NEW YORK PAUSE was created during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as live event spaces and movies theaters were shuttered due to the global lockdowns. With NYP there’s only one simple mission: to bring independent cinema back into movie theaters in the greatest city in the world. We love streaming content at home but nothing compares to the communal experience of watching cinema in an actual movie theater in New York City.
Join us for the inaugural edition on Tuesday, November 9th of New York Pause as we celebrate independent new works LIVE IN A MOVIE THEATER and give away $1000 CASH PRIZE!
BLOCK 1 | 615pm
Miracle on Central Park West – directed by Candy Kugel
A random act of kindness leads to a real New York miracle!
Pause – directed by Marcelo Ignacio Lagreze
The city was quiet and hauntingly beautiful. Peace flooded on the places that before, had noisy crowds. We were experiencing the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the environment on the subway, was not different. A place that used to be flooded with people, became into an empty place that invited us to a parenthesis, a PAUSE to think and reflect…
While You Were Gone – directed by Jennifer Weber
Produced by the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, CT, While You Were Gone was conceived as a love letter to all the theaters around the world that were shuttered during the COVID pandemic.
Such a Shitty Time – directed by Avra Fox-Lerner
A man and woman spend a few hours together in her apartment. After an allotted amount of time elapses, we learn the man has been hired to spend time with the woman on an hourly basis. Not quite ready to say goodbye, she invites him to come with her t the roof, and he accepts, allowing themselves both a moment of real connection and emotion.
Crazy Hat Fridays – directed by Lorenzo Benitez
As the world locks down for an unprecedented pandemic, Frank retreats into total isolation, refusing to leave his apartment. Still employed, his job as a journalist finds him pitching content to his team each day. Frank’s boss suggests that for as long as quarantine lasts, they end each week with “Crazy Hat Friday,” which Frank embraces.
A Year of Sundays – directed by Dameme Jeremie
Exploring our relationship to the creative process at a time when the days seem to stretch on forever, and inspiration and joy seem all too scarce, A Year of Sundays follows Juliet Doherty as she strives to fill the moments.
When Snow Falls – directed by Anthony Morigerato
The best things happen while you are dancing! The holidays celebrated through music and dance!
The Party – directed by Donny Grahamer
An artist throws a party to exhibit what’s been keeping them occupied through a global pandemic. The work is well received and the guests happy, but not everything is at it seems.
Behind the Wall – directed by Tanya Gambourg
Greg’s life is governed by his daily habits. The day begins very typically until he hears the neighbor’s voice behind the wall. Seized with sudden agitation, he realizes what he needs to do to solve the problem.
Crossing Acheron – directed by Benjamin Reeves
A woman grapples with the existential implications of a new AI technology, her mother’s death, and the blurring boundaries between the physical and digital, life and death.
Welcome to Forever – directed by John Gray
The brilliant designer of smart houses leaves a posthumous surprise for his widow.
Tasteless – directed by Amnon Carmi
It’s a tense night in the kitchen of Tastebud, a critically acclaimed restaurant in Tel-Aviv. The sous chef, Daniel, waits for Louisa, a young executive chef of the restaurant, who is freshly out of COVID-19 quarantine, and realizes that her sense of taste is gone.
This Is What I Look Like Naked – directed by Ethan David
A karaoke DJ at a dive bar in Brooklyn discovers her childhood best friend-turned famous pop star has adapted an old inside joke of theirs into a mega-hit song titled ‘This Is What I Look Like Naked.’
BLOCK 2 | 8:30pm
Let’s Kill Karen – directed by Courtney J. Camerota
Clarissa is a fearless millennial who uncovers the origin of a terrorist-like group of entitled women, commonly known as “Karens.” She enlists the help of her flamboyant brother, Blake, to stop their rapid expansion… by any means necessary.
They’re the Reason – directed by Lila Rae Katz
The healing power of human-canine connection in combatting anxiety and isolation for people of all ages, through the lens of mounting mental health crisis in teens, overcoming learning disabilities and isolation during COVID.
Hear, Eat, Home: Kinan’s Vision – directed by Hsuan Yu Pan
New York-based Syrian clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh shares his ideas about home and identity.
Como Se Dice – directed by GB Shannon
Two employees at an all-night diner, each struggling with their own desperate situation, form an unexpected bond while attempting to help one another out of their hapless circumstances.
Troubled Times – directed by Jared Crowelle
Based on True Events-Set in 1982, a 17 year old Irish Catholic kid inadvertently meets a visiting English Protestant girl on a day that will change their lives forever.
The Short of It Is – directed by Allison Landi
Nora gets an unusual birthday gift when her parents divulge her Nana’s infidelity.
Metros – directed by Jarred Harper, Sarang Sharma
BFFs Leo, Q, and Jai move to New York City to add their own spice to the cultural melting pot. They are quickly shaped and confronted by the creatures who inhabit the concrete jungle through the lens of the metrosexual millennial!
RECuerdo – directed by Alfonso M. Rodriguez
Hit with the realization that things are spiraling out of his control, a widowed father rushes to keep his memories alive.
(The Making Of) Please Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man – directed by Steve Nerangis
Inspired by the unsuccessful experimental Broadway shows of the 1970s, singer-songwriter- comedian Julian Velard has written a musical about his own life. A born Manhattanite living in Queens with a wife and child, Velard has quit the music business for the stable world of musical theater. Joined by his co-writer and fellow dad Mark from the Park, Velard presents his disasterpiece in an attempt to face middle age with his dreams still on his shoulders and the realities of life around his neck.
Signal Problems – directed by Adam Volerich
Just under 2 million civilians ride the New York City Subway every year. What if the masterminds controlling this underground system were voice over actors? Signal Problems, a 2 minute comedy starring Joel Garland (Orange is The New Black) and Molly Leland (Ozark), explores the dystopian world in which the New York City MTA is unreliable.