An Evening with Shannon Plumb

Monday, April 5, 2010

Monday, April 5 at 8:00  / Click here for tickets!

“A terrific comic performer… Ms. Plumb is hilarious. Comparing her to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton might sound like a stretch, but it’s not.” – Ken Johnson, New York Times

Shannon Plumb, whose series THE PARK is currently showing in IFC Center’s “Short Attention Span Cinema” program, presents a sampling of her films from the last 9 years and discusses her work on Monday, April 5 at 8:00.

Shannon Plumb was born in Schenectady, New York, and lives and works in Brooklyn. Shehas been making films since 2000 and is represented in New York by Sara Meltzer Gallery and has had solo exhibitions and been featured in group shows at galleries, museums and institutions throughout the US and Europe. Her films have been shown at film festivals around the world, including Locarno, Berlin, London, the New York Video Festival and others, and have been showcased at the Anthology Film Archives.

One of several of her film cycles that recall the heyday of silent serials, Shannon Plumb’s  THE PARK is currently in its theatrical premiere at IFC Center, screening before the theater’s regular features through May 13. A series of short films set in Madison Square Park, THE PARK captures the comedy and drama of New Yorkers whose cramped dwellings and busy schedules make their private lives spill over into public spaces–in this case, Madison Square Park, shown over the course of a year. From the inescapable cell phone calls of others to the plight of the urban dog and its walker, from a groundskeeper battling both nature and technology to a hapless production assistant of a nearby movie set, Plumb’s characters (all played, in her signature style, by the filmmaker herself) are instantly recognizable. Working from footage originally shot on location in Madison Square Park on Super 8 and green-screening in her own silent-film and vaudeville-inspired performances, Plumb offers a playful yet piercing mirror onto ourselves, our actions, and our city. THE PARK first premiered as the inaugural installation of the 2009 season of Mad. Sq. Art, the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s gallery without walls.

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.