Long
Island Premiere!
HAPPER’S COMET
Thursday,
June 29 at 7:30pm
In Person: Long Island Filmmaker Tyler Taormina
Members
$10 / Public $15
Following
his acclaimed debut Ham on Rye, Tyler Taormina’s hypnotic
follow-up is a midnight mosaic that reveals a Long Island town steeped in
alienation. It’s the middle of the night, but things are far from quiet; as the
camera peers into the late-night happenings of various residents, we witness a
number of them quietly escape into the dark... on rollerblades. Drawing on
1960’s European art cinema and 1990’s kid’s TV in equal measure, Happer's
Comet presents striking individual vignettes that unfurl like a
collective dream. Mesmerizing and meditative, the film solidifies Taormina’s
gift for transforming everyday moments into uncanny cinema. Filmed on the
weekends across four months during 2020, Taormina cast his own Long Island
family and neighbors in the delicate cinematic meditation on late-night life.
(Directed-Writer-Editor: Tyler Taormina / Producers: Calogero
Carucci, The Taorminas, Jordan Rebolini / Cinematographer: Jesse
Sperling / Post Supervisor: Kevin Anton / Cast: Grace Berlino,
Michael Gugliamo, Jax Terry, Brendan Burt, Brandon Cassanova, Brianna Taormina,
Christopher Maggio, Steve Plati, Ryan McGlade and Jenna Scalici / Berlin
International Film Festival, BAFICI, Champs-Élysées Film Festival,
BAMCinemafest
“A shared dream you’ll want to share with others.”
-
David Mouriquand, Exberliner
“Hypnotic. Compelling. Beautifully shot.”
-
Rory O'Connor, The Film Stage
“Daring in concept and form, eschewing anything close to a
traditional narrative but nonetheless maintaining our interest through its
sheer originality, which at times recalls the work of David Lynch.”
-
Jordan Mintzer, The Film Verdict
