The Specialist

April 1, 2001

Hearts of Darkness:

A Filmmakers Apocalypse, March 4, 2001

For All Mankind

February 4, 2001

The New York Documentary Center, in partnership with The New York Times is pleased to announce a new screening series of classic documentaries. The "TimesTalk" series continues Sunday, April 1st, with a rare, 35mm print of this extraordinary film.

Eyal Sivan's THE SPECIALIST (1999), a riveting distillation of courtroom footage photographed in 1961 by New York filmmaker Leo T. Hurwitz at the Jerusalem trial of impassive Nazi "Final Solution" chief Adolf Eichmann, on trial for the death of 6 million Jews, who infamously remarked at the time, "To sum it all up, I must say that I regret nothing." Ralph Blumenthal of The N.Y. Times will moderate a discussion with guest panelists: Peter Malkin, the agent who apprehended Eichmann; David Marwell, director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage; and Eli Rosenbaum, director of the Office of Special Investigations of The U.S. Department of Justice. A meet-the-Panelists reception will follow.

National Board of Review, Best Documentary 1991

The New York Documentary Center, in partnership with The New York Times is pleased to continue their "TimesTalk" screening series of classic documentaries with a rare 35mm print of this extraordinary glