The Big Apple is no stranger to the big screen, and a series of films debuting this week will spotlight many of its starring roles. In collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) centenary exhibitionthe Manhattan Film Forum presents The city: real and imaginaryshowcasing more than 60 critically acclaimed New York films from the decades since the MCNY was founded in 1923.
From film noir and horror to documentary and comedy, the diversity of films selected for the series exemplifies the indefinable and ever-changing nature of New York City. While works like Panic in Needle Park (1971), Taxi driver (1976), and do the right thing (1989) paint a stylized portrait of the city and its communities, documentaries like Los Sures (1984), centered on the predominantly Puerto Rican and Dominican neighborhood of South Williamsburg, tell the real-life stories of New Yorkers.
The series also includes New York Treasures from the Archives And New York Treasures from the New York Public Library – programs that feature rare and restored archival footage of the city from the Library of Congress and NYPL collections. And in collaboration with the Tenement Museum, screenings of Uncle Moses (1932), Hester Street (1975), and Sturgeon queens (2014) which explore the stories of different generations of Jewish immigrants living and working in New York. For young audiences, The city also includes projections of The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) and News (1992).
“This is by no means our first film festival with New York as its theme, but it is the most comprehensive, including real-life footage of the city as early as 1898 and every decade of the 20th century through the 1990s” , Film Forum Repertoire programmer Bruce Goldstein said Hyperallergic.
The city runs from May 12 to June 8 and features a variety of special events in addition to film screenings, including guest speakers, short film screenings, post-film Q&A sessions and discussions. Projections of The crowd (1928) and Fast (1928) on May 15 and 28 will be accompanied by live piano performances by Steve Sterner.
The series kicks off this Friday afternoon with the docu-fiction film On the Bowery (1956) screening at 12:15 p.m., followed by Shadows (1959), an independent drama about race relations and identity in the Beat Generation, and the groundbreaking documentary Home News (1977). Later in the evening, the public can see The sweet scent of success (1957), a noir drama about a newspaper columnist who hires a crooked press secretary to break up his sister’s romance, and crime drama superfly (1972). The latter is a standout example of “blaxploitation,” a genre of films made by black filmmakers for black audiences that rose to popularity in the ’70s. TREE (1971), another well-known example, is also featured in the series.
MCNY Curator and Deputy Director Sarah M. Henry, who will present The sweet scent of success (1957) later that week described the film as a “twist” on post-war New York noir, focusing on “a crowded downtown steeped in glamour, intrigue, and a quest ruthlessness of power”.
“In a way, it’s the epitome of post-war films shot on location in the city—providing a compelling, of course, exaggerated impression of New York City at one point,” Henry said.
In addition to the Film Forum The city series, MCNY is also presenting two other movie-related events, including “You Are Here” – an immersive 16-screen cinematic experience that features footage from more than 400 New York-based films – as well as New York at the movies: decade by decade – a year-long film series curated by Jessica Green which is shown at the museum which begins in June.
A full program of films screened as part of The city: real and imaginary is available on line.
