Summer Guide 2010: Film

alliance française the new york french institute alliance française features some rare and exciting film programs on cinema tuesdays. in june, it highlights films starring sylvie testud, including murderous maids and a screening of sagan introduced by the actress. also in june is a series dedicated to 1940s star edwige feuilliere, star of such films as julie de carneilhan and love is my profession. 22 e. 60th st. (betw. park and madison aves.), 212-355-6100, www.fiaf.org.

anthology film archives the anthology film archives provides viewers this summer with an exciting collection of undistributed contemporary films. in june, it hosts the bicycle film festival and a week-long retrospective of films by pierre clementi, and in july it screens eccentricities of a blonde, manoel de oliviera's new film and hosts anti-biopics like lisztomania. august features a week of films programmed by maniac cop director william lustig. 32 2nd ave. (at e. 2nd st.), 212-505-5181, www.anthologyfilmarchives.org.

bryant park summer film festival this popular outdoor film series can get pretty noisy, making it rather hard to concentrate on the films screening, but it does feature some fun populist cinema. this year, movies screen every monday night after sunset, starting june 21 with goldfinger. bryant park, enter park at w. 41st st. and 6th ave., www.bryantpark.org.

central park film festival this outdoor film festival is notably more crowded and noisy than the bryant park summer film festival, but that's to be expected given the differences in venue. last year's line-up had everything from sex and the city to the original shaft. look to vote for their annual "viewer's choice" section in august. screenings are free and start at 8 p.m., lineup tba. aug. 18 through 22, central park, rumsey playfield, enter park at e. 69th st. and 5th ave., www.centralparknyc.org.

film forum film forum's summer repertory programming looks really mouth-watering. apart from individual week-long runs of michelangelo antonioni's le amiche, howard hawks' gentlemen prefer blondes and jacques tourneur's nightfall, film forum will host a comprehensive anthony mann retrospective and a mini-charlie chaplin program, emphasizing later films like monsieur verdoux and a countess from hong kong. 209 w. houston st. (betw. 6th ave. and varick st.), 212-727-8110, www.filmforum.org.

film society at lincoln center the home to the most prestigious repertory theaters in the city features some mighty tempting programming this summer. this june alone is packed with some very exciting programs, including the new york asian film festival. from june 1 through 3, the walter reade theater will host a complete retrospective of director/playwright agnes jaoui's films both as a director and screenwriter. after that comes open roads (june 4 through 10), the society's perennial survey of new italian films. then comes the human rights watch international film festival (june 11 through 24). 70 lincoln center plaza, w. 65th st. (near amsterdam ave.), www.filmlinc.com.

manhattan film festival screening at symphony space, this relatively new film festival is dedicated to short film programs. shorts are arranged by generic categories like international short program and action short program, as well as several dedicated to local filmmakers, like new york short program and brooklyn short program. july 21 through 25, 2537 broadway (betw. w. 94th and w. 95th sts.), 212-864-5400, www.manhattanfilmfestival.org.

new york asian film festival the best film festival in town has come a long way from the anthology film archives nine years ago to lincoln center's walter reade. this year's festival will feature tributes to hong kong stars sammo hung and simon yam, with both stars in attendance, and screenings of a bevy of pop and art house films, including historical drama-cum-martial arts flick ip man 2 and camp sci-fi freak-out robo-geisha. june 25 through july 8, 70 lincoln center plaza, w. 65th st. near amsterdam ave.