FSLC and the Met Opera co-present a free screening of MOONSTRUCK on August 22

THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER AND THE METROPOLITAN
OPERA CO-PRESENT A FREE SCREENING OF MOONSTRUCK
ON AUGUST 22

New York, NY (June 20, 2014) – The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera announced that they are co-presenting a free screening of Norman Jewison’s award-winning film Moonstruck on August 22 at 8pm in the Lincoln Center plaza in front of the opera house where original key scenes were filmed. The screening is a special tease for the Met Opera’s 10-day Summer HD Festival, beginning the next day, Saturday, August 23 and continuing through Monday, September 1. The fest allows opera lovers to watch 10 of the Met’s most popular Live in HD productions from past seasons for free (with 3,100 seats available on a first-come, first-served basis available and additional space for crowds on the plaza for Moonstruck and the festival).

The delightful 1987 romantic comedy was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning three, including one for supporting actress Olympia Dukakis and another for screenwriter John Patrick Shanley, in addition to Cher’s Best Actress nod. At the time of the film’s release, Roger Ebert stated in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Reviews of the movie tend to make it sound like a madcap ethnic comedy, and that it is. But there is something more here, a certain bittersweet yearning that comes across as ineffably romantic, and a certain magical quality.”

The classic pivotal scene in the film: “Meet me at the Met,” declares the maimed baker Ronny Cammareri, portrayed by Nicolas Cage. “Where’s the Met?” replies frumpy Loretta Castorini, played by Cher, in a Brooklyn-accented turn. Cue the opening strains of La Bohème’s third act and cut to the fountain in the Lincoln Center Plaza. Cher sports a new dress and hairdo, Cage is in a tux, and so begins one of cinema’s great opera sequences. Seldom has an opera house played such a central role in the movies as the Met does in Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck.

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize established and emerging filmmakers, support important new work, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility, and understanding of the moving image. The Film Society produces the renowned New York Film Festival, a curated selection of the year's most significant new film work, and presents or collaborates on other annual New York City festivals including Dance on Camera, Film Comment Selects, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, LatinBeat, New Directors/New Films, NewFest, New York African Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema and Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. In addition to publishing the award-winning Film Comment magazine, the Film Society recognizes an artist's unique achievement in film with the prestigious Chaplin Award. The Film Society's state-of-the-art Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, located at Lincoln Center, provide a home for year-round programs and the New York City film community.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, Jaeger-LeCoultre, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the Kobal Collection, Trump International Hotel and Tower, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

For Media specific inquiries, please contact:
John Wildman, (212) 875-5419
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David Ninh, (212) 875-5423
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