Film Screenings / Programs / Retrospectives

THE EYES OF THE CITY: RICHARD SANDLER

June 6 – June 11

One of the great chroniclers of New York City street life since the 1980s, photographer and filmmaker Richard Sandler has devoted himself to capturing the city in all its grimy, chaotic, often unhinged, and always uncontainable glory. Sandler first documented New York through an extensive body of indelible, mostly black-and-white photographs that vibrate with the energy of the metropolis and its diverse residents, and stand as one of the most indispensable records of 1980s-90s NYC. But in the early 1990s, he began to shift his attention to film and video. The initial result was the still-under-recognized masterpiece of filmic street photography, THE GODS OF TIMES SQUARE, a proudly unvarnished, rough-and-tumble document of a rapidly changing Times Square and of the incredible collection of eccentrics, street preachers, panhandlers, entertainers, and other charismatic city dwellers who comprised the rich human comedy of the neighborhood at the time. Both documenting and directly engaging with the people he encountered, Sandler created a work that captures the pulse of the city like few others.

THE GODS OF TIMES SQUARE was followed by other films in the same vein, most of them even more rarely screened, including films focusing on different corners or dimensions of New York: the East Village in BRAVE NEW YORK (2004), the subway in SWAY (2006), the aftermath of 9/11 in EVERYBODY IS HURTING (2006), and so on, all of them suffused with the sharp-eyed but fully committed fascination that distinguishes his work.

Anthology is honored to host Sandler in person, for screenings of all these works, as well as his lyrical short films (shot in New York, Los Angeles, and Martha’s Vineyard).

This retrospective has been co-organized with Jake Perlin.

Special thanks to Richard Sandler; Jake Perlin (The Film Desk); JP Lopez/Elara Pictures; and Josh Safdie.

Upcoming Screenings

• RICHARD SANDLER PGM 1: THE GODS OF TIMES SQUARE (Sandler in person, Fri, June 6!)
  June 6 at 7:30 PM
  June 9 at 7:30 PM
• RICHARD SANDLER PGM 2: the gods of times squareD + FOREVER AND SUNSMELL
  June 7 at 6:00 PM
  June 11 at 8:45 PM
• RICHARD SANDLER PGM 3: BRAVE NEW YORK + SUBWAY TO THE FORMER EAST VILLAGE
  June 7 at 7:45 PM
  June 10 at 6:30 PM
• RICHARD SANDLER PGM 4: SWAY + EVERYBODY IS HURTING
  June 8 at 6:00 PM
  June 10 at 8:45 PM
• RICHARD SANDLER PGM 5: AKA MARTHA’S VINEYARD + RADIOACTIVE CITY
  June 8 at 8:30 PM
  June 11 at 6:45 PM

Limited to only 1,500 copies
Blu-ray Collector’s Edition Steelcase

Desperate for quick cash, college sophomore Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) takes a babysitting job in the isolated mansion of the creepy Ulman family. Ignoring the warnings from her best friend (Greta Gerwig), Samantha has no idea that a nightmare of unspeakable fear and torment awaits her within these walls. At midnight, in the shadow of a full lunar eclipse, the ultimate evil will be unleashed. Cult icons Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, and Dee Wallace co-star in the demonic thriller that fans and critics hail as an unnerving return to late ‘70s/early ‘80s classic horror.

Dark Sky Selects proudly presents this Blu-ray collector’s edition, celebrating Ti West’s acclaimed film and packed with brand-new bonus features.

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LARRY FESSENDEN’S GLASS EYE PIX
LAUNCHES VIDEO LABEL in partnership with OCN
 TO CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF INDEPENDENT GENRE CINEMA

2 June 2025 // New York, New York — In anticipation of its 40th anniversary celebration that begins November 2nd of this year, Glass Eye Pix is launching a video label in conjunction with OCN to release newly restored versions of the films that built its brand. The company that produced seminal work by game-changing names like Ti West, Kelly Reichardt, Jim Mickle, Rick Alverson, Graham Reznick, Glenn McQuaid, Mickey Keating, Joe Maggio, and Ilya Chaiken will be releasing a roster of early foundational work brimming with style, scares, and skill in lavishly produced Blu-ray editions.

Glass Eye Pix (“one of the indie scene’s most productive and longest-running companies” —Filmmaker Magazine) is the fierce independent NYC-based production outfit headed by art-horror auteur Larry Fessenden (BLACKOUT, DEPRAVED, BENEATH, ABC’s of DEATH 2, NBC’s Fear Itself episode “SKIN AND BONES,” THE LAST WINTER, WENDIGO, HABIT, NO TELLING). Glass Eye Pix is responsible for narrative films, documentaries, books, comics, audio plays, and other unique work designed to inspire and contrast with corporate media. Fessenden (winner of the Someone to Watch Spirit Award) has operated the company since 1985, with the mission of supporting individual voices in the arts.

