With an alluring blend of new releases and old classics, the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville is the crown jewel of the movie theatrical experience in Westchester. But who chooses the films that show there? Meet Monica Castillo, senior film programmer.
Noah Gittell: What does a senior film programmer do?
Monica Castillo: It’s a conversation between myself and the team about what new movies we’d love to bring in for our audience and what series we think they’d be interested in, and maybe what would make folks come check us out for the first time. I have a hand in everything from our JBFC Kids Series, which might be welcoming kids to a movie theater for the first time, to After Hours, which is our cult/genre program for adults that happens over the summer.
NG: I noticed there’s a big-screen romance series coming up for Valentine’s Day. There are thousands of romantic films to choose from. How do you determine which ones make the cut?
MC: My approach is to draw up a long list of different titles that fit the theme and then whittle it down to 20 or so. Then from that list, I try to pick a spread of films that people have already heard about and ones that I have a lot of fondness for. For this particular series, I’m starting it with “Only You,” which I watched a ton with my mom and have a big soft spot for. I have it playing alongside “Moonstruck,” which is a big title that a lot of people have seen. I want to encourage the chance of discovery.
NG: When you’re putting together a series like that, how much are you thinking about diversity? Cultural, racial, gender?
MC: That’s something that has always been important to me, and it’s part of the variety that I’m looking for. I may have “Brief Encounter,” an old classic, but I also have Mira Nair’s “Mississippi Masala,” starring Denzel Washington. I also have Andrew Haigh’s “Weekend,” a queer love story. That’s an important part of how we approach film curation, and it has been central to my interests as a critic, scholar, and cinephile.
NG: Tell me about your career path. How did you get here?
MC: I had extensive background in film criticism, and that was basically my film school. I went to graduate school for it at USC, and then was a freelance critic for a while. Then I ended up taking a curatorial role at the Paley Center for Media. That was my introduction into programming for audiences, how to eventize something, and having discussions about marketing and outreach. Working with different teams on a close basis in a way that we as writers don’t usually get to do. I really loved that work, and my friend encouraged me to apply for this job. I threw my hat in the ring, and to my great surprise, I’m about to hit my second year at Jacob Burns.
NG: In 50 words or fewer, how do you feel about the state of film criticism?
MC: It’s a tough time in our media landscape in general, and criticism is not immune to it. But I still feel compelled to write and think about and discuss movies, and I don’t see that going away any time soon. The calling is still there to read criticism, learn from each other, discuss films, and share movies with each other. I don’t want to know a world without that community.
NG: It sounds like that’s what you’re trying to build at Jacob Burns. Is it sort of an extension of your criticism work?
MC: Yes! Sometimes I describe programming as “applied criticism” because you’re not just recommending a movie, you’re also having a conversation with the audience. I’ve had audience members come up to a film and tell me they had never heard of this movie before, they gave it a shot, and thought it was one of the best things they’d seen all year. I’d also had them tell me they had no idea why I programmed it, but thank you. The community aspect of moviegoing is so important in the years since the pandemic when we briefly lost that.
NG: Congratulations on your recent induction into the New York Film Critics Circle. How was the experience this awards season?
MC: Thank you! I was over the moon. It felt very much like my first day of school. I had gone to the ceremony before as a guest, but this was my first time going through the whole voting process and then getting to the gala. There is a community aspect to film criticism. The folks who are really out there watching a lot find each other. Having another excuse to talk to these great critics is good. I’m learning from a lot of them still, and I cherish the times we get to just talk about movies. It’s fun.
NG: Last question: What are your favorite movies of all time?
MC: My go-to answer is “Lawrence of Arabia.” It was when I first started to pay attention to how a movie was put together. How that actor decided to modulate his performance. When he blows out the match and it cuts to the sun rising, I learned what an edit was. My other one is actually “Chaplin,” which isn’t the greatest film but it was my introduction to silent comedy. After that, I got so curious about Chaplin’s shorts and chronologically worked my way through his filmography, then Buster Keaton, and then Harold Lloyd, and then just kept going through film history. So it was a moment that unlocked my appreciation through film history, and I hope to do the same for others.
