Queens, New York. Rainy summer. Wednesday evening. The gray sky promised nothing but another pouring rain.
Regardless, Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens went forward with the screening of the a — part of their summer film series. People who gathered in the park brought food and wine. They had their children and pets with them to complete the experience.
The man introducing the film looked at the grey sky and heroically said: “We’ll try to go on for as long as we can.”
The film was “Tulpan” directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy. It won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
The screening is a part of Outdoor Cinema, series presented by Socrates Sculpture Park and the Museum of Moving Image.
Just before the screening, Shaun Leonardo, Events Manager of the park told me about the mission of the institution, built especially to give upcoming artists a chance to create and exhibit outdoor sculptures.
In the video below, Christopher Wisniewski, Director of education at the Museum of Moving Image, tells us that films for the Outdoor Cinema are selected by David Schwartz, the chief curator of the museum. His goal is to reflect the multinational population of Queens. Since Queens is considered the most diverse neighborhood in New York, these screenings become mirrors of the community rather that a window into the lives of foreigners.
Tulpan is a feature film about life in “the Hunger Steppe” of Kazakhstan. Shot by a documentary filmmaker, it doesn’t have a narrative in its traditional sense — the main event of the film is a birth of a healthy sheep filmed in real time and left almost uncut.
To everyones surprise, the rain never started and the film screening was completed. The baby sheep was born to the audience’s passionate applause.
