City Serendipity
Programmed by: Kaytee Meade
The energy of city life can be stressful and overwhelming: crowds, traffic, noise, and construction all contribute to our ambient environment. But amidst this sometime-chaotic atmosphere lies the seeds of possibility, the feeling that anything could happen. Renowned urbanist Jane Jacobs wrote much of the spontaneity of well-designed cities, noting their “intricate sidewalk ballet” and the serendipitous human connections that make urban spaces vibrant. This series contemplates how urban infrastructure can engender and foster these connections, and celebrates the spontaneous by showcasing films in which the chance encounters of daily life produce various outcomes, including desire, friendship, creative partnerships, mysteries, empathy, romance, and more.
Before Sunrise (1995)
Richard Linklater · 101m · DCP
The first installment of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy celebrates the ephemeral quality of an impossible romance. Jesse and Celine meet aboard a train from Budapest to Vienna. Jesse’s flight leaves the next morning, so the pair know they only have one night together. As the clock winds down, they wander around Vienna, discovering an infinite feeling in a finite amount of time.
Monday, January 5 7:00 PM · Saturday, January 10 4:00 PM
Sidewalk Stories (1989)
Charles Lane · 97m · DCP
Charles Lane’s ode to Charlie Chaplin finds an unhoused street artist in New York City (played by Lane himself) taking care of a small lost child (played by his daughter) while searching for her mother. While slapstick city escapades and charm abound, Lane never loses sight of the social realities of life on the streets.
Monday, January 12 7:00 PM
Lovers on the Bridge (1991)
Leos Carax · 126m · DCP
A painter losing her eyesight takes up residence sleeping rough on Paris’s Pont Neuf bridge with an alcoholic street performer in this tale of amour fou. Carax’s production was notoriously expensive and lengthy, and features views of Paris set against the city’s bicentennial celebration, including an incredible fireworks display. Recently restored, this film packs a wild, emotional punch.
Monday, January 26 7:00 PM · Sunday, February 1 4:00 PM
Night on Earth (1991)
Jim Jarmusch · 128m · DCP
At roughly the same time on the same night, five different groups of passengers get into taxis in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. Jim Jarmusch’s ensemble film showcases the transitory connections that arise between those navigating the city and those helping them get there.
Monday, February 2 7:00 PM
Museum Hours (2012)
Jem Cohen · 107m · DCP
A visit to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna sparks a brief friendship between a tourist, played by musician Mary Margaret O’Hara, and a museum guard in this meditation on connection, city life, and the meaning of art in our lives. Known for his hybrid city essays that blend fiction and documentary forms, filmmaker Jem Cohen shoots Vienna with a photographer’s eye.
Saturday, February 7 4:00 PM
The Novelist’s Film (2022)
Hong Sang-soo · 92m · DCP
Prolific filmmaker Hong Sang-soo often makes films that thematically investigate how chance and timing can affect our lives and relationships. In The Novelist’s Film, a novelist struggling with writer’s block visits an old friend in her bookshop in Seoul. Later, she finds inspiration and potentially a new creative partnership after a chance encounter with an actor.
Monday, February 9 7:00 PM
The Aviator’s Wife (1981)
Éric Rohmer · 106m · DCP
"It is impossible to think about nothing." So states the proverb that kicks off the first film of Eric Rohmer’s "Comedies and Proverbs" series. After witnessing his girlfriend leave her apartment with her ex, a man becomes convinced she is cheating on him. A chance meeting with a young girl leads the pair to wander Paris, trying to unravel the mystery and talking it out in usual Rohmerian fashion.
Monday, February 16 7:00 PM · Saturday, February 21 4:00 PM
The Other Side of Hope (2017)
Aki Kaurismäki · 101m · DCP
Who belongs to the city? A Syrian refugee seeks asylum in Helsinki, but is met with an uncaring bureaucracy and hostile citizens. While trying to survive, he crosses paths with an unwitting restaurateur and his motley staff. In his idiosyncratic deadpan style, director Aki Kaurismäki presents an urgent and empathetic view of global migration.
Monday, March 2 7:00 PM
Variety (1983)
Bette Gordon · 101m · 35mm
In need of work, Christine takes a job selling tickets at a porn theater in Times Square. Intrigued by her new environs, her notions of desire and sex expand in unexpected ways. Bette Gordon collaborated with writer Kathy Acker on the script for this tale of burgeoning female desire set against a grimy, neon-lit backdrop, which also features contributions by many in the 80s NYC art scene.