The Glass Eye Pix label launches in partnership with OCN distribution. Justin LaLiberty, head of OCN says: “I’ve admired the work that Larry Fessenden has done over the years, not just in his own work but in that of shaping an outstanding production company in Glass Eye Pix, one of the last bastions of truly independent genre filmmaking in the United States. I’m elated to partner with Larry to create the best home video releases possible for the films Glass Eye has produced, past and present, which will be distributed through OCN Distribution.”

Says Fessenden, “I love physical media as a way to present a movie with its graphic identity, extra features and ruminations by artisans and commentators, capturing the elusive resonance of an individual picture in one package. I hope fans of Glass Eye will enjoy the embarrassment of riches we have in store for them in the coming months.”

The Glass Eye Pix label begins its launch with the highly-anticipated Blu-ray release of James Felix McKenney’s AUTOMATONS (2006 / 83 min / 1.33:1 / English DTS-HD MA 5.1 / starring Christine Spencer, Angus Scrimm, Brenda Cooney, Jennifer Boutell, and Larry Fessenden).  Somewhere in the distant future, The Girl is alone. She is the last of her people, the others having died in a generations-long war that the girl continues to fight with the assistance of a group of antiquated robot helpers and soldiers… https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage-partner-labels/products/automatons
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First up in this lineup is a new edition of James Felix McKenney’s futuristic sci-fi thriller AUTOMATONS, starring Christine Spencer, Angus Scrimm and Brenda Cooney. The region-free Blu-ray will supplement the feature (newly remastered in 2K) with these bonus features.

From Vinegar Syndrome comes James Felix McKenney’s 2006 Robo-thriller
AUTOMATONS on Region Free Blu-Ray (for the 1st time ever!).

Loaded with Special Features: Region Free Blu-ray, New remastered feature in 2K, New audio Commentary with director & crew, New BTS Surveillance Camera montage, New “The Delusions of James Felix McKenney” film reel, 2007 60-minute BTS documentary, 2006 Angus Scrimm Interview, 2005 Camera tests, Director’s introduction from 2015 VHS release, Booklet with new writing by film critic Simon Abrams and an original director’s statement from 2006 & more!

special limited edition slipcover (designed by Adam Juresko) is limited to 1,000 units 
BUY NOW!

Jack Fessenden’s FOXHOLE now streaming and available on Blu-ray

Jones stars in the SKIN & BONES episode, a Wendigo story directed by Fessenden, as part of the Fear Itself series. Streaming now on PLEX.

Jones lends his voice talents in TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE episode This Oracle Moon. Starring alongside Ron Perlman, Mark Kelly, Molly Bryant, Jeff Buhler, Zed B. Starkovic, The Nam. Written and directed by Jeff Buhler. Streaming on Tales From Beyond The Pale Podcast.

Happy Birthday, Doug.

I Fell in Love With a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn is described as a Jim Jarmusch-esque “bloody rom-com” from director Kenichi Ugana and producer Rocko Zevenbergen, making its World Premiere at the 2025 Fantasia Film Festival.

featuring an appearance by Fessenden, Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman
and GEP pal Rigo Garay.

Fango has the scoop on the full Fantasia Fest
First Wave Lineup

By Matt Grobar
May 14, 2025 10:50am

EXCLUSIVE: Jack Fessenden has set the cast for his new film, eco-noir Alfalfa. The list includes two-time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz (Weapons), Toby Huss (Halt and Catch Fire), Virginia Kull (Presumed Innocent), Marcus Scribner(Black-ish), Oscar nominee Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), and James Le Gros(Good One).

Set to shoot this fall in Southwestern Utah, the film follows Lance (Butz), a sprinkler contractor in a drought-stricken desert boomtown whose life converges with a criminal duo, led by Abdi, who are hunting for a corpse that has resurfaced on the banks of a receding reservoir. Caught in a web of escalating tensions, false accusations, and buried secrets, Lance, his wife Elana (Kull), and estranged son Noah (Scribner) must navigate the pull of shady developer Whip (Huss), who partners with Saudi investors on a thirsty alfalfa growing venture, threatening the community’s dwindling water supply. Le Gros will play a water cop with ties to the town’s dark past.

“ALFALFA highlights the looming threat of water scarcity in a humanist thriller with promise to be the Chinatown of the New West,” Fessenden said. “I could not be more excited to be working with a cast of actors I’ve admired for years to deliver a bold ensemble film about the environmental issue of our century.”

Marking Fessenden’s third feature as writer-director, on the heels of war drama Foxhole and crime thriller Stray Bullets — both starring Le Gros — Alfalfa will be produced by Javier Gonzalez and Lu Robinson, and executive produced by Franklin P. Laviola and Dan Reardon. Bess Fifer handled casting.

Butz is repped by IAG and Untitled Entertainment; Huss by IAG and Artists First; Kull by Innovative Artists and Principal Entertainment LA; Scribner by CAA, Artists First, and Nina Shaw and Gordon Bobb of Del Shaw Moonves; Abdi by SMS Talent and Haven Entertainment; and Le Gros by Innovative Artists and Industry Entertainment.

Read at Deadline