Head to Monkey Town (58 North 3rd St between Kent and Wythe Aves, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-384-1369, monkeytownhq.com) tonight at 8pm for “One Short Documentary Film from Each Decade Since Film Was Invented,” a largely self-explanatory evening curated by film buffs Aaron Schimberg and Vanessa McDonnell. One note for the sticklers out there: The term documentary is deployed loosely. Beginning with Thomas Edison’s barely perceptible camera tests from the 1880s, the chronological screening will wend its way through more than 120 years of film, including a 1948 PSA from Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer on the dangers of speeding, the rare ’60’s film Necrology and a post-millennium short from Anthology Film Archives founder Jonas Mekas. “We wanted to choose films that are examples of how people have used [the technology] to document things,” McDonnell explains.
If you’ve never been to Monkey Town, prepare to be literally immersed by film—the clips will be shown in the restaurant’s 48-seat screening room, which features four floor-to-ceiling screens. The event is free, but there’s a $10 food-and-drink minimum.
Image via Monkey Town
