Moving Body Moving Image 2026 Closes Out at Barnard's Movement Lab in Morningside Heights, NYC

Moving Body – Moving Image, known as MBMI, is a biennial festival that looks at the moving body on screen, with a different theme each edition. It was founded by, and is directed by, Gabri Christa. The 2026 theme is "The Moving Immigrant Body On Screen," and the lineup gathers films about migration, displacement, identity, memory, heritage, belonging and the immigrant experience.

This year's festival has two parts. The first took place on October 18 at Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium, with three short-film programs between noon and 6 p.m. and a live discussion moderated by Charlotte Brathwaite. That day is over.

The second part is still running at Barnard College's Movement Lab, October 19 through 24. The installation films are X PAT BOND, In the Middle, ASSEMBLY LINE and HaMapah/The Map. They screen from 3 to 6 p.m. on October 19 through 23, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the final day, October 24.

Tonight, October 22, at 6 p.m., Jingqiu Guan presents an installation performance and talk back titled Room: A Corporeal Dialogue Across Time.

Admission is free, but RSVP is required through a form linked from the festival's website. The full program, with the film list and schedule, is also posted on the site.

The Movement Lab is on the Barnard campus in Morningside Heights, next to Columbia University. For anyone interested in how dance and the body show up in film, and how those images speak to immigrant experience, the festival's last few days offer a short, free way in.