The selected films offer a window onto the golden age of American cinema. It was during this period that the groundbreaking movement known as New Hollywood emerged, led by a bold new generation of filmmakers who transformed the American film industry. Influenced in part by European cinema, they forged a new cinematic language that challenged established values, conventions, and familiar images of America. These films reflect a singular moment in American cultural history, when cinema functioned not only as entertainment but also as a space for critical self-examination and for imagining new ways of living.

Viewed alongside Wesselmann’s work, these films illuminate the historical and cultural moment from which it emerged. Set against the vibrant colors, seductive imagery, and striking directness of his art, they reveal the tensions, desires, and contradictions that lay beneath the surface of American life. Together, the exhibition and the film program offer complementary perspectives on a culture in transition—and on the images through which America imagined, represented, and defined itself.

Selected screenings will be introduced by the Museum’s curators and guest speakers.

USA, 1969 | Director: Dennis Hopper | Cast: Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson | 95 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

After a lucrative cocaine deal, two hippies—Captain America (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper)—set off on their Harley-Davidsons on a cross-country journey in search of freedom, meaning, and perhaps America itself. Yet as they travel, the country they set out to find gradually dissolves amid the landscapes, violence, and alienation they encounter along the way. Their journey introduces them to a cross-section of American society, including the unforgettable George Hanson, a small-town lawyer memorably portrayed by a young Jack Nicholson. In his directorial debut, Hopper transforms the road trip into a cinematic manifesto for a generation determined to reject social and political conventions in search of alternative ways of living.

Since its release, Easy Rider has become one of the defining road movies in American cinema. An exhilarating cinematic experience, it combines an iconic rock soundtrack, László Kovács’s sweeping cinematography, breathtaking American landscapes, and a psychedelic journey culminating in an LSD sequence. The result is a film about the pursuit of freedom, an America in transition, and, above all, the heavy price of choosing to live beyond the boundaries of convention.

USA, 1970 | Directors: David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin | 91 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

Widely regarded as one of the greatest rock documentaries ever made, Gimme Shelter, follows the Rolling Stones during the final weeks of their 1969 American tour, culminating in the free concert at California’s Altamont Speedway—an event that ended in tragedy and became one of the defining moments in the history of rock culture. Before a crowd of nearly 300,000 people, the Rolling Stones headlined a bill that also featured Tina Turner, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and others. In one of the festival’s most controversial decisions, security was entrusted to members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. As tensions escalated throughout the day, violence between the bikers and the crowd reached its tragic climax when one of the Hells Angels fatally stabbed Meredith Hunter, a young black concertgoer who stood close to the stage and carried a gun. What began as a celebration of peace, love, and music descended into chaos and bloodshed, becoming, for many, the moment that marked the end of the optimism and innocence of the 1960s.

USA, 1971 | Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd | 118 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

Sonny and Duane, two close friends in their final year of high school, come of age in a dying Texas town in the early 1950s. Duane (Jeff Bridges), the town’s popular football star, dates the beautiful and wealthy Jacy (Cybill Shepherd, in her screen debut), while the more introspective Sonny embarks on an affair with the coach’s wife. As graduation approaches, both young men struggle to imagine a future beyond the town’s slow decline. Based on Larry McMurtry’s novel—co-adapted by the author himself—Peter Bogdanovich’s landmark coming-of-age film is a deeply moving portrait of small-town America and of the compromises and disappointments that accompany the passage from adolescence to adulthood.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, who embraced the innovations of the French New Wave, Bogdanovich looked instead to the traditions of classical Hollywood cinema. Through Robert Surtees’s luminous black-and-white cinematography and a restrained narrative style, he created a film that seems to belong to an earlier era. Yet beneath its classical surface lies a profoundly unsentimental vision. Rather than indulging in nostalgia, The Last Picture Show chronicles the slow disintegration of a community and a way of life—a decline poignantly symbolized by the closing of the town’s only movie theater.

USA, 1974 | Director: Martin Scorsese | Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Alfred Lutter III, Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster | 112 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

In this singular work by Martin Scorsese, the young widow Alice (Ellen Burstyn) sets out with her son Tommy (Alfred Lutter III) on a journey across the American Southwest toward California, determined to fulfill her dream of becoming a singer. Along the way, she gradually learns to shape her life on her own terms, even as a relationship with a rugged rancher (Kris Kristofferson) puts her newfound independence to the test. Burstyn, who was deeply involved in the film’s development, delivers a performance of remarkable emotional depth and nuance, earning the Academy Award for Best Actress. She is joined by an exceptional supporting cast, including Diane Ladd, Harvey Keitel, and a young Jodie Foster.

