Events

E.g., 2021-11-28
E.g., 2021-11-28
 
 
 Smithsonian 175th Film Fest: Panda-monium Thursday, December 16, 2021 - 5:00 PM For nearly 50 years, panda-monium has ensued at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Millions of fans from around the world first hurried to catch a glimpse of giant pandas when a pair arrived from China in April 1972. During this month’s Smithsonian 175th Film Fest program, audiences will be able to view footage of Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling in their first days at the National Zoo. We’ll then fast forward more than 30 years to the birth of Tai Shan, the Zoo’s first surviving giant panda cub, in 2005. Footage of the cub includes his check-ups with zoologists in front of the press and some playtime with his mother, Mei Xiang. Stay tuned for a conversation with the Zoo’s Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas, and Dr. Melissa Songer, conservation ecologist, following the films.  
 
 Smithsonian 175th Film Fest: Looking at the Future Thursday, November 18, 2021 - 5:00 PM What will the future hold? We can’t predict it, but we do try to shape it—and so have those who came before us. As part of our ongoing Smithsonian 175th Film Fest series, we will screen Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Visions of the Future on Film, featured in a 1984 National Museum of American History exhibit that examined how past visions of the future continue to impact our present and inspire even further futures. Join Smithsonian Libraries and Archives conservator William Bennett on November 18 at 5 p.m. ET to explore retro-futurism and get excited for the Smithsonian’s upcoming celebration of future-looking innovation in FUTURES, the inaugural exhibition of the newly reopening historic Arts and Industries Building.