Not many places around the entire world have filmmakers (directors, producers, actors and more) available in its backyard or that will travel to it quite like New York City. With more independent cinemas than anywhere else on top of that, NYC has the best moviegoing experiences in the world. Here's our list of upcoming special event screenings at theaters in New York City from May 8th and beyond. If you host an event and we missed you, please let us know -
info@greenroomnewyork.com.
Clueless - Q&A with Actor Wallace Shawn, moderated by John Early & Lucas Kane
May 8 (1pm)
Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Manhattan)
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
Southland Tales - Intro with Actor/Writer Wallace Shawn, moderated by John Early & Lucas Kane
May 8 (3:45pm)
Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Manhattan)
During a three-day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.
El Signo Vacio (The Empty Sign) - Q&A with Director Kathryn Ramey
May 8 (7pm)
Anthology Film Archives (2 Second Avenue, Manhattan)
Feature-length anthropological journey through the United States's occupation of Puerto Rico. Mixing over a hundred years of found footage – tourism, agricultural, and propaganda films – with contemporary portraits of local artists and activists and Puerto Rican punk rock/noise music, the film reveals how carefully crafted American fictions of "democracy" and "debt" obscure a capitalist and military domination that is ongoing.
So Long a Letter - Q&A with Director Angèle Diabang
May 8 (8:30pm)
Walter Reade Theater FLC (165 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
After 25 happy years of marriage, teacher Ramatoulaye's lawyer husband takes her daughter's friend as second wife, sparking tensions between old customs and modern life.
The Python Hunt - Q&A with Director Xander Robin
May 8 (6:30pm), May 9 (6:30pm), May 10 (3pm)
Angelika NY (18 West Houston Street, Manhattan)
Every year the Florida government invites the public to compete in an invasive python removal contest in the Everglades. For 10 nights, an eclectic group of hunters confront the dangerous terrain, nocturnal creatures and their own desires.
Influenced - Q&A with Writer/Actress Jill Kargman
May 8 (7pm), May 9 (7pm), May 10 (7pm), May 11 (7pm)
Quad Cinema (34 West 13th Street, Manhattan)
Renown influencer Dzanielle navigates fake friends among the Black card-swiping, Ozempic sharting, workout-addicted Upper East Siders. In her comedic quest for a million followers, she finds her first real new friend and her true self.
Caméra d'Afrique (1983) - Q&A with Director Férid Boughedir
May 9 (12pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
A look at 20 years of African Cinema.
Days of Compassion: Episode 1 - Discussion with Richard Gere
May 9 (12:15pm)
Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, Queens)
In the first episode of this upcoming series of conversations, actor and human rights activist Richard Gere interviews leading Tibetan sociologist and the foremost expert on Tibet's educational system, Dr. Gyal Lo shares his personal journey from a village boy in a remote corner of northeastern Tibet to an educational researcher exposing the cultural genocide of China's mandatory state boarding schools.
Afrotopia - Q&A with Director David Mboussou
May 9 (2:45pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
In Gabon, within the Congo Basin, a young aspiring filmmaker forced into his father's logging empire uncovers a plan to destroy a sacred forest—and a buried colonial-era family secret.
Silent Friend - Q&A with Director Ildikó Enyedi, moderated by Annette Bening
May 9 (3pm)
Angelika NY (18 West Houston Street, Manhattan)
Set in the botanical garden of a medieval town in Germany. Three epochs, three personalities, three sometimes clumsy but sincere attempts to free themselves and to create links with the plants and the world of the garden. An encounter.
Bunnylovr - Q&A with Director Katarina Zhu
May 9 (5pm)
Roxy Cinema (2 Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan)
A cam girl navigates a toxic client relationship while reconnecting with her estranged, dying father, exploring complex relationships and family dynamics.
Barni - Q&A with Director Mohammed Sheikh
May 9 (6pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
When a 9-year-old girl from a quaint Somali village goes missing, her older sister and two friends set out on a journey to find her.
When Nigeria Happens - Q&A with Director Ema Edosio Deelen
May 9 (8:30pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
Follows a tight-knit group of misfit dancers whose world is upended when one's mother falls critically ill.
The Day Iceland Stood Still - Q&A with Director Pamela Hogan
May 10 (3:30pm)
New Plaza Cinema (35 West 67th Street, Manhattan)
Oct. 24, 1975, Iceland: 90% of women just took the day off, and men scrambled to fulfill their duties, sometimes comically so. A gleeful, amazing tale of the feminist collective, "The Red Stockings", and their search for equality.
