the point that works have been eponymously referred to as “Lovecraftian.” But his works have often proven difficult to adapt into film. This series offers up two films adapted directly from his work, twenty years apart.

And even more than we can list here! We look forward to seeing you at the Dryden in October! 🎃👻🐈‍⬛🕸️🕷️

We are enthusiastically anticipating our very special screening of Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece METROPOLIS, featuring l...
09/04/2026

We are enthusiastically anticipating our very special screening of Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece METROPOLIS, featuring live musical accompaniment from The Anvil Orchestra! 🎼

Special pricing applies, no Admit One or Take 10 passes will be accepted at this screening. Free admission for SNAP/EBT cardholders and their families, as well as active-duty military and their families.

We hope you'll be here with us for a Saturday night at the Dryden you will not forget! 📽️ 🎞️

09/03/2026

Join us SATURDAY, September 5 at 7:30 p.m. for the second of two Ross McElwee films screening this weekend at the Dryden. REMAKE will conclude our Two by McElwee miniseries

Sherman’s March (DCP)📅 Friday, September 4, 7:30 p.m.🎬 Series: Two by McElweeWinner of the 1987 Sundance Film Festival’s...
09/03/2026

Sherman’s March (DCP)
📅 Friday, September 4, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: Two by McElwee

Winner of the 1987 Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize (Documentary), Sherman’s March is a cinéma vérité documentary epic that follows filmmaker Ross McElwee on a quest to explore the devastating effects of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s military campaign across Georgia during the American Civil War. What begins as McElwee’s attempt to cross-examine General Sherman’s March against his own Southern upbringing ends up being thwarted by the director falling in love with multiple women over the course of the production. A hilarious odyssey about relationships, nuclear paranoia, and Burt Reynolds, Sherman’s March is a groundbreaking entry in the canon of personal documentaries. Presented in a new 4K restoration courtesy of Music Box Films.

09/02/2026

Join us THIS FRIDAY, September 4 at 7:30 p.m. for the first of two films by documentarian Ross McElwee, SHERMAN'S MARCH

City Slickers (35mm)📅 Thursday, September 3, 7:30 p.m.🎬 Series: The Art of Music in the MoviesMitch (Billy Crystal), Ed ...
09/02/2026

City Slickers (35mm)
📅 Thursday, September 3, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: The Art of Music in the Movies

Mitch (Billy Crystal), Ed (Bruno Kirby), and Phil (Daniel Stern) are lifelong friends lost in early middle-age. Phil is trapped in a loveless marriage to the boss’s daughter, Ed can’t seem to settle down, and Mitch has lost the spark that used to give his life meaning. The three take adventure vacations to capture something of their youth, but none of them fill the holes in their lives. Until Ed and Phil decide to give Mitch a real cowboy experience driving cattle for his thirty-ninth birthday. Out on the open plains the three most overcome their fears and themselves as they realize what matters most to each of them. The difficulty of scoring a comedy is complicated here by setting it within a rip-roaring adventure story, but composer Marc Shaiman handles the assignment admirably, evoking previous westerns through instrumentation and orchestration. Introduction by and post-screening discussion with Mark Watters. 35mm print from MGM via Park Circus.

Born to Be Bad (35mm)📅 Wednesday, September 2, 7:30 p.m.🎬 Series: Distaff NoirJoan Fontaine’s early roles as a quiet obs...
09/02/2026

Born to Be Bad (35mm)
📅 Wednesday, September 2, 7:30 p.m.
🎬 Series: Distaff Noir

Joan Fontaine’s early roles as a quiet observer in Hitchcock’s Rebecca and Suspicion belied a cool strength below and yet she used this presumptive attitude to play against as double-dealing schemers and murderers in her films just a decade later. Here she plays Christable Caine, a scheming, ambitious social-climber balancing the affections of both the wealthy Curtis Carey (Zachary Scott) and aspiring novelist Nick Bradley (Robert Ryan). Playing the two off each other, Christabel plans to have everything: status, wealth, love, and her freedom. The cast includes Mel Ferrer and Joan Leslie, who can also be seen in The Hard Way. Introduction by and post-screening discussion with author Julie Grossman. 35mm preservation from the George Eastman Museum collection.

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