A special screening of two episodes from season one: Babylon and The Hobo Code
Introductory Lecture: Shahar Molcho, curator of the exhibition Tom Wesselmann: All out

USA, 2007 | Created by: Matthew Weiner | Cast: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks | English with Hebrew subtitles

Matthew Weiner’s acclaimed series Mad Men returns to the world of Madison Avenue advertising in the early 1960s—a moment when American consumer culture, television, and advertising were reshaping society and redefining ideas of happiness, success, femininity, and desire. At its center is Don Draper (Jon Hamm), the charismatic creative director of the Sterling Cooper advertising agency, alongside Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), a young secretary beginning to forge her own path in a profession dominated almost entirely by men.

The two episodes presented at the Museum revolve around Sterling Cooper’s campaign for the Belle Jolie lipstick brand, marking a pivotal moment in Peggy’s professional development. Her unexpected creative insight earns her first opportunity as a copywriter, setting her on an extraordinary career path. The lipstick is presented as both a means of self-expression and a marker of romantic possession, revealing how consumer products become entwined with desire, identity, and gender expectations.

Before and after the screening, guests will be invited to visit the exhibition Tom Wesselmann: All Out. The exhibition will be open exclusively to event participants, offering them the opportunity to enjoy an intimate viewing of the Museum’s flagship exhibition.

*The screening will take place in an alternative space within the Museum. Seating will be informal, with mats, beanbags, and movable chairs.

USA, 1967 | Director: Mike Nichols | Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross | 106 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

Mike Nichols’s brilliant satire The Graduate stars Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, a directionless recent college graduate who embarks on an affair with Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the wife of his father’s law partner, before falling in love with her daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross). A tremendous success with both audiences and critics, the film proved that a Hollywood leading man no longer had to fit the mold of the classic romantic hero.

Influenced by contemporary cinematic movements—most notably the French New Wave—and propelled by an unforgettable soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel, Nichols’ film captured the uncertainty, alienation, and restless self-doubt that defined a generation coming of age in the 1960s. Set against the backdrop of America’s deepening involvement in the Vietnam War, The Graduate became one of the defining films of its era, offering a sharp portrait of the generational divide and the profound sense of dislocation experienced by young people confronting a world shaped by their parents.

USA / UK, 1975 | Director: Jim Sharman | Cast: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien | 98 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon), a young, conservative couple, find themselves stranded when their car breaks down on a stormy night and seek refuge in a remote castle. There they encounter Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), an eccentric scientist from another planet, who introduces them to his latest creation—Rocky, the perfect man, brought to life in his laboratory—and draws them into a delirious night of desire, music, science fiction, and gleeful transgression.

Jim Sharman’s film, adapted from Richard O’Brien’s stage musical, blends horror, science fiction, rock ‘n’ roll, camp, and popular culture. Fifty years after its release, The Rocky Horror Picture Show remains one of cinema’s most enduring cult phenomena: an exuberant celebration of sexuality, desire, and freedom that playfully subverts conventional ideas of masculinity and femininity, as well as established notions of sex and gender.

USA, 1974 | Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Cast: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Frederic Forrest, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford | 113 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

Francis Ford Coppola’s prescient masterpiece The Conversation is a mesmerizing psychological thriller made at the height of the Watergate era. Gene Hackman delivers a remarkable performance as Harry Caul, a reclusive surveillance expert hired to record a conversation between a young couple in San Francisco. As he begins to suspect that their lives are in danger, he is drawn ever deeper into the case, only to realize that he himself is under surveillance and that his own privacy is slipping away. Through masterful editing, groundbreaking sound design, and Hackman’s finely calibrated performance, supported by an exceptional ensemble cast, Coppola crafted a haunting psychological thriller whose relevance has only deepened over time.

USA, 1967 | Director: Arthur Penn | Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman | 111 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

Arthur Penn’s groundbreaking film, produced by and starring Warren Beatty, is widely regarded as one of the defining works of the New Hollywood movement. Originally intended to be directed by François Truffaut, it is based on the true story of Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

Although Warner Bros., which financed the production, expected little commercial success, Bonnie and Clyde became both a critical and box-office triumph. It received ten Academy Award nominations and won two Oscars. Released amid the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the rise of the American counterculture, the film spoke directly to a younger generation eager for a new, daring, and uncompromising cinema. On screen, Bonnie and Clyde emerged as enduring icons of rebellion and freedom, capturing the spirit of the era in which the film was made.

USA, 1969 | Director: Haskell Wexler | Cast: Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz | 111 min., English with Hebrew subtitles

Directed and photographed by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966; Bound for Glory, 1976), Medium Cool follows John Cassellis (Robert Forster), a cynical and emotionally detached television news cameraman who discovers that the network employing him has been secretly supplying his footage to the FBI for the surveillance of political suspects. After objecting to the practice, he is dismissed from his job and drawn into a maelstrom of violence, fear, and political unrest during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Wexler seamlessly interweaves staged scenes with documentary footage of the violent clashes that erupted on the streets of Chicago amid protests against the Vietnam War and mounting racial tensions. By placing fictional characters within the unfolding reality of these historic events, he dissolves the boundary between fiction and documentary, transforming Medium Cool into a powerful cinematic record—and a compelling time capsule of one of the most turbulent moments in modern American history.