Lace Relations - Q&A with Director/Producer Katharina Weingartner
May 10 (3:30pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
As colorful and multilayered as Nigerian fabrics, this documentary uncovers the history of the textile trade that has intertwined Nigeria and Austria for centuries, enriching Europe while contributing to the collapse of West Africa's indigenous textile economy.
Rumba Royale - Q&A with Directors Hamed Mobasser & Yohane Dean Lengol
May 10 (6pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
In 1959 Léopoldville, the Rumba Royale nightclub thrives to the beat of Congolese rumba as colonial rule wanes. Daniel, a young photographer, and Olive, an ambitious waitress, pursue dreams as love, power and politics threaten their world.
The Heart Is a Muscle - Q&A with Director Imran Hamdulay
May 11 (5:45pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
At a barbecue, Ryan's five-year-old son briefly goes missing. Ryan's violent reaction to this scare sets off a chain of events and unearths secrets from the past. A journey of self-discovery and forgiveness begins.
Sheitel: Beauty in the Hidden - Q&A with Director Lynda Medjuck Suissa
May 11 (7pm)
Marlene Meyerson JCC (334 Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan)
Sheitel shines a light on the world of Orthodox Jewish women and the practice of hair covering, revealing the deeper significance of this tradition as an expression of cultural identity, faith, and female empowerment.
Caméra arabe (1987) - Q&A with Director Férid Boughedir
May 12 (5:45pm)
Francesca Beale Theater FLC (144 West 65th Street, Manhattan)
Focusing on key Arab films produced in the last 20 years. Férid Boughedir traces the development of the film-makers' concern to produce more socially aware cinema. Themes include the issue of Palestinian homeland rights and the nature of Arab identity.
Reeling - Q&A with Director Yana Alliata
May 12 (6:45pm)
Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg (136 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn)
After a life-altering accident, Ryan returns home for a birthday luau and uncovers the secret of when things took a tragic turn.
Steal This Story, Please! - Q&A with Director Carl Deal, subject Amy Goodman
May 13 (5:30pm)
IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan)
Amy Goodman has reported some of the most consequential stories of our time. Steal This Story, Please. is a gripping portrait of a journalist whose unwavering commitment to truth-telling spans three decades of turbulent history.
The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing - Q&A with Directors Louis Massiah & Monica Henriquez
May 13 (6pm)
Maysles Documentary Center (343 Malcolm X Boulevard, Manhattan)
Biography of the influential writer, filmmaker and cultural worker, who with humor and deep insight, inspired a generation of artists to dedicate themselves to community empowerment.
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas - Q&A with Director Eugene Yi, EP Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, film participants DJ Rekha & Madelyn Yu
May 13 (6:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
This film brings together a tableau of voices to explore the themes of representation, belonging, and what it means to be AAPI in America.
Saccharine - Q&A with Actress Midori Francis
May 13 (7pm)
IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan)
Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
I Love Boosters - Q&A and Intro with Questlove
May 14 (7:30pm)
Regal Union Square (850 Broadway, Manhattan)
A group of shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.
Magic Hour
Q&A with Writer/Director/Actress Katie Aselton, Writer Mark Duplass, Actor Daveed Diggs
May 14 (7pm), May 15 (7:25pm)
Q&A with Writer/Director/Actress Katie Aselton, Writer Mark Duplass
May 16 (7:25pm)
IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan)
Erin and Charlie escape to the desert to navigate an unexpected and challenging new phase of their relationship.
95 and 6 to Go - Q&A with Director Kimi Takesue
May 15 (7pm)
Firehouse Cinema DCTV (87 Lafayette Street, Manhattan)
Tom Takesue is a hard-working, practical Japanese-American raised in Hawai'i, who discovers his filmmaking aspirations at the age of ninety when he becomes invested in "re-writing" a feature love story that his granddaughter is developing. His unusual script doctoring reveals larger concerns about love, loss, unrealized dreams, and mortality.
Agatha's Almanac - Q&A with Director Amalie Atkins
May 15 (7pm), May 16 (4:40pm)
Film Forum (209 West Houston Street, Manhattan)
90-year-old Agatha Bock maintains her ancestral farm and heirloom seeds without modern amenities, preserving traditional practices through daily routines that document a fading way of life.
Been Here Stay Here - Q&A with Director David Usui
May 15 (7pm), May 16 (7pm), May 17 (3pm)
Quad Cinema (34 West 13th Street, Manhattan)
Three generations on Tangier Island as rising waters threaten their way of life. The close-knit Christian community faces an uncertain future while maintaining their deep connection to the Chesapeake Bay.
