MC ELWEE HITS MANHATTAN! The term "documentary-maker" is hardly adequate to describe Ross McElwee, the auteur behind Sherman's March and Bright Leaves. McElwee is much more of a film essayist or memoirist. Watching one of his droll, insightful movies is like curling up with a good, thoughtful essay that draws you into its author's mind and helps you to see the world anew, through his or her eyes.

New Yorkers have excellent opportunities to catch up with McElwee's work over the next month or so. Tonight, WNET broadcasts McElwee's Bright Leaves on POV at 10:00 pm. Then, from September 21-28, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) screens a retrospective of McElwee's work. If you can, see McElwee's films in sequence to get the full impact of the themes, images, and characterizations that he develops over the course of his career.

Following is the schedule of MOMA's McElwee screenings. (You can confirm times and dates by contacting the museum and/or checking this PDF at MOMA's website.) MOMA's $20 admission fee is notoriously expensive, but a $70 membership includes free admission to the museum and its movie program for a year--a good deal for frequent museumgoers.

Wednesday, September 21
6:30 BRIGHT LEAVES (2003)/CURATING (2002)
McElwee will be present for this opening screening of Bright Leaves, a film about tobacco and movies, among other subjects. It's paired with a rare short depicting curatorial work at the Boston Center for the Arts.


Thursday, September 22
6:00 SPACE COAST (1978)
McElwee and Michel Negroponte visit salt-of-the-earth folks living in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral, perhaps the one spot on earth most associated with the Space Age.

8:00 SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE WALL (1990)/RESIDENT EXILE (1981)
McElwee and family contemplate the Berlin Wall in Something to Do With the Wall. McElwee worked with Negroponte and Alexandra Anthony on Resident Exile, a still-relevant portrait of an Iranian exile living in the United States during the hostage crisis.


Friday, September 23
6:00 CHARLEEN (1978)/BACKYARD (1984)
Two key memoir-films about two of McElwee's favorite subjects: his former teacher Charleen Swansea and his own family.

8:15 SHERMAN'S MARCH (1986)
McElwee's brilliant and subtle magnum opus encompassing Cold War fear, romantic yearning, Charleen Swansea, and Burt Reynolds.


Saturday, September 24
2:00 TIME INDEFINITE (1993)
Rich imagery enhances McElwee's continued reflections on himself, his family, and a little something known as "mortality."

4:30 SIX O'CLOCK NEWS (1996)/KOSUTH (1997)
McElwee continues his autobiographical musings in Six O'Clock News, previously shown on Frontline. The rarely screened short Kosuth, made with Marilyn Levine, finds artist Joseph Kosuth in Boston for the installation of one of his works.

6:15 SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE WALL (1990)/RESIDENT EXILE (1981)

8:45 SPACE COAST (1978)


Sunday, September 25
2:00 SHERMAN'S MARCH (1986)

5:00 BRIGHT LEAVES (2003)/CURATING (2002)


Monday, September 26
6:00 CHARLEEN (1978)/BACKYARD (1984)

8:00 TIME INDEFINITE (1993)


Wednesday, September 28
8:30 SIX O'CLOCK NEWS (1996)/KOSUTH (1997)