Film Screening | FEDERAL

FEDERAL (2003) is a 24-hour, two-theater movie that captures the north and south façades of the 1969 Charles Luckman-designed building.
About this Event

Part of conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll’s larger project of documenting all of the federal buildings across the United States begun prior to the events of 9/11, FEDERAL (2003) is a 24-hour, two-theater movie that captures the north and south façades of the 1969 Charles Luckman-designed building along Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.FEDERAL is a testament to the process involved in gaining access to the inner workings of governmental agencies and the impossibility of ever fully understanding or visualizing bureaucracy. A series of 24 photographs as well as ephemera related to the project are currently on view in the exhibition Mary Ellen Carroll: How To Talk Dirty and Influence People, May 22– November 1, 2026 at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Limited food and beverage service will be available over the course of the 24-hour program.

RSVP Recommended

Seating is first come, first served. RSVP does not guarantee a seat. If the theater is full, attendees are welcome to wait in the lobby and bar area until seating is available. Attendees are welcome to attend at any time over the course of the 24-hour program.

Accessibility and Parking

FEDERAL will be screened simultaneously in two upper-level auditoriums, which include four ADA accessible seats per auditorium. There is an elevator that will take guests directly to the floor where our upper auditoriums are located. 

The River Oaks Theatre guests can park for free across the street in the parking garage behind Barnes & Noble. In addition, paid parking is available on either side of the theater.