Opening four years ago in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Metrograph has been a bastion for cinephiles. Since the pandemic hit in mid-March, causing all movie theaters in the city and beyond to shut down and rethink their plans, this specific theater had been relatively quiet in what lies on the road ahead. Well, it turns out they were planning something quite exciting.
Metrograph has now launched Metrograph Digital, premiering this Friday, July 24. Available nationwide, it’s a membership-based program for $5 a month or $50 annually, with previous NYC-based members already included at no cost. The first initiative is Metrograph Live Screenings, “a celebration of communal movie watching” which features a specific time where films will screen digitally, and also include intros, pre-show material, and Q&As. These presentations will be available on a live stream player, watchable on any computer and mobile device, and connectable to TVs. If you miss the initial broadcast, the recording will be available on demand for a limited time.
Now, getting to the films, the eclectic lineup kicks off this Friday with one of Claire Denis’s most underseen (and perhaps finest) films, L’Intrus. The rest of the calendar through early September includes work by Éric Rohmer, St. Clair Bourne, Ulrike Ottinger, Alain Resnais, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Satoshi Kon, James Gray, Laurie Anderson, and Manfred Kirchheimer, and more.
“What’s most exciting to me about Metrograph digital expansion is that it means a larger audience can see more of the films we feel so passionately about, while continually broadening our offerings,” said Jake Perlin, Artistic Director of Metrograph. “The foundational principle of the Metrograph theater is the pleasure of sharing cinephilia and a view that there are always new filmmakers and ideas to discover from around the world, and with Metrograph Live Screenings, that is now possible online, in addition to our theater.”
“Programming the Metrograph theater for four years has been an unbelievably rewarding challenge,” said Aliza Ma, Head of Programming. “Metrograph Live Screenings will reflect everything we’ve put into this project, with dynamic films and series featuring legendary and up-and-coming filmmakers. The heart and soul of our curatorial voice can be found here, in tightly focused programs changing weekly.”
Check out their initial lineup below and see membership options here.
Opens Friday, July 24 – 8:00pm EST
Claire Denis’s L’Intrus (2004) – digital exclusive (A Metrograph Pictures release)
with Bruce Baillie’s All My Life (1966)
Through July 27
Opens Monday, July 27 – 8:00pm EST
St. Clair Bourne’s Paul Robeson: Here I Stand (1999)
Guest introduction by organizer and cultural historian Kazembe Balagun, Project Manager for Rosa Luxembourg Shiftung New York City
Through July 29
Opens Wednesday, July 29 – 8:00pm EST
Manfred Kirchheimer’s Bridge High (1975) and Stations of the Elevated (1981)
Guest introduction by Kirchheimer
Through July 31
Opens Friday, July 31 – 8:00pm EST
Nan Goldin’s Sirens (2019) – digital premiere
with Vivienne Dick’s Liberty’s Booty (1980) and Beauty Becomes the Beast (1979)
Guest introduction by Goldin
Through August 2
Throughout July/August
New Digital Restorations from Canyon Cinema
Opens Sunday, August 2 – 8:00pm EST
Nan Goldin Presents Michael Roemer’s Nothing But a Man (1964)
Guest introduction by Goldin
Through August 5
Opens Monday, August 3 – 8:00pm EST
Michael Roemer’s Nothing But a Man (1964)
Guest introduction by programmer Melissa Lyde
Through August 5
Opens Tuesday, August 4 – 8:00pm EST
Kevin Rafferty and James Ridgeway’s Feed (1992)
Through August 7
Opens Wednesday, August 5 – 8:00pm EST
Damani Baker and Alex Vlack’s Still Bill (2009)
Guest introduction by filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack, and producer/editor Jon Fine
Through August 7
Opens Friday, August 7 – 8:00pm EST
Satoshi Kon Retrospective begins
Opens Monday, August 17 – 8:00pm EST
Jenna Bliss’s The People’s Detox (2018)
Guest introduction by Bliss
Through August 19
Opens Wednesday, August 19 – 8:00pm – EST
James Gray’s Two Lovers (2008)
Guest introduction by Gray
Through August 21
Opens Friday, August 21 – 8:00pm EST
Judy Irving’s Dark Circle (1982) (A First Run Features release)
Guest introduction by Irving
Through August 27
Opens Saturday, August 22 – 8:00pm EST
Alain Resnais’s Je t’aime, Je t’aime (1968)
Through August 24
Opens Monday, August 24 – 8:00pm EST
New restoration: Mayday (1970) – Courtesy of the Yale Film Archive
Guest introduction by writer and researcher Yasmina Price
Through August 26
Opens Wednesday, August 26 – 8:00pm EST
Laurie Anderson’s Home of the Brave (1986)
Through August 28
Opens Friday, August 28 – 8:00pm
Ulrike Ottinger Retrospective – Ticket of No Return (1979)
Series continues through September
Opens Sunday, August 30 – 8:00pm
Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Le Franc (1994) and The Little Girl Who Sold The Sun (1999)
New restorations and digital premieres (Metrograph Pictures releases)
Through September 4
Opens Tuesday, September 1 – 8:00pm
Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Hyenas (1992) – new restoration (A Metrograph Pictures release)
Guest introduction by Boukary Sawadogo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies, City College of NY (CUNY)
Through September 4
Opens Friday, September 4 – 8:00pm
Éric Rohmer x 3 – Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987) (A Metrograph Pictures release)
Guest introduction by filmmaker Noah Baumbach – new restoration and digital premiere
Series continues through September with The Aviator’s Wife (1981) and 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) in new digital restorations.