Anthology Film Archives

Film Screenings / Programs / Series

ARTIST LEGACY WORK ON FILM

May 29 – June 2

May 29-June 2, 2026

Soft Network/AFELL and Noble Gas Media present “Artist Legacy Work on Film”, a series showcasing narrative, experimental, documentary and commercial films primarily produced within the last decade. This diverse selection of titles brings visibility to the complex relationships and circumstances through which an artist’s work is cared for, understood, and accessed after their passing.

The series begins with the short film that inspired the program, the recently released WOMAN IN THE SKY. This film tells the extraordinary story of Magda Salvesen, who met Abstract Expressionist Jon Schueler when she was 26 and he was 54. A few months later, he wrote a will leaving her his entire body of work. Since Schueler’s death in 1992, Salvesen has spent the last three decades single handedly preserving his creative legacy, and ensuring his inclusion in over 70 public collections worldwide. For opening night, this short is paired with the absurd comedy PROBLEMISTA, which similarly follows a widow’s mission to preserve her late husband’s work, but also spotlights the struggle of her assistant. The screenings will be followed by a conversation regarding the commonalities between the subjects, the value of depicting the overlooked labor of preservation, and the importance of capturing these journeys on film.

Other films in the series explore the essential personal relationships that give an ancestor’s work ongoing relevance, the quest to understand artists’ motivations, and the power of art to shape political history. The emotional, intellectual, physical, and financial resources required to maintain an artist’s legacy are often vastly underestimated. “Artist Legacy Work on Film” spotlights films that help viewers recognize the pain and burden of this labor, but above all, the underlying beauty and love in remembering.

Guest-programmed by Chelsea Spengemann (Soft Network/AFELL) and Max Woertendyke (Noble Gas Media).

Soft Network is an emergent arts nonprofit based in downtown Manhattan that supports legacy stewardship for under-resourced artists and artists’ estates. AFELL (Artist Foundations & Estates Leaders List) is one of Soft Network’s core programs, providing an invaluable resource and community for those actively engaged in legacy planning and work. AFELL members receive discounted tickets to all screenings. For more info visit: https://www.softnetwork.art/

Noble Gas Media, founded by Juilliard-trained actor-turned-producer Max Woertendyke, is a Brooklyn-based production company dedicated to intimate stories told at an ambitious scale – across thriller, drama, dark comedy, and documentary film.

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