Bernardo Rondeau, senior director of film programs for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, is exiting to take a similar job as curator of film programs at the under-construction Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in downtown Los Angeles.
Tuesday night’s screening of “Lawrence of Arabia” was the final film he presented as head of film programs, and Rondeau will start his new position on Monday.
However, Rondeau, who started at the Academy Museum in 2014, will return this summer to present his final program with the Summer of Music series, which will encompass concert films from 1959-2020. He previously served as assistant curator for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and has been an associate programmer at AFI Fest.
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The Lucas Museum is set to open by 2025. The New York Times reported recently that the museum would include two 299-seat theaters and 100,000 drawings, photographs and comic book illustrations in the massive, futuristic-looking building under construction in Exposition Park, near USC.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Bernardo Rondeau is joining the team at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art,” said Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Director and CEO of the Lucas Museum. “Bernardo is widely admired and respected and he has a wonderful inclusive, diverse, and accessible approach to programming that will support the many facets of the Lucas Museum’s exploration of narrative art.”
Rondeau said it was “too early to say” when the Lucas Museum might start programming films and that for now, he is working with the team there to develop the vision and plan for film programs. When asked whether George Lucas has given input on what type of programming he would like to see, Rondeau said, “We have dialogues, of course.”
Rondeau said he was excited to “take what I’ve done at the Academy Museum and build and grow on that, considering the variety and range of audiences we have in Los Angeles.” At the Lucas Museum, the programming will take even more of an exploded view of all of narrative art, such as painting and comic books and illustrations, as well as the vast spectrum of film history,” Rondeau explained.
Peter Debruge contributed to this report.