Season’s Greetings Everyone! As we head into the New Year, I wanted to share something I’m very much looking forward to in early January.
On January 7, I’ll be traveling to New York for screenings of Vixen! at the Museum of Modern Art. The New York restoration premiere takes place on Thursday, January 8, 2026, at 7:00 p.m., followed by a conversation with me and filmmaker Peggy Ahwesh, held at MoMA’s Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2. A second screening will be held on Friday, January 16, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.
MoMA curator Josh Siegel contacted me a couple of months ago, and the film is being presented as part of the museum’s film preservation program.
Vixen! was released in 1968 and directed by Russ Meyer, with a screenplay by Robert Rudelson. The film also stars Garth Pillsbury, Harrison Page, Jon Evans and runs 70 minutes. The January 8 screening marks the film’s New York restoration premiere. It is presented uncut and includes the 1981 censor prologue from the theatrical rerelease.
Following the January 8 screening, Peggy Ahwesh and I will talk about my life and career. Topics include my upbringing as the daughter of a blacklisted actor, my work with Russ Meyer on Vixen! and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, my appearance in Caged Heat, directed by Jonathan Demme, who was a strong supporter of my work, and my televised exchange with feminist author Betty Friedan.
The film has been scanned in 4K from the original 35mm negative and restored by The Museum of Modern Art, with preservation funding provided by The Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation. The screening accompanies To Save and Project: The 22nd MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation.
I’m grateful to MoMA for preserving Vixen! and for creating space for these discussions, which connect film history, personal experience, and cultural context. My thanks as well to RM Films and Severin Films for their role in the restoration and re-release. I look forward to sharing the film and the conversation in New York, and to seeing how these works continue to be revisited and used by educators and students across all areas of film study.