Basquiat (B&W version) - Q&A with Director Julian Schnabel
May 16 (5:40pm)
Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Manhattan)
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Something Wiild - Q&A with Script Supervisor/Actress Sandy McLeod
May 17 (11am)
Paris Theater (4 West 58th Street, Manhattan)
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband shows up.
Power Ballad - Q&A with Director John Carney, Actors Paul Rudd & Nick Jonas
May 18 (7pm)
92NY (1395 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan)
Rick, a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny, a fading boy band star, bond over music and a late-night jam session. When Danny turns Rick's song into a hit, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves.
Jason and Shirley Revisited - Q&A with Director Stephen Winter
May 19 (6:45pm)
Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park (188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn)
A radical revisitation. This updated version of Stephen Winter's 2015 film unearths the ghosts of Jason and Shirley, restaging the volatile 12-hour shoot of the 1967 documentary Portrait of Jason—held at the Chelsea Hotel—which blurred the line between subject and storyteller.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Q&A with Cinematographer Ellen Kuras
May 19 (7pm)
Paris Theater (4 West 58th Street, Manhattan)
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
I Love Boosters - Q&A with Writer/Director Boots Riley
May 19 (7:30pm)
BAM Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn)
A group of shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven.
Di'Anno: Iron Maiden's Lost Singer - Q&A with Director Wes Orshoski
May 20 (7pm)
Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg (136 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn)
A pair of fans of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden launch a crowdfunding campaign to help Paul Di'Anno (aka The Beast), the band's iconic original singer, get back on his feet literally, emotionally and professionally.
I Love Boosters - Q&A with Writer/Director Boots Riley
May 20 (8:30pm)
Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park (188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn)
A crew of professional shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven. It's like community service.
Ask E. Jean - Q&A with Director Ivy Meeropol
May 21 (7pm), May 22 (7pm), May 23 (7pm)
IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan)
E. Jean Carroll won two lawsuits against Donald Trump for defamation and battery. Beyond that, she built a career as a successful magazine writer and authored one of America's longest-running advice columns.
Radio Days - Intro with Actor Wallace Shawn & John Early
May 22 (1:30pm)
Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Manhattan)
A nostalgic look at radio's golden age focusing on one ordinary family and the various performers in the medium.
The Wife - Q&A with Actor Wallace Shawn
May 22 (3:45pm)
Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Manhattan)
Psychotherapist couple Jack and Rita run a therapy group. Patient Cosmo and his wife Arlie visit late one night. Arlie feels excluded by Cosmo's closeness with the therapists. The awkward evening reveals tensions between both couples.
A Master Builder - Intro with Writer/Actor Wallace Shawn
May 22 (6:25pm)
Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Manhattan)
A successful, ego-maniacal architect who has spent a lifetime bullying his wife, employees and mistresses wants to make peace as his life approaches its final act.
Forge - Q&A with Director Jing Ai Ng, Actors Andie Ju, Brandon Soo Hoo & TR Knight
May 22 (7pm)
Quad Cinema (34 West 13th Street, Manhattan)
Siblings Raymond and Coco Zhang run a forgery ring. Coerced by a disgraced millionaire, they create counterfeit masterpieces for his family's collection. FBI agent Emily Lee investigates a new string of art forgeries.
Manas - Q&A with Director Marianna Brennand
May 22 (7:40pm), May 23 (7:40pm)
Film Forum (209 West Houston Street, Manhattan)
Aware that the future does not hold many options for her in a riverside community on Marajó Island, a 13-year-old girl decides to confront the violent machinery that governs her family and the women in her community.
Everybody To Kenmure Street - Q&A with Director Felipe Bustos Sierra
May 22 (7pm), May 23 (7pm), May 24 (3pm)
Firehouse Cinema DCTV (87 Lafayette Street, Manhattan)
Glasgow residents abandon their daily routines to gather on Kenmure Street after learning authorities plan to deport their neighbors, sparking an impromptu grassroots movement.
Visio Cordis - Q&A with Director Sophie Hamacher
May 23 (1pm)
Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, Queens)
Visio Cordis takes medical imaging as both subject and provocation, tracing how systems built to observe and measure do not merely reveal the body but also shape how care and rupture are interpreted.
The Best Years of Our Lives - Q&A with Kenneth Lonergan
May 24 (4pm)
Paris Theater (4 West 58th Street, Manhattan)
Three WWII veterans return home forever changed and find it difficult to adjust to their new realities.
