Life in Reel New York: An HDC Film Series
LIFE IN REEL NEW YORK: AN HDC FILM SERIES
Join HDC and James Sanders for a unique look into the New York City of the movies.
Photograph by Stanley Kubrick for Look Magazine, 1947
This three part series will include a lecture and short film and two feature length films curated by James Sanders, author of Celluloid Skyline. Focusing on the theme of life in the public world of the streets and the private world of residential spaces, the series will present early depictions of New York streetscapes, before going behind the closed doors of tenement houses and loft apartments later in the 20th century.
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Tickets:
Friends of HDC, Seniors and Students- $5
General Public- $10
Pre-purchased tickets or RSVP preferred
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All programs will be presented at the landmarked former Engine Co. 31
Downtown Community Television Center
In the Street
Tuesday May 6, 2014 at 6:30pm
The first program of this series is an exciting illustrated lecture by James Sanders. Utilizing his extensive personal archive of production images, including many not included in Celluloid Skyline, Mr. Sanders will discuss the importance of New York City as the living background of more than a century of motion pictures. The evening will also include a viewing of the 1948 documentary In the Street. This evocative short, jointly created by photographer Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, and James Agee, depicts life in Spanish Harlem in the 1940s in a beautifully edited visual narrative.
In the Tenement
Monday May 12, 2014 at 6:30pm
Street Scene is a stark black and white film from 1931, which follows 24 hours of the goings on of a group of neighbors in Hells Kitchen. Amid the stoop gossip, romantic intrigues and familial drama, the tenement house provides a dynamic background for the action (literally, as the camera never enters the building itself.) King Vidor, the director, shot all but one scene on a meticulously recreated half block set, that was envisioned using a number of historic, lived-in tenements as reference. Though depicted previously, this films marks the rise of the tenement as an iconic New York setting.
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In the Loft
Tuesday May 20, 2014 at 6:30pm
Join us for the final film of the 2014 series, which looks into the tall windows and high ceiling of the Soho Cast Iron district. An Unmarried Woman tells the tale of a wealthy New York woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. As the protagonist navigates the challenges of her new life, she begins to spend time with roguish painter who lives downtown. Set in an era of the city when the transformation of formerly industrial spaces into versatile artists’ lofts is booming, the movie introduces audiences to a New York City residence never before portrayed on film.
All programs will be presented at the landmarked former Engine Co. 31
For questions, or to RSVP, please contact Brigid Harmon at 212-614-9107 or [email protected]
This series is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided by Council Members Margaret Chin, Inez Dickens, Daniel Garodnick, Vincent Gentile, Stephen Levin and Rosie Mendez.
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