City That Never Sleeps Block #2  6/21

 (Virtual @ the Write Brain Theater (10pm-10am)

It’s Friday Night & we’re kicking things off with our second City That Never Sleeps virtual all-night Insomnia block! This time we’ve got a smorgasbord of 70’s shorts, cinema, & surprises. After the Summer of love wave rolled back (according to Hunter S. Thompson) & the hippie generation died, something far more sinister rose from its ashes in the rotten apple. It led to a slew of American New Wave cinema, heavily influenced by the spread of experimentation happening in Europe from filmmakers like Godard, Fassbinder, & other pioneers. Mix that with a growing melting pot of influences, sweltering heat, rising poverty under Nixon, & a taste for something darker gave way to a storm of new cinema that capture the slowly eroding illusion of American life. Systemic racism grew further out of control, the language of cinema took on a far more sinister tone, & New York City began to birth the gritty films it would be remembered for that reflected a drastically changing landscape… As it slowly deteriorated into a concrete jungle that reflected the harsh conditions “The Man” was putting it under. Animation legends like Bakshi would harness these broken dreams to manifest some of the sleaziest & hardest hitting animated films of all time, Sonny Carson’s memoirs would be brought to life & personify this generation’s broken promises, & Peter Boyle would personify all its demons to play a blistering satire of its worst qualities in a cult classic forgotten by time. It would no longer be called Fun City; But Fear City… And your ticket awaits. Specially curated & hosted by filmmaker Kevin Ronca, this block is free to experience… If you dare!