The Hammer will be closed to the public on Saturday, May 4 for a private event.

Black background with the words "MoMA Contenders" in large white san serif text

Program Series

MoMA Contenders 2023

The Hammer Museum presents MoMA Contenders, The Museum of Modern Art’s renowned series of influential, innovative films from the past 12 months. Whether bound for awards glory or cult classic status, each of these films is a contender for lasting historical significance.

Tickets

$10 Hammer members | $20 general admission
Current members, check your email for your link to buy tickets, or contact membership@hammer.ucla.edu.

Enhance your movie experience as a member! Hammer Members enjoy priority seating and half-off Contenders' tickets—plus discounts at the museum store and Lulu restaurant. Become a member today!

Tickets are available through the individual film pages listed below.

This film program is organized by Rajendra Roy, the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, and Sean Egan, Producer, Film Exhibitions and Special Projects, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

The Hammer Museum's presentation is made possible by The Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Foundation.

A man looking through a porthole, wearing goggles

Oppenheimer

Presented in 70mm. Followed by Q&A with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema! Christopher Nolan's latest is a one-of-a-kind epic rendered on a human scale.

Wed Nov 29 2023 7:00 PM

Animation still of a young man with a bandage above his eye

The Boy and the Heron

Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years, The Boy and the Heron is a hand-drawn, semi-autobiographical fantasy written and directed by the Academy Award-winning director.

Thu Nov 30 2023 7:00 PM

Four people in old garb stand around a dining table

The Taste of Things

In this story of a late-19th-century cook (Juliette Binoche) and her gourmet employer (Benoit Magimel), the meeting of two great art forms—cooking and cinema—results in a sumptuous wonder.

Mon Dec 4 2023 7:00 PM

A family sits in a field by a body of water

The Zone of Interest

Followed by a Q&A with actors Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller, cinematographer Łukasz Żal, sound designer Johnnie Burn, composer Mica Levi, editor Paul Watts, and producers Ewa Puszczyńska and Jim Wilson.

Tue Dec 5 2023 7:00 PM

Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley

Priscilla

Followed by a Q&A with costume designer Stacey Battat & producer Youree Henley. Sofia Coppola’s film reconsiders Elvis Presley’s story from the perspective of the woman he married.

Wed Dec 6 2023 7:00 PM

Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan as Leonard Bernstein and his wife

Maestro

Followed by a Q&A with costume designer Mark Bridges and prosthetic makeup designer Kazu Hiro! Maestro chronicles the lifelong relationship between American composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and his wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan).

Thu Dec 7 2023 7:00 PM

Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore stand in a bathroom, Moore putting on makeup, Portman taking notes

May December

Followed by a Q&A with director Todd Haynes, screenwriter Sammy Burch, and actor Charles Melton. Their new film follows actor Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) researching a part in a new film that follows a scandalous tabloid romance between Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Melton).

Mon Dec 11 2023 7:00 PM

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies in You Hurt My Feelings

You Hurt My Feelings

Just added! Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Nicole Holofcener in person! A sharply observed comedy about a novelist whose long standing marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband give his honest reaction to her latest book.

Tue Dec 12 2023 7:00 PM

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo in Past Lives

Past Lives

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.

Wed Dec 13 2023 7:00 PM

Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese’s film is an work of meticulous craft that turns an investigative account of the mysterious murders of wealthy Osage in 1920s Oklahoma into an epic morality tale of greed, love, and deceit.

Thu Dec 14 2023 7:00 PM