By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — A star from the seminal MTV reality TV show "Real World" will introduce the Museum of Art and Design's summer cinema series Thursday evening.
Reality television star Rebecca Dekhta, known in the 1992 season of "Real World: New York" as "Becky," will be the first guest speaker of the MAD Museum's "An Assault of Reality" cinema series. The series aims to show how video arts, reality TV, cable newscasts and even mobile phones have affected viewers' perceptions of reality.
The Upper West Side's Museum of Arts and Design festival screens double bills of classic and contemporary genres.
On Thursday, MAD will screen "The Real World: New York" alongside George Melie's 1902 black and white film "A Trip to the Moon," which is considered to be the first science fiction film.
The festival seeks to help viewers understand how reality television, film, online video and even video journalism has changed society, curator Jake Yuzna said in a release.
"An Assault of Reality seeks to demonstrate how the previous definition of cinema has become outdated and to re-examine how cinema is perceived, how it is taught, how it teaches us, and the emerging possibilities for its new horizons," Yuzna said.
Other showings include "Nocturne," a 1980 Lars von Trier movie about a woman afraid of sunlight. The tense, darkly colored film is paired with the 1933 musical piece "Footlight Parade," the visual opposite of "Nocturne" with its bright scenes and large cast.
Other films include Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie," the French apocalyptic film "Time of the Wolf" and even CNN's first broadcast in 1980.
"An Assault on Reality" will take place at the Museum of Arts and Design, located at 2 Columbus Circle, from July 7 to Aug. 4. Click here for a schedule.
