04/06/2026
'NO PICNIC'
OPENS APRIL 17 AT FILM FORUM
Written & Directed by Philip Hartman
A Film Desk Release
Philip Hartmanโs priceless artifact of New Yorkโs pre-gentrification East Village follows down-and-out jukebox operator Macabee Cohn, played with deadpan melancholy by David Brisbin, who wanders the cheap tenements, dive bars, and derelict streets of the East Village in search of a mysterious woman in a striped dress. NO PICNIC premiered at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival, where Peter Hutton won the Best Cinematography prize for his gorgeously evocative black-and-white imagery, working with producer Doris Kornish, Emmy Awardโwinning director Mike Spiller as assistant cameraman, animator Lewis Klahr as boom operator, Christine Vachon as assistant sound editor, with assistance from, among other notables, Jacob Burckhardt and Jeff Preiss. Scored by Ned Sublette, the soundtrack features The Ra**ch Hands, Fela Kuti, Charles Mingus and Student Teachers.
Trailer by Standish Adair