Mary Lea Bandy was born in Chicago and studied at Stanford and Columbia. After having been chief editor for the art history publications of Harry Abrams Inc. and the Museum of Modern Art, she was appointed director of MOMA's film and media department, then head curator. In 1999, she became MOMA's assistant director of heritage. She encouraged the restoration and preservation of the film archives thanks to the creation of The Celeste Bartos Center for Film Preservation. She bought many films for the museum, including those of Woody Allen, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese and Andy Warhol. She has also co-produced two films, helped to create the Women's Film Preservation Fund and organised many retrospectives for MOMA as well as for the Cinémathèque Française or the Portugese National Film Theatre. She has been made Officier des Arts et Lettres by the French government.
Jury attendance
- Member Cinéfondation & Short Films, 2003