• Maysles Cinema

  343 Lenox Ave., nr. 127th St.; 212-582-6050

  It won’t be putting Film Forum out of business, but the tiny, extremely low-budget Maysles Cinema at least has the pedigree of an art-film palace. The year-old Harlem screening room is the brainchild of acclaimed doc-maker Albert Maysles, who, with his late brother David directed Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens, among other masterworks of the genre. What it lacks in stadium seating and surround sound, it makes up in sheer character—there’s just 60 folding chairs with cushions set on a Persian rug—and inventive programming. For a $7 suggested donation per screening, you can catch rarely seen documentaries (including the ones in this month’s “Tibet in Harlem” festival), often followed by discussions and/or appearances by the filmmakers.

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From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine