About this Event
Documentary filmmaking was the first genre to emerge from the new medium when it was presented to the public in the late 19th century. Termed “actualities”, these short recordings captured life as it was happening: workers leaving a factory, a family at an outdoor breakfast table, the arrival of a train at the station. And yet, simultaneously, crept in the possibility of fiction. The family had been strategically arranged to face the camera. The workers were instructed on how and when to leave the factory. With the presence of the camera, and then, later, editing, came the question: is objectivity possible? That question wouldn’t be seriously addressed until the 1960s, with the emergence of Direct Cinema.
In this film program, we will screen a 1969 interview with members of the movement, and essential works from the Direct Cinema canon, including the groundbreaking film PRIMARY (1960), which captured the Wisconsin Democratic primary battle between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. All films will be shown in their original 16mm format.
What's Happening is a film series dating back to 1972 that centers on new and historic films in the Reserve Film and Video Collection at the Library for the Performing Arts. Screening a selection of curated titles from the collection—including documentaries, animations, and even films never commercially released—the series provides information on timely and public topics, in order to spark conversation with the audience and with special guest panelists.
Photo Credit: Photographer unknown. Papers of John F. Kennedy. Pre-Presidential Papers. Presidential Campaign Files, 1960. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
SEATING POLICY | Programs are free and open to all, but registration is requested. Check-in line forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. Five minutes before the advertised start time, all seats are released, regardless of registration, to our patrons in the stand-by line. If you arrive after the program starts, you will be seated at the discretion of our front-of-house staff.
STANDBY LINE | If registration is sold out or has ended, do not fret! We welcome you to come to the Library regardless of registration status and wait in our standby line, which forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Five minutes before the program starts, all remaining seats are released. While this is not guaranteed, we will do our best to get you into any of our programs.
ASSISTIVE LISTENING AND ASL | ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing [email protected].
BRUNO WALTER POLICY | Please note that any unoccupied seat will be released five minutes before the show begins and holding seats for anyone beyond that is prohibited. There is no food or drink allowed inside the venue.
AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING | Programs may be photographed and recorded by and at the discretion of the Library for the Performing Arts and will post signs indicating as such. If you would prefer your image not be captured, please let us know and we can seat you accordingly. Attending any program indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any and all purposes of the New York Public Library.
PRESS | Please send all press inquiries to Alex Teplitzky at [email protected]. Please note that all recording, including professional video recordings, are prohibited without expressed consent from the Library.
Event venue & nearby stays
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts -Bruno Walter Auditorium, Enter via 111 Amsterdam Ave. between West 64th and 65th Street, New York, United States
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