The Children's Cinema

The Children’s Cinema
Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 2pm
Light Industry, 361 Stagg Street, Suite 407, Brooklyn

What’s Opera, Doc?, Chuck Jones, 1957, digital projection, 7 mins
Sculpture for Children, Doris Chase, 1974, 16mm, 5 mins
The Existentialist, Leon Prochnik, 1963, 16mm, 8 mins
Waterfall, Chick Strand, 1968, 16mm, 3 mins
Manhatta, Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand, 1921, digital projection, 10 mins
Something Queer at the Library, Nell Cox, 1978, 16mm, 11 mins

The Children’s Cinema, Light Industry’s semi-regular program for the junior moviegoer, returns. We’re starting things off with Bugs Bunny, in his unforgettable turn as Brünnhilde. Chuck Jones’s What’s Opera, Doc? represents a high-water mark in the history of animation, a spoof whose grandeur suits its subject. From mock Wagner we go straight into playtime, and see what kids can cook up with Doris Chase’s colorful, semi-circular sculptures. The Existentialist, by way of an impressively ambitious camera trick, features a man befuddled by the fact that everything around him in Manhattan appears to be moving backward. Chick Strand enchants the everyday via other inversions, transforming the negative images in Waterfall through hand-processing and solarization.

Also on offer is Manhatta, in which the buildings and bridges of Jazz Age New York are seen from a range of inspired angles and harmonically arranged. It’s an iconic city symphony and, we hope, for the young audience this afternoon, an exciting demonstration of what, among many other things, a movie can be: a voyage into the past. We chose to include Something Queer at the Library because it adds an element not otherwise present in this potpourri: a mystery (plus a little moral instruction). Two girls discover that the library books they borrowed have been vandalized—pictures snipped out, doodles in the margins. Outraged by this selfish destruction of something meant to be shared by all, the kids start sleuthing. There’s also a delightful subplot about a senior dog show (some of those attending might inquire afterwards about whether they can adopt an old basset hound, so be prepared for that conversation).

Tickets - Pay what you can ($10 suggested donation), available here until one hour before showtime, as well as at the door.

Please note: seating is limited. Box office opens at 1:30pm. No entry 10 minutes after start of show.

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Host or Publisher Light Industry