SILVER

All tickets just $8!

Join us for a monthly late-night series showcasing classic, soon-to-be classic and should-be-classic horror, sci-fi, action, fantasy and cross-genre gems hand-picked by the AFI Silver programming team. We promise deep cuts — sometimes literally — underrated classics, sneak peeks, new restorations and all-time favorites up on the big screen, the way late-night movies are meant to be seen!

Monthly selections will be announced on an ongoing basis.

Sept. 11, 2024–Apr 9, 2025
AX Cinema Nights brings passionate fans together for immersive and unforgettable community experiences. Presented by Anime Expo, the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America, and Iconic Events Releasing, this season of AX Cinema Nights features some of the most influential anime films ever made.

April 5–26

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Art Deco, the iconic global design movement with an enduring legacy that has inspired architecture, graphic arts, fashion, interior design, jewelry, music, transportation, furniture and — of course — movies. Join us for a cinematic tribute to Art Deco's bold modernist vision as we celebrate the centennial of the 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (from which the movement eventually took its name) with four films of the era that showcase spectacular Art Deco elements — including set design, costume design and choreography — on the big screen, surrounded by AFI Silver's own Art Deco splendor.

Co-presented with the Art Deco Society of Washington.

About the Art Deco Society of Washington
The Art Deco Society of Washington (ADSW) is a nonprofit organization incorporated to foster awareness, preservation and appreciation of the Art Deco period in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, visit adsw.org.

April 4–24

The artistry and influence of Bob Dylan extends beyond American popular music, leaving an indelible mark on arts and culture, especially cinema — and not just James Mangold's critically acclaimed biopic A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. An enthusiastic movie fan himself, Dylan has been the subject of several outstanding documentaries, contributed his music to hundreds of films and acted on occasion (to wit, PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, playing in George Pelecanos Presents: Sam Peckinpah in the '70s); a few vagabond productions even bear his name as screenwriter and/or director. This series gathers together some of the most essential Dylan films from across his long and enduring career, including those that pay tribute to his peers and those inspired by his enigmatic persona.

George Pelecanos Presents: Sam Peckinpah in the '70s

January 31–April 13

Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos returns to present a new series dedicated to the ‘70s-era films of writer/director Sam Peckinpah (1925–1984), on the occasion of the American auteur’s centennial. Pelecanos will introduce select shows.

Peckinpah was a legendary filmmaker and is justly celebrated for his innovative, revisionist Westerns and stylized, boundary-pushing depictions of screen violence. But Peckinpah’s personal demons were all too real, and his career was marred by perennial battles with producers and studio executives, substance abuse issues and several productions that were wildly behind schedule and over budget. Peckinpah’s best work reveals him to be much more than the reductive “Bloody Sam” caricature some critics labeled him as. He was in fact a thoughtful essayist on the history of the American West, exploring evolving ways of life in the face of the corrupting effects of greed and capitalism. Violence is undeniably a mainstay in Peckinpah’s oeuvre, both as a kinetic spectacle and a psychological gauntlet, and his films remain potent in their ability to shock. But for all the nihilism and violence woven through many of Peckinpah’s western, war and crime movies, a defiant romanticism still shines through.

January 31–April 3

With a booming voice to match the depth of his talent, James Earl Jones (1931–2024) was a titan of both stage and screen. After beginning his career as a stage carpenter and stage manager before his acting debut, Jones established himself as one of the premier Shakespearean performers of his time; in fact, it was at the annual Shakespeare in the Park series, playing the Prince of Morocco opposite George C. Scott’s Shylock in a production of “The Merchant of Venice,” that Stanley Kubrick witnessed the actor’s commanding stage presence and immediately cast him in DR. STRANGELOVE. Over the course of his 60-year career, Jones starred in countless plays, television shows and movies, amassing numerous awards and achieving the rare EGOT as the winner of an Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar® and Tony®. (Jones earned his first Tony® for his role in “The Great White Hope,” which premiered at Arena Stage in Southwest DC.) Along the way, he cemented his stature in popular culture through iconic voiceover roles in the STAR WARS and THE LION KING franchises. This series showcases Jones’ versatility as a performer, from his acclaimed voiceover work to his memorable supporting role in THE SANDLOT, as well as his performance as a romantic lead in the newly restored Charles Burnett rarity THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH.

