NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art’s Film Benefit, a gala dinner to be held on November 17, will honor film director Tim Burton, who is renowned for such films as Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Sweeney Todd. Burton’s visionary filmmaking is the subject of the major MoMA exhibition Tim Burton (November 22, 2009-April 26, 2010), which will trace the current of Burton’s visual imagination, from his earliest childhood drawings through his mature work in film. Included will be 700 examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, and an extensive film series spanning Burton’s 27-year career.

The event will raise funds to ensure that great works of cinema continue to join the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. In addition to a cocktail reception and dinner, the evening will include a special presentation recognizing Burton as a groundbreaking director.

Tables for the Film Benefit are available for $75,000, $50,000, and $25,000; individual tickets are $5,000 and $2,500 per person. Tables and individual tickets may be reserved by calling (212) 708-9402 or e-mail specialevents@moma.org.

The Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film was established in 1935 as the Film Library, and today is recognized as holding the strongest international film collection in the United States, incorporating all periods and genres. Totaling over 22,000 titles and 4 million film stills, the collection spans the entire history of film. Among its holdings are the original negatives of the Biograph and Edison companies; the D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, David O. Selznick, Andy Warhol, and Joseph Cornell collections; contemporary films from Hollywood and around the world; and significant collections of film stills, scripts, posters, and other study materials. Works in the collection are made available through the Film Study Center and exhibition programs, and are stored in the Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center, a state-of-the-art facility in Hamlin, Pennsylvania.