Moving Body – Moving Image Biennial in NYC: Immigrant-Body Screendance, Now at Barnard's Movement Lab

Moving Body – Moving Image (MBMI) is a biennial festival devoted to screendance, the hybrid of cinema and choreography. It was founded by, and is directed by, choreographer and filmmaker Gabri Christa. The 2026 edition is titled "The Moving Immigrant Body On Screen" and gathers films on migration, displacement, identity, memory, heritage and belonging.

The festival runs in two parts. The first was a free, full-day event on October 18 at Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium, from noon to 6 p.m. Three shorts programs covered titles including Navigation, Provenance: A Letter to my Daughter, Antítesis, Ina Ama, Pasa Pasa, Las Madres, Air de Temps, Family Portrait and The Long Goodbye by artist Carrie Mae Weems. Air de Temps, by Alessandra Seutin and Ben Williams, first premiered on Sadler's Wells Digital Stage. At 4:30 p.m., Charlotte Brathwaite moderated a live discussion.

The second part is at Barnard College's Movement Lab, October 19–24. Four films are shown there as an installation: X PAT BOND, In the Middle, ASSEMBLY LINE and HaMapah/The Map. The remaining dates are as follows. On October 22 at 6 p.m., Jingqiu Guan presents an installation performance and talk-back, "Room: A Corporeal Dialogue Across Time." On October 23 the installation films screen from 3 to 6 p.m., and on the final day, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Admission to the Barnard programming is free, but an RSVP is required through the form on the festival's website. The full program is published on the official site.