Behind Her Eyes - Q&A with film subject Tova Friedman
May 26 (6pm)
Marlene Meyerson JCC (334 Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan)
Behind Her Eyes tells the powerful journey of one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust who uses the power of social media to bridge across generations. Born in Poland in 1938, Tova was one of the few Jewish children to survive the horrors of Auschwitz. Tova proves that understanding how and why hatred erupts can serve as one of the strongest antidotes to building empathy and compassion.
Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back - Q&A with Chris Hegedus
May 27 (7pm)
Paris Theater (4 West 58th Street, Manhattan)
Documentary covering Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England, which includes appearances by Joan Baez and Donovan.
Hangin' With The Homeboys - Q&A with EP Janet Grillo
May 27 (8:30pm)
Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park (188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn)
Four young friends spend one crazy Friday night on the streets of Manhattan that quickly turns into a night, they'll never forget.
Forastera - Q&A with Director Lucía Aleñar Iglesias
May 29 (7pm), May 30 (7pm)
Film Forum (209 West Houston Street, Manhattan)
During her Mallorca summer, Antonia recognizes similarities with her late grandma. She develops an influence over her mourning grandpa through dress-up, blurring who inhabits who.
With Hasan In Gaza - Q&A with Director Kamal Aljafari
May 29 (8pm), May 30 (12pm)
Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Manhattan)
A filmmaker's rediscovered footage from 2001 captures a journey through Gaza, guided by Hasan, while searching for an old prison companion. The tapes reveal intimate moments of Palestinian life during a pivotal time.
Teenage Gang Debs - Q&A with Actress Sandra Kane
Jun 2 (7pm)
Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg (136 Metropolitan Avenue, Manhattan)
A girl from Manhattan moves into a neighborhood that is the turf of the Rebels, a female teenage gang. She quickly rises to the top of the gang and sets her sights on the leader of the neighborhood tough guys.
The Easy Kind - Q&A with Director Katy Chevigny, film subject Elizabeth Cook
Jun 3 (7pm), Jun 4 (7pm)
IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan)
A rollicking journey inspired by and starring Nashville singer Elizabeth Cook as she breaks through the constraints of country music to become the artist she's meant to be.
Underland - Q&A with Director Rob Petit
Jun 4-6 (7pm), Jun 7 (3:30pm)
Angelika NY (18 West Houston Street, Manhattan)
Based on Robert Macfarlane's bestseller, UNDERLAND, a cinematic voyage beneath the surface of the earth into worlds rarely glimpsed by human eyes to explore the unknown below our feet.
Emergent City - Q&A with Directors Kelly Anderson & Jay Arthur Sterrenberg
Jun 5 (7pm)
UnionDocs (352 Onderdonk Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens)
Industry City, a Brooklyn industrial area, sparks conflict when purchased by global developers. Residents, city officials, and planners clash over differing visions for the city's urban development future.
Women - Q&A with Director Stanley Kwan
Jun 11 (6:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
Unfortunate Bao-er decides to divorce her husband Derek after she discovers he is having an affair. Seeking solace with her group of friends, who call themselves the 'Happy Spinsters Club', she begins to face life as a single mother while Derek moves in with his new young girlfriend.
Love Unto Waste - Q&A with Director Stanley Kwan
Jun 12 (6:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
Four young people spend their time living the wild life - until one of them is brutally murdered in a burglary.
Rouge - Q&A with Director Stanley Kwan
Jun 13 (12:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
A 1930s courtesan and a wealthy heir plan to die together, but he never shows up in the afterlife. Fifty years later, her ghost visits a newspaper office to place an ad searching for him, captivating a modern couple with her tragic tale.
Full Moon in New York - Q&A with Director Stanley Kwan
Jun 13 (3:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
Three very different Asian women forge a friendship in New York.
Center Stage - Q&A with Director Stanley Kwan
Jun 13 (6:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
Biopic of 1930s Chinese actress Lingyu Ruan.
Red Rose White Rose - Q&A with Director Stanley Kwan, moderated by Isabel Sandoval
Jun 14 (12:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
Chronicles the love life of a man, Zhenbao. He has a steamy fling with the wife of a friend, the saucy and exciting Red Rose. Even though he feels happy with her, he knows he will not end up with her. To maintain his reputation, he marries an antiseptic, frigid but classy lady of a prim and proper background (White rose).
Lan Yu - Q&A with Director Stanley Kwan
Jun 14 (4:30pm)
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, Manhattan)
A young gay student has a relationship with an older successful businessman. The handsome playboy-businessman must choose between his comfortable, yet straight, life or an honest, yet subversive, life with the student.