Museum of the moving image

Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) celebrates the history, art, technology, and future of the moving image in all of its forms. Located in Astoria, Queens, New York, MoMI presents exhibitions; screenings; discussion programs featuring actors, directors, and creative leaders; and education programs. It houses a comprehensive collection of moving image artifacts and screens over 500 films annually, in its two theaters: the grand Sumner M. Redstone Theater, equipped with Dolby Atmos and 70mm capability, and the Bartos Screening Room. Its exhibitions—including the core exhibition "Behind the Screen" and "The Jim Henson Exhibition"—are noted for their integration of material objects, interactive experiences, and audiovisual presentations.

  • The Museum occupies one of the thirteen buildings that comprised the former Astoria studio complex. Originally built by Famous Players-Lasky—known as Paramount after 1927—as their East Coast production facility in 1920, the studio was the site of hundreds of silent and early sound era film productions. In 1942 it was taken over by the U.S. Army to produce training films for WWII soldiers and renamed the Signal Corps Photographic Center. Following the Army's departure in 1970, the site fell into disrepair. Through the efforts of a consortium of New York City and federal government representatives, union officials, and other industry professionals, the Astoria Motion Picture and Television Center Foundation was established in 1977 to restore the Astoria studio complex to productive use. In 1978, the Foundation successfully returned the studio to feature film production, and obtained listing of the site on the National Register of Historic Places.

    In 1980, real estate developer George Kaufman was selected to operate the studio facilities. Shortly after, Rochelle Slovin was appointed Executive Director of the Foundation. Under her leadership, the Foundation’s Board of Directors committed to create a museum of film and television at the complex. In 1982, the City of New York set aside one of the original studio buildings for the proposed museum.

    In 1985, the Foundation was reincorporated as the American Museum of the Moving Image (now Museum of the Moving Image). The Museum opened to the public in 1988.

    The current Sumner M. Redstone Theater and Celeste and Armand Bartos Screening Room opened in 2011 as part of a major renovation and expansion of the Museum, designed by architect Thomas Leeser. The Redstone Theater was designed as a capsule for the imaginary voyage of moviegoing. The ceiling and walls are a woven felt surface (of vibrant Yves Klein blue), which seems to slip under the stadium-rake seating to give the audience a sensation of floating. Leeser noted that he was inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey when designing the lobby and the theater.

  • We have branded MoMI cups that allow audience members bring in drinks. There is also popcorn.

  • Cocktails at Mar's