Screening times:
Thursday, February 5, 6:30 PM
Saturday, February 14, 6:00 PM
Ira Sachs | USA | 2025 | 76m
This film is based on the 2021 book by the same title, a 36-page document that reproduces a recently discovered transcript of an audio-taped 1974 conversation between the author Linda Rosenkrantz and her close friend, photographer Peter Hujar (1934-1987).
Rosenkrantz had an idea for a book featuring different people’s descriptions of a typical day in their lives. On December 19, 1974, Hujar went to Rosenkranz’s apartment and was interviewed, chronicling his activities on the day before, from the time he woke up until the moment he went to sleep. Far from a dutiful recitation of events, Hujar’s account of his waking hours was full of astute observations, honest self-assessment, amusing dollops of gossip and quotidian minutiae. The creative ferment and dodgy conditions of 1970s New York City came alive in his telling, as did Hujar himself: exacting, slyly funny, passionately dedicated to his art and rigorous about its execution.
The film captures that single day's activities in touching and funny detail in Hujar’s telling: from interactions with cultural icons of the day, including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Susan Sontag, to the texture and energy of downtown New York in its heyday.
Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall star in this two-hander, an elegant and intimate new piece from filmmaker Ira Sachs — Carbon Arc Cinema screened his previous film, Passages. This is a dazzling showcase for the two performers that is both a masterful portrait of a time and place and a captivating film about the way art emerges from the intimate details of everyday life.
“Paying fitting tribute to a photography legend, this slice-of-life film is a delectable treat, with among the best marriages of the ordinary and the transcendent since Perfect Days.“ - Miriam Balanescu, Empire Magazine
“Whishaw’s performance is a theatrical masterclass in controlled ramble; Hall’s is the art of listening, with responses that range from concern to a slightly cocked head.” - Tara Brady, Irish Times
“Sachs presents his characters’ intellect and emotion, their artistic energy, as inseparable from physicality: he avoids the cliché of talking heads and realizes the idea of talking bodies.” - Richard Brody, The New Yorker
2026 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations - Best Feature, Director, Lead Performance (Ben Whishaw), Supporting Performance (Rebecca Hall), and Cinematography
2025 Gijón Film Festival - Best Actor (Ben Whishaw)
Tickets $12 ($11.40 cash at the door if available)
