A new 4K restoration for this bedrock of New York history, a chronicle of a singular time in the East Village, is a must-see for anyone who had anything to do with 1980s Alphabet City (or anyone who wishes they did). Shot in black and white, the story follows a glum jukebox operator named Macabee, who is wandering the streets looking for a mysterious woman. He ducks in and out of bars and shops in the neighborhood, documenting a nostalgic 1980s New York truth in the midst of fiction. (dir. Phil Hartman, USA, 1985, 88 mins.)
“Philip Hartman’s No Picnic doubles as a chronicle not just of a lost paradise but a forgotten era — of downtown NYC, of genuinely independent moviemaking, of an alternate version of the “greed is good” go-go Eighties. Watching this gorgeously grainy black and white hang-out movie from 1987, fresh off an amazing restoration…is to step back into a moment before gentrification terraformed Alphabet City and priced out the bohemians.” — Rolling Stone
Philip Hartman owned The Great Jones Cafe in NYC in the 80s, which is how he captured the historic slice of life that is the Sundance-award winning film No Picnic. To fund his creative projects (including a film starring Felicity Huffman and Will Arnett), he later opened Two Boots Pizzeria on Avenue A.
This project is made possible with funds from the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.