New York No Story

The story of underground cinema is a New York Story. American avant-garde film culture grew out of the unique conditions of New York City’s density, diversity, and collective ethos. In contrast to the dominant Hollywood model, the New York underground elevates poetics over storytelling. These films prioritize lived experience of the city, awash in memo and intimacy. They are interior monologues recollecting recognizable sites: Coney Island, Times Square, Harlem, the subway system, and others; not narratives, but histories. Ken Jacobs once said, “Stories are for Bedtime,” and, after all, this is a city that never sleeps. NYC Diary ’72. 1972. USA. Directed by Howard Guttenplan. Digital. 11 min. New York Conversations. 2001. USA. Directed by Vivienne Dick. Digital. 21 min. Times Square. 1992. USA. Directed by Steve Siegel. Digital. 7 min. Melencolia 2: Destitution Signs. 2026. USA. Directed by M Woods. Digital. 8 min. Everyday AF. 2025. USA. Directed by Art Jones. Digital. 5 min. Pedestrian Flow Zone. 2020. USA. Directed by Gregg Biermann. Digital. 6 min. Coney Island. 1987. USA. Directed by Peter Cramer. Digital. 12 min. Wallpaper 7. 1970. USA. Directed by Jon Buchanan. 16mm. 7 min. SSS. 1988. USA. Directed by Henry Hills. 16mm. 5 min. Program approx. 82 min.