Lefty Cred Crisis At IFC Center
Indie film vs. union label.
What’s a good left-leaning indie-film consumer to do? Last Tuesday, moviegoers at the Village’s new IFC Center were greeted by union activists picketing the fact that, unlike the Sunshine or the Angelika or pretty much any other cinema in the city, the IFC isn’t using union projectionists. “I’m in kind of a predicament,” admitted a book editor in the ticket line. “I’d go to Film Forum, but I heard the Herzog movie wasn’t that good.” “This is bullshit,” said a bearded hipster. “They should get fucking professionals.” Then he bought a ticket, adding, protests “will not prevent me from going to the only theater that’s showing Miranda July’s new film.” A filmmaker with a ticket to July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know agreed, saying the IFC should be forgiven because in the low-budget indie world, an art house might need cheaper, nonunion help. Except that IFC is owned by Cablevision. “That doesn’t make sense,” she said
—S.L.