“There’s no place like home.” – Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

The idea of what makes a house a home, and explorations of how and where Americans live, have powerfully informed many significant films over the years, in ways both subtly thought-provoking and farcically over-the-top. The National Building Museum is proud to partner with the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre and Cultural Center to present a film series associated with the Museum’s exhibition House & Home. "Reel Estate: The American Home on Film" presents a wide-ranging series of films focusing on the American home, from nostalgic classics like Gone With the Wind, to post-WWII suburban melodramas like No Down Payment, and to subversive comedies like Hal Ashby’s The Landlord.

Over the Edge*
“They were old enough to know better, but too young to care. And now this town is... Over the Edge.” In the planned community of New Granada, CO, (“Tomorrow’s City…Today), the bored and aimless youth have taken to drink, drugs, and violent pranks in alarming numbers. In the wake of a senseless tragedy—the gunning down of teenager Richie White (Matt Dillon, in his screen debut) by town cop Sgt. Doberman (Harry Northup), the misguided town leaders shut down the teen rec center while the president of the homeowners association warns that “a community with a teen crime problem isn't a community with a high resale value.” Thus provoked, the kids take to the streets to wage all-out war on the city’s greedy, uncaring grownups. Barely released in 1979, enthusiastic word-of-mouth got the film shown in repertory houses and eventually on cable, where it earned a passionate cult following. Featuring music by Cheap Trick, The Ramones, Van Halen and The Cars. DIR Jonathan Kaplan; SCR Charlie Haas, Tim Hunter; PROD George Litto. US, 1979/1981, color, 95 min. RATED PG

*Additional screening times available at AFI.com/Silver.

Ticket Information:
BUY TICKETS THROUGH AFI.com/Silver. $8.50 AFI and NBM members | $11.50 General Admission | $9 Seniors (65+), Students (with valid ID), and Military | $7 Children (12 and under).  Tickets may also be purchased at the box office (opens 30 minutes before the first show of the day).  Please note that tickets are not available for purchase through the National Building Museum.

The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, Silver Spring Metro, Red Line. 

Support for House & Home and related education programming is provided by The Home Depot Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Hanley Wood, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Andersen Corporate Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MASCO Corporation Foundation, and AARP, among others.