Washington may fall well short of New York’s sprawling repertory and festival scene. But one major advantage of the DMV is that, in addition to the commercial screenings at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center (a venue that beats any in Manhattan for style and screen size), you can supplement your continuing film education with the free screenings at the local museums’ always intriguing programs. Here are just a handful of the already announced screenings coming to a rep house or museum near you this fall. —Pat Padua

The Latin American Film Fest at AFI Silver starts on Sept. 19

Every year, AFI Silver has multiple festivals that highlight cinema from all over the world. Now that the theater has announced its full lineup for 2024s LAFF, we can see this year promises to be special, with several U.S. premieres such as the tense thriller Ellipsis and the coming-of-age comedy Greice. The Latin American Film Festival runs from Sept. 19 through Oct. 10 at AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. $15–$200. —Alan Zilberman

To help readers pick and choose what films to see, Josh Gardner, AFI’s associate film programmer and public relations manager, shared his top five films screening at this year’s fest:

1. In the Summers, the feature film debut from Alessandra Lacorazza, won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Directing Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; screens at 3:20 p.m. on Sept. 22.
2. Gaucho Gaucho, a documentary from Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, screens at 2:10 p.m. on Sept. 28 and 8:45 p.m. on Oct. 1.
3. Mexico 86, a  political thriller from filmmaker César Díaz, who was inspired by his own mother’s guerrilla activities; screens at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 and Oct. 3.
4. Sleep With Your Eyes Open from German filmmaker Nele Wohlatz; screens at 5:15 p.m. on Oct. 6 and 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 9. 
5. You Burn Me from acclaimed Argentine filmmaker Matías Piñeiro; screens at 3:45 p.m. on Oct. 6. 

Double Suicide in 35mm at the Freer on Oct. 9

If the National Museum of Asian Art’s spooky exhibit Staging the Supernatural leaves you hankering for more, then join them when they turn out the lights for a 35mm print screening of Masahiro Shinoda’s 1969 dramatic thriller. Double Suicide is an adaptation of a Bunraku puppet play. Like much of the Japanese cinema of the late ’60s, this creepy, sexy thriller fuses traditional forms with the kind of modern sensibility frequently telegraphed by Toru Takemitsu, who composed the score. The film screens at 2 p.m. at Freer Gallery of Art’s Meyer Auditorium, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Free, but register in advance. —Pat Padua

Nosferatu the Vampyre at Alamo Drafthouse on Oct. 9

Robert Eggers will modernize this silent horror classic for today’s audiences this holiday season, but Werner Herzog’s 1979 take on Nosferatu is stunning in its own right. Come for the rich atmosphere, and stay for Klaus Kinski’s singular take on the repulsive, beguiling horror legend. The film screening starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse, 630 Rhode Island Ave. NE. $11. —A.Z.

Those Who Dance at the Library of Congress on Oct. 10 

This rarely screened 1930 crime drama is loosely based on the real story of a Los Angeles cop who went undercover to build a case against the mob figure who killed his brother. Director William Beaudine cast bit parts by comparing actors’ headshots with mugshots from L.A. Police Department. The Laurel and Hardy short “Blotto” will also play at this screening. [Editor’s Note: Pat Padua works at the Library of Congress but did not program this film.] The film screens at 7 p.m. at the Mary Pickford Theater in the Library’s James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Free. —P.P.

Noir City D.C. at AFI Silver runs Oct. 11 through 24

It was a cool fall night when you grumbled to yourself, “I like my movies like I like my eggs: hard-boiled and salty.” AFI Silver continues its annual film noir festival with host Eddie Muller. The noir film fest runs from Oct. 11 through 24 at AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. $18-$200. —A.Z.

Noir City’s Opening Double Feature: Le Samourai and This Gun for Hire at AFI Silver on Oct. 11

This year’s noir festival aptly begins with an homage to the late Alain Delon, who died on Aug. 18 at the age of 88 at his home in France. Delon’s cold-blooded assassin in Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 drama, Le Samourai, puts a samurai-like twist on the typical contract killer. The film, of course, also serves a generous dash of 1960s alienation. Le Samourai shares a double bill with This Gun for Hire, the classic 1942 vehicle for Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd as a surprisingly modern couple. The double feature with an introduction by Muller, host of TCM’s Noir Alley, starts at 2:45 p.m. at AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. $18. —P.P.

Early Color Cinema and Impressionism at the National Gallery of Art on Oct. 19

With live musical accompaniment by pianist Andrew Simpson, this is the first in the series Color, Cinema, and the Impressionist Moment, held in conjunction with the gallery’s current exhibit Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment. Joshua Yumibe, a professor of film and media studies at Michigan State University, will introduce the films of 1890s cinema, some of which were “hand-colored, frame by frame, often illuminating [women] dancers moving in a rainbow of hues,” according to NGA. The screening starts at 2 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art’s East Building, 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Free. —P.P.

Count Gore De Vol presents The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at AFI on Oct. 26

Along with Night of the Living Dead, Tobe Hopper’s 1974 chestnut is one of the standard bearers of low-budget horror, and remarkably, it hasn’t lost an iota of its chill factor in the half century since its release. Can host Dick Dyszel’s amiable showmanship cool down the feeling of existential dread that oozes from its now digitized pores? Or does an audience screening, no matter how convivial, only add to the sense that the human race is doomed? The screening starts at 7 p.m. at AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. $15. —P.P.

Go at E Street Cinema on Oct. 29

I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that 1999 was the best year in recent film history. Go, starring Sarah Polley (long before her Women Talking Oscar win), Katie Holmes in her Dawson’s Creek era, Taye Diggs, and Timothy Olyphant, is a long-slept-on adventure/buddy/crime comedy about a Christmastime drug deal gone wrong. Told from the perspective of several characters, you’ll get rave scenes, car chases, Breakfast Club references, a killer soundtrack, and even a talking cat. It’s fun, chaotic, and an oddly poignant capturing of life on the brink of Y2K. The screening starts at 7 p.m. on Oct. 29 at E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. $6.25. —Sarah Marloff

Psycho at Angelika Pop-Up opens Oct. 30

Alfred Hitchcock falls on the list of despicable men, but I’ll shout out Psycho for ushering in a new wave of horror films. Despite being 64 years old, Janet Leigh’s shower scene remains one of the most unnerving moments in film history and Norman Bates still gets under your skin in the creepiest ways. The screenings start on Oct. 30 and run through Nov. 5 at Angelika Pop-Up, 550 Penn St. NE. $14. —S.M.