This May, Spectacle is thrilled to host the first ever NYC Anarchist Film Festival, presented by the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council (MACC).
The Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council presents a weekend of films made by its members and comrades. As a non-hierarchical anarchist organization, the series is curated based on our guiding principles: horizontalism, anti-oppression, mutual aid, and direct action. Each radical, experimental, off-beat, subversive, or comedic film prioritizes the lens of those who believe a better world is possible.
Come for a weekend of radical anarchist politics and stay for thought-provoking discussions after the films. Building a bottom up anarchist movement is not without its challenges, especially in the militarized police state of New York City, but MACC encourages its audiences to find community and inspiration in this forum for representations of political action, queer filmmaking, and the interior lives of our organizers.
See below for the full selection of films screening as part of each program.
PROGRAM 1
FRIDAY, MAY 3 – 7:30 PM
THE TRAGIC END OF RODNEY AND MADLYN U
Dir. Jay Whang, 2022
United States. 19 min.
In English.
THE CLASH BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
Dir. Jay Whang, 2023
United States. 1 min.
In English.
Jay Whang was born in Seoul, South Korea and now lives in New York City as a freelance photographer and mixed-media artist.
SHITHOLE COUNTRY
Dir. Amanda Porche, 2022
United States. 8 min.
In English.
Porche, affected deeply by the COVID-19 pandemic, depicts a person wearing a plague mask to cope as they walk around New York City reflecting on the failures of humanity and American capitalism. Touching on feelings of loneliness and disillusionment, Porche’s black and white short film resonates with all who are concerned with political discontent amid the pandemic.
INTERIOR SHOT
Dir. Charles de Agustin, 2023
United States. 9 min.
In English with open captions and audio description.
ZÉRO DE CONDUITE
(ZERO FOR CONDUCT)
Dir. Jean Vigo, 1933
France. 44 min.
In French with English subtitles
Jean Vigo’s enormously influential portrait of prankish boarding-school students is one of cinema’s great acts of rebellion. Based on the director’s own experiences as a youth, Zéro de conduite presents childhood as a time of unfettered imagination and brazen rule-flouting. It’s a sweet-natured vision of sabotage made vivid by dynamic visual experiments—including the famous, blissful slow-motion pillow fight.
SPIRIT RISER
Dir. Dylan Greenberg, 2024
United States. 108 min.
In English.
Two sisters are thrown out of their isolation and onto opposite coasts of America by a terrifying cosmic entity. On their quest to reunite they discover their own supernatural abilities and meet many strange characters. Spirit Riser is a genre-bending fantasy with elements of horror, comedy, action, surrealism, and martial arts from rising New York City filmmaker Dylan Mars Greenberg.
PROGRAM 2
SATURDAY, MAY 4 – 5 PM
JIYAN’S STORY
Dir. A. Haluk Unal, 2017
Greece/Syria/Turkey. 80 min.
In Turkish and English with English subtitles.
The catastrophic war in Syria has brought about one good thing: the forming of the autonomous region of Rojava is radically changing the position of women in the Middle East. The fascinating story of Jiyan, a female guerrilla fighter who devoted twenty years of her life in the Kurdish militant struggle, reveals women’s determination for freedom not only against another oppressive regime, but also against patriarchy.
AFTER THE REVOLUTION
Dir. Rosavilla & Marisa Holmes, 2023
United States. 93 min.
In Arabic and French with English subtitles.
It is the center of Tunis on a simmering hot day in the Summer of 2013. A sit-in has begun at Bardo square in front of the legislative assembly. Young people, many of whom are unemployed and poor, protest against the transitional government. They want a real revolution that meets their needs and gives them dignity. The Islamist party attempts to maintain power and threatens to destabilize the country. To avoid a Civil War, the opposition forms a new party, which includes members of the old regime. Instead of a real revolution, a counter revolution takes hold. The revolutionary youth are declared terrorists. Militarization at the borders of Tunisia ensues.
The new documentary AFTER THE REVOLUTION explores the aftermath of the Tunisian Revolution. The film is a transnational journey across Tunisia, Italy, and France. At each border crossing in the film, there is a confrontation. It is not only a structural one, but a personal one. Refugees free themselves by crossing physical and imaginary borders.
The film concludes back in Tunisia, on the anniversary of the revolution. There is a march for the wounded of the revolution that ends at the Ministry of the Interior, the site of the secret police. The wounded raise up their fists and canes, calling it a “Ministry of Terror.” They bear the physical marks of violence and continue to fight for justice.
PROGRAM 3
SATURDAY, MAY 4 – 9 PM
THE TREES
Dir. Peter Azen, 2022
Brazil. 8 min.
In English.
NASCIMENTO
(BIRTH)
Dir. Peter Azen, 2021
Brazil. 6 min.
No spoken dialogue.
MEMORY FOR MY FRIEND BILL RICE
Dir. Tom Jarmusch, 2006
United States. 12 min.
Dir. Tom Jarmusch, 1995/2004
United States. 5 min.
Shot on Super 8 sound film for The 1st Annual International Exhibition of Three Image Films, Jarmusch’s Dream has three non-sequitur scenes with loose connecting elements. In the process of making this film the director’s camera was stolen, glass was broken while shooting the title, and the film was inadvertently shot in fast motion. The film was run over by a truck, but later optically printed to 16 mm.
FRIENDS
Dir. Tom Jarmusch, 1995
United States. 30 min.
Shot with a borrowed hi 8 camera, Friends is mostly improvised and experiments with fiction in an effort to find true and meaningful connection.
EXPLORING MODES OF RESISTANCE
Dir. The Dove of Resistance, 2024
Palestine. 60 min.
Arabic and English with English subtitles.
From Cinemóvil NYC, wide-ranging images of Palestinian resistance. The cinematic archives as organizing tool. Intended to be screened with others, and to inspire fruitful horizontal discussion.
