New York’s Museum of Modern Art has set the initial lineup for The Contenders, its annual screenings of awards-season buzzmagnets, opening the series in November with Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and continuing with spotlight screenings of talked-about titles “Call Me By Your Name,” “Mudbound,” “Wonder Woman,” “Get Out” and “Mother!”
The “Three Billboards” opener, set for Nov. 9, will feature a tribute to Sam Rockwell, one of the film’s stars, as well as a post-screening discussion with Rockwell and writer-director McDonagh. Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson also star in the blackly comic drama about a mother pushing for resolution to the unsolved murder of her daughter.
The 2017 series, running in New York Nov. 9-Jan. 12, marks the 10th year of The Contenders, and the fourth of MoMA’s partnership with L.A.’s Hammer Museum, where screenings of the 2017 films begin Dec. 4.
The initial lineup of screening events in 2017 edition of The Contenders includes:
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- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, with appearances by actor Sam Rockwell and filmmaker Martin McDonagh
- Get Out, with an appearance by filmmaker Jordan Peele
- Molly’s Game, with appearances by actress Jessica Chastain and filmmaker Aaron Sorkin
- Dawson City: Frozen Time, with an appearance by filmmaker Bill Morrison
- mother!, with an appearance by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky
- Mudbound, with an appearance by filmmaker Dee Rees
- Brawl in Cell Block 99, with an appearance by filmmaker S. Craig Zahler
- The Florida Project, with an appearance by filmmaker Sean Baker
- Good Time, with appearances by filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie
- Marjorie Prime, with appearances by actress Lois Smith and filmmaker Michael Almereyda
- In The Fade , with appearances by actress Diane Kruger and filmmaker Faith Akin
- Battle of the Sexes, with an appearance by subject Billie Jean King and further cast members to be announced,
- Additional screenings including A Fantastic Woman, The Big Sick, Blade Runner 2049, Call Me by Your Name, Faces Places, I Love You Daddy, I Tonya, Okja, Personal Shopper, Wind River, Wonderstuck, Wonder Woman
Further films remain to be set for the series. Journalists from Variety, the series’ media partner, will moderate the post-screening Q&As.
