As a precautionary measure in light of COVID-19, the Gallery has canceled this event. We hope to welcome you to the Gallery soon and thank you for your support.
A ciné-essay with unique depictions of New York’s outer-borough neighborhoods, The Hottest August was filmed during repeat visits to numerous denizens and their families over the course of one month, August 2017. That August was a scorcher, heavy with tension — there were rising anxieties over everything from escalating rents to marching white nationalists to incessant news stories about wildfires and hurricanes on America’s coasts. The film’s focus pivots on the question of Earth’s future: namely, where do we go from here? Offering a mirror onto a society seemingly on the verge of devastation, The Hottest August “is resplendent when it comes to showing people of all walks of life co-existing in the same place and offering hope in demonstrating how our ability to think differently from one another can be seen as a unifying force.” — Stephen Saito (Brett Story, 2019, 94 minutes)