Today

NY Theatrical Premiere! "A virtuoso of clarity, Friedrich recasts the personal as political, makes the public curiously intimate.” — Manohla Dargis, The Village Voice

Q&As with Director Su Friedrich on Mar 17 + 19. Su Friedrich will also be in attendance on Mar 18, 22, 23.

Su Friedrich is a pioneering queer filmmaker who has been making ground-breaking personal films for decades. In Today, she again eschews conventional narrative, observing her world over a six-year period. Choice morsels of documentary footage from the neighborhood of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and beyond are augmented with her wry observations and witty on-screen text in this casual, engrossing portrait of daily life. Friedrich thought that using her camera to ‘live in the moment’ would give her access to seeing the wonders of the world, but instead she saw exactly what was in front of her, both the devastating and the uplifting.

The following short films by Su Friedrich will precede TODAY on the following showtimes:

Screening March 17

GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM

Dir. Su Friedrich, 1981, 14 min

Fourteen dreams, and some images that relate to them in various ways.

Screening Mar 18 + 22

RULES OF THE ROAD

Dir. Su Friedrich, 1993, 31 min

Rules of the Road tells the story of a love affair and its demise through one of the objects shared by the couple: an old beige station wagon with fake wood paneling. A typical American family car for an atypical American family, it provides the women at first with all the familiar comforts. But when their relationship ends, the car becomes the property of one and the bane of the other’s existence. Even long after their separation, this tangible reminder of their life together—and thousands of its imitators—continues to prowl the streets of the city, haunting the woman who no longer holds the keys either to the car or the other woman’s heart. Through spoken text, popular music, and images from the streets of New York, Rules of the Road takes a somewhat whimsical, somewhat caustic look at how our dreams of freedom, pleasure, security, and family are so often symbolized by the automobile.

Screening Mar 19

SEEING RED

Dir. Su Friedrich, 2005, 27 min

In Seeing Red, three elements run parallel, overlap, diverge, lock horns and in various other ways give voice to the notion that a color, a melody, or a person has multiple characteristics that cannot be grasped by, or understood within, a simple framework. One element is purely visual. One is very verbal and minimally visual. One is purely musical. So is red the color of a fire truck or a ruby, of rust or a rose, of blood or a brick? How fixed is a melody if it can be twisted, stretched and shaken to the point where we no longer recognize its original form? And when we “see red,” what color is that exactly? What aspect of passion are we feeling? Are we looking outward and seeing injustice and cupidity, or looking inward at our own limitations and failings?

Screening Mar 20 + 23

THE HEAD OF A PIN

Dir. Su Friedrich, 2004, 22 min

Those of us who grow up in cities and continue living in them tend to have a romantic view of life in the countryside. Moreover, we know every subway route, shopping district and urban legend of our city, and feel that our "street smarts" enable us to function anywhere--but put us out in the country and we're just plain stupid about almost everything that nature has to offer. What's the name of that tree with the peeling bark? What fish just jumped? And are those beaver, heron, goose or duck tracks? And then there's our experience of violence--urban violence, of course. We know how to avoid it or, even better, how to escape it by going to the country, where it's so different: so quiet, so peaceful, so safe, so gentle. And it is when you're lying on a hot rock by the river, or having a drink in the yard at sunset. And it is until you spend twenty minutes watching a spider work over and finally kill an insect twice its size. So what exactly is this "nature" that's so lovely and such a respite if it's filled with death and dismemberment? And what changes when we try to learn about it instead of just treating it as a pretty backdrop to our daily work and worries?

Screening Mar 21

FIRST COMES LOVE

Dir. Su Friedrich, 1991, 23 min

First Comes Love consists of perfectly choreographed scenes of four wedding ceremonies accompanied by a complex medley of popular love songs. All seems to be going as it should until the couples reach the altar, when the celebratory atmosphere is interrupted for a surprising public service announcement. Then the song and dance continues until the happy couples depart, leaving behind a dwindling crowd and a few altar boys who carefully sweep up the rice that blankets the pavement like snow. The film doesn't attempt to defend—or discredit—the institution of marriage. Instead, it reveals the many subtle emotions surrounding the event, and raises questions about how the double standard regarding marriage affects gay and straight couples.

TODAY is an Icarus Films release