Calling all New Yorkers. Check out Treasures from a Chest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) this Friday.

The annual program, mostly live action, presents rare silent films curated by film preservationist/entertainer Serge Bromberg (artistic director of the Annecy International Animation Festival). Bromberg’s Lobster Films archive is one of the best in the world - and Serge is one of the world’s great animation historians and film preservation heroes. The program at BAM is distilled from nearly 200 pounds of old film discovered in a hidden chest in a house in France, and includes comedies, fantasies, trick films, newsreels, cartoons, and “talkiesâ€? selected to recreate the magic of the first cinema screenings. Bromberg will be present for live piano accompaniment and commentary. If I were in New York on Friday, I’d have a front row seat (as it is, I’ll be in Burbank celebrating June Foray that night). Click here for more information. Go!