A Night at the Garden
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Who killed Marsha P. Johnson? When the beloved, self-described “street queen” of NY’s gay ghetto was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, the NYPD chalked it up as a suicide and refused to investigate. However, as shown in Academy Award® nominated director and journalist David France’s (How to Survive A Plague) new film, it’s a decision many questioned. Having played a pivotal role in the previous year’s Stonewall Riots, in 1970, Johnson and fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera formed the world’s first trans-rights organization, STAR (Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries). And despite their many challenges over the years-homelessness, illness, alcoholism-Marsha and Sylvia ignited a powerful and lasting civil rights movement for gender nonconforming people. Now, a quarter century later, at a time of unprecedented visibility and escalating violence in the transgender community, Marsha’s old friend and fellow activist Victoria Cruz has taken it upon herself to reexamine what happened to Marsha. Dipping deep into jaw-dropping archival footage of another era of New York City life, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON follows as this champion pursues leads, mobilizes officials, and works to tell the story of Marsha’s life and get to the bottom of Marsha’s death.
The Road Movie
A mosaic of asphalt adventures, landscape photography, and some of the craziest shit you’ve ever seen, Dmitrii Kalashnikov’s THE ROAD MOVIE is a stunning compilation of video footage shot exclusively via the deluge of dashboard cameras that populate Russian roads. The epitome of a you-have- to-see- it-to- believe-it documentary, THE ROAD MOVIE captures a wide range of spectacles through the windshield—including a comet crashing down to Earth, an epic forest fire, and no shortage of angry motorists taking road rage to wholly new and unexpected levels—all accompanied by bemused commentary from unseen and often stoic drivers and passengers.
Part of Art House Theater Day.
Revolting Rhymes
Based on the much-loved children’s book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake, Revolting Rhymes takes the classic fairy tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs, Jack & the Beanstalk and Cinderella, then mixes them together and serves them with a mischievous twist.
The first film sees young Snow White and Red Riding Hood become lifelong friends as Snow White takes on the might of the wicked Queen, whilst Red is called home to deal with a pair of hungry wolves – one who’s eaten her grandma and then dressed in her clothes, while the other can’t help himself from eating some unsuspecting pigs. In the second film Jack grows up with his heart set on next-door neighbour Cindy. She has her eye turned by the eligible Prince at the ball, and Jack gets distracted by a giant beanstalk at the bottom of his garden. Will they find true love? Overarching both films, our narrator, a big bad wolf, has all the answers as well as a story of his own to tell.
Part of Art House Theater Day.
Titicut Follies
New 4K scan! 50th Anniversary!
Censored for 24 years…now celebrating its 50th anniversary! The film is a stark and graphic portrayal of the conditions that existed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. TITICUT FOLLIES (presented on a new 4K scan of the original 16mm negatives) documents the various ways the inmates are treated by the guards, social workers and psychiatrists.
This screening will include a special, never-before-seen conversation between directors Frederick Wiseman and Wes Anderson, pre-recorded specially for Art House Theater Day!
Dealt
One of the most renowned card magicians of all time, Richard Turner astounds audiences around the world with his legendary sleight of hand. What they may not even realize—and what makes his achievements all the more amazing—is that he is completely blind. Charting Turner’s colorful life from his tumultuous childhood to the present, Dealt reveals how through determination and force of will, he overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to rise to the top of his profession. It’s both a tantalizing, up-close look at the secretive world of magic and a candid, awe-inspiring portrait of a man who lives beyond his limitations.
Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
Documentarian Chris Perkel catalogues the life and successes of iconic music executive Clive Davis, from his miraculous start at Columbia Records through his trailblazing work at Arista Records and J Records, with a heavy dose of outstanding music sprinkled in between. More than mere biography, THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES is a guided tour of cultural revolution from the ’60s to the rise of hip-hop, led by a man who consistently caught thenext wave before everyone else—if he didn’t just create the wave himself. Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, Santana, Miles Davis, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, The Grateful Dead, Kenny G, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Sean Combs, Alicia Keys: even a partial list does not do justice to the incredible range of performers Davis discovered, mentored, or oversaw during his career. Many of them are here, in both archival footage and contemporary interviews, to attest to Davis’s singular talent, blessed life, and how much work went into one to create the other. In Aretha’s words, Davis is “the greatest record man of all time,” and THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES is definitive, ceaselessly entertaining proof.
Additional tickets on sale Monday September 25 at 6pm.
78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene
The screeching strings, the plunging knife, the slow zoom out from a lifeless eyeball: in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho changed film history forever with its taboo-shattering shower scene. With 78 camera set-ups and 52 edits over the course of 3 minutes, Psycho redefined screen violence, set the stage for decades of slasher films to come, and introduced a new element of danger to the moviegoing experience. Aided by a roster of filmmakers, critics, and fans—including Guillermo del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Eli Roth, and Peter Bogdanovich—director Alexandre O. Philippe pulls back the curtain on the making and influence of this cinematic game changer, breaking it down frame by frame and unpacking Hitchcock’s dense web of allusions and double meanings. The result is an enthralling piece of cinematic detective work that’s nirvana for film buffs.
The Islands and the Whales
In their remote home in the North Atlantic the Faroe Islanders have always eaten what nature could provide, proud to put local food on the table. The land yields little, so they have always relied on harvesting their seas. Hunting whales and seabirds kept them alive for generations, and gave them the way of life they love; a life they would pass on to their children. But today they face a grave threat to this tradition. It is not the controversy surrounding whaling that threatens the Faroese way of life; the danger is coming from the whales themselves. The Faroese are among the first to feel the affects of our ever more polluted oceans. They have discovered that their beloved whales are toxic, contaminated by the outside world. What once secured their survival now endangers their children and the Faroe Islanders must make a choice between health and tradition.
Winner: Grand Jury Prize (Viewfinders Competition), DOC NYC
Walking Out
An estranged father and son are forced to rely on one another to survive an unforgiving wilderness in this riveting, richly emotional thriller. Once a year, fourteen-year-old David (Josh Wiggins) travels from his mother’s home in Texas to visit his loner father, Cal (Matt Bomer), in the remote mountains of Montana. There, the two embark on their annual hunting excursion, during which the taciturn Cal attempts to connect with his smartphone-addicted son. But when a terrifying turn of events leaves Cal critically wounded, it’s up to the teenage David to summon enough strength for both of them. Infused with a deep reverence for the rugged beauty and harsh realities of the Montana landscape, Walking Out is both a tense survival saga and a disarmingly moving father-son tale. Featuring Bill Pullman.