What counts as a screening?

It isn’t always a film

My definition of “screenings” depends on two things: the type of work shown and how it is sold. The obvious case is a feature film (longer than 40 minutes, by the Academy’s definition) on its own ticket. But each of these also counts as one screening:

1. A feature film screened as part of a double feature (or a triple, or more) on a single ticket. Example: “Moi, un noir” (1958) and “Breathless” (1960), shown at MoMA in November 2025 as a double feature for one admission, count as two screenings.
2. A short film (40 minutes or shorter) screened by itself on its own ticket. Example: “Psykho III: The Musical” (1985, 24 min) was screened alone at MoMA in October 2025, and therefore counts as a screening.
3. A shorts programme, ie, several short films bundled on a single ticket. Example: a shorts programme titled “The Short Films of David Lynch” ran at Angelika Film Center in July 2026. The programme consisted of seven short films: “Six Men Getting Sick” (1967), “The Alphabet” (1968), “The Grandmother” (1970), “The Amputee” (Version 1 and Version 2, 1974), “The Cowboy and the Frenchman” (1988), “Premonitions Following an Evil Deed” (1995) and “Dumbland” (2002); it counts as one screening.
4. A single episode or a multi-episode block of a TV series, sold as one admission. Example: “Twin Peaks” (1990–2017) was screened in this way at IFC Center in December 2025; each episode or block, such as “Twin Peaks” (Season 1, Episode 1) and “Twin Peaks” (Season 1, Episodes 2 & 3), counts as one screening.
5. A partial viewing of a very long film screened on a loop or as an installation. Example (and the only case so far): “The Clock” (2010), a 24-hour film, played at MoMA on a loop around the clock from November 2024 to May 2025; each visit, such as “The Clock” (10:31–14:08), counts as a screening.
6. A live event (eg, a sporting event or an awards ceremony) broadcast in a cinema. Example: Telemundo’s broadcast of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, livestreamed at AMC Kips Bay and billed as “España vs Argentina – Gran Final”, counts as a screening.

Apart from the second and third cases, shorts do not count. As long as an admission includes at least one feature, any short film shown alongside it does not count as a separate screening or appear in the data at all. The data also exclude any short screened as an installation.■