Why We Sit in the Dark: A Personal Atlas of NYC Film Subcultures

Intro

Intro

I’ve wandered from Light Industry to BAM, from rooftop screenings in Bushwick to avant-garde symposia at Anthology. Most crowds never mix—but I was always there, a glue figure, projectionist, witness, archive.

There was a stretch of time when I was a raging alcoholic with a broken heart and a big checkbook. Film wasn’t just something I watched—it was a way I survived. I showed up half-drunk, fully devoted. I watched until I forgot why I was watching. I paid for strangers, left halfway through masterpieces, cried during trailers, and debated until the projector clicked off.