Jan. 31–April 24
The epitome of gallic beauty, style, golden boy charm and bad boy charisma, Alain Delon (1935–2024) carved a singular path in world cinema as one of France's biggest stars of the 20th century. Embracing both the mainstream and the arthouse, he made a career working with auteurs such as Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni and Louis Malle, while also enjoying an unparalleled status as an international sex symbol and bankable star. After a hardscrabble upbringing and a stint as a paratrooper, Delon came to acting almost by chance — and without any training — after being spotted by a representative of Hollywood mogul David O. Selznick at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. His breakout roles came in 1960 with René Clément's PURPLE NOON and Luchino Visconti's ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, which open this retrospective. His six-decade career comprised over 90 films and countless unforgettable performances in iconic films like Melville's LE SAMOURAÏ, LE CERCLE ROUGE and UN FLIC; Visconti's THE LEOPARD, Antonioni's L’ECLISSE and Jacques Deray's LA PISCINE — all featured in this series. We also spotlight Delon's work as an actor/producer on Deray's BORSALINO and Joseph Losey's MR. KLEIN, as well as his roles in cult classics RED SUN — co-starring Toshirô Mifune and Charles Bronson — and THE GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE, directed by legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff. Join us as we bid adieu and merci to the incomparable Monsieur Delon.

March 14–27

Now in its 21st year, the New African Film Festival (NAFF), presented by AFI and Africa World Now Project, brings the vibrancy of African filmmaking from all corners of the continent and across the diaspora to the Washington, DC, area.

Special thanks to NAFF co-founders Mwiza Munthali and Judith Mbuya and media sponsor WPFW.

Featuring 29 films from 19 countries, this year’s festival opens with NO CHAINS NO MASTERS, an epic historical drama that follows an enslaved father and daughter as they race to freedom in 18th century Mauritius. The festival closes with WHERE THE WIND COMES FROM, a rollicking road trip filled with surreal flourishes and warm humor from first-time feature filmmaker Amel Guellaty, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

$13 General Admission Tickets

NAFF All-Access Passes are on sale now!
The $150 NAFF All-Access Pass grants you admission for one to every film in the 2025 New African Film Festival, including Opening Night, at a significant savings. Passes are available for in-person purchase only.

See the discounts available to Silver Cinema Club members.

February 1–April 17

A multi-talented composer, conductor and producer, Quincy Jones (1933–2024) got his start in the 1950s touring with jazz orchestras, performing with Elvis and conducting albums for Frank Sinatra. At the request of filmmaker Sidney Lumet, he composed his first film score for THE PAWNBROKER in 1964 and subsequently scored over 30 feature films, accumulating seven Academy Award® nominations and two honorary Oscars® for his monumental output. After working on the music for THE WIZ (a new 4K restoration will debut later in 2025), he started an iconic collaboration with Michael Jackson, crafting some of the most indelible pop music of the 20th century. But Jones’ film scores stand alone and this series showcases the range of his work, from jazz to funk to pop.

April 11–24

Celebrated as the “last diva” of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, Silvia Pinal (1931-2024) was an icon with over 100 film, television and stage credits to her name. Her film career began in 1949 with a brief role in BAMBA; she went on to star in numerous acclaimed films, working alongside heavyweights such as Pedro Infante, Germán Valdés and Mario “Cantinflas” Moreno. But it was her work with the acclaimed Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel that catapulted her to the world stage. Directed by Buñuel, starring Pinal and produced by her then-husband, Gustavo Alatriste, the three films — VIRIDIANA (1961), THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962) and SIMON OF THE DESERT (1965) — are biting class-conscious satires that skewer Francoist Spain, religious dogma and the idle rich. In an interview for the Criterion Collection, Pinal expressed her gratitude for Buñuel, saying, “Working with [him] was the most important part of my career. It accorded me a place in film archives around the world, and in the history of world cinema.”

An ongoing slate of limited engagements, updated weekly.

Presenting an exciting selection of filmed performances ranging from one-of-a-kind concerts to stage productions from the National Theatre. Upcoming engagements will be announced on an ongoing basis.

March 28–April 24

Beginning with the scrappily produced but slickly executed sketch comedy film THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE in 1977, the writing team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker established their distinct brand of spoof comedy, lovingly desecrating the film and TV tropes the trio of baby boomers had grown up watching, combined with high-volume gags delivered at pace. With 1980’s AIRPLANE!, the team took on directing duties, too, and delivered a spoof comedy smash hit that would cement their brand for the coming decades. If you think it all sounds like some bad movie, then you picked the wrong week to quit drinking…so let’s break the fourth wall, because surely we could all use a laugh right now…and don’t call me Shirley.

In Memoriam: Jim Abrahams (1944–2024)