Mutual Appreciation

Alan (Rice) arrives in Brooklyn seeking a drummer for his band, the Bumblebees. A DJ named Sara (Lee) takes a shine to him. He seems more taken with Ellie (Clift), his friend Laurence’s girlfriend. A plot synopsis is probably not going to do Mutual Appreciation much justice. This film is absolutely full of scenes where people hang out in rooms and chat about nothing in particular, and it’s one of the most exciting independent (properly independent) movies to come out of north America in a long time. Why? Hard to say. It’s funny, smartly observed and beautifully shot, on crackly black-and-white 16mm. Writer/director/editor/supporting actor Bujalski is making films about the people he knows, but in such a truthful way that they may become cult viewing for anyone who has ever faced a ‘quarter-life crisis’.

www.mutualappreciation.com

Showing with: Park (dir: Andy Pearson, 4 mins) Hot bum-sniffing action.