Mala Noche

Sunday, July 5 - Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Screening on 35mm!

With its low budget and lush black-and-white imagery, Gus Van Sant’s debut feature MALA NOCHE heralded an idiosyncratic, provocative new voice in American independent cinema. The film is the quintessential signpost to the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, opening the road, showing the way. Set in Van Sant’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, the film evokes a world of transient workers, dead-end day-shifters, seedy bars and apartments, all bathed in a profound sense of night, but the “narrative’s driving force,” as described by film critic and curator Dennis Lim, “is blind, unembarrassed homosexual lust.” MALA NOCHE deserves its iconic status not only as an openly gay movie, but also as an auspicious prelude to Gus Van Sant’s extraordinary body of work.

Screening as part of our series Declaration of Independents!

See more and save! Get an Independents Pack ($30 for IFC Center members and $45 for non-members). Ticket packs are good for any three screenings in the series.

• Country USA
• Year 1985
• Running Time 78 minutes
• Format 35mm
• Distributor IndieCollect
• Director Gus Van Sant
• Cast Tim Streeter, Doug Cooeyate, Ray Monge, Nyla McCarthy
• Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.