“Seeing the Big Picture: An Experimental Film Series organized by Princeton University Professor Christopher Harris features 16mm analog films by internationally celebrated experimental filmmakers working at the forefront of artists’ films in a variety of idiosyncratic forms, using handmade methods and unconventional materials.

This series of nine screenings running through April 14 at the James Stewart Film Theater, 185 Nassau Street, includes Learning to Be Human, a special program showcasing rare 16mm educational films from the late ’60s and early ’70s on loan from the Harvard Film Archive. Each screening is followed by an in-person conversation with the visiting artist.

Screenings are February 10, 17, and 24; March 3, 17, and 31; and April 7 and 14 at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

The experimental films to be presented in the series, which began February 3, include a variety of idiosyncratic forms, using handmade methods, and unconventional materials. The lineup of filmmakers includes artist and filmmaker Mary Helena Clark on February 10, media artist Melissa Friedling and artist and filmmaker Lana Lin on February 17, filmmaker and anthropologist Kathryn Ramey on February 24, writer and artist Stephanie Barber on March 3, avant-garde/experimental filmmaker Jennifer Reeves on March 17, artist Rhayne Vermette on March 31, and artist and experimental filmmaker Sara Sowell on April 7.

“The projection of artists’ films on 16mm celluloid at the proper size, scale and brightness in a cinema theater has become increasingly rare,” said Harris, “so I hope audiences take advantage of this opportunity to view them as the artists intend. Streaming digital scans of films like these on a laptop is like flipping through a coffee table book compared to visiting the Louvre; the tiny digital reproductions completely lack the size, color, and vibrant richness of real thing. You don’t want to miss it.”

For more information, visit arts.princeton.edu.