Don’t Cry, Pretty Girls! The Early Films of Cecilia Bartolomé and Márta Mészáros

Now playing at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), “Don’t Cry, Pretty Girls! The Early Films of Cecilia Bartolomé and Márta Mészáros” places two European directors in the same frame, looking at youth, gender, and social constraint from different political worlds. Presented as a free program in MoMA’s galleries, it foregrounds early work and the conditions that shaped it. In New York, MoMA’s screenings often function as a first sustained encounter for audiences who know these filmmakers mainly by reputation. The films argue, quietly but firmly, that private life is never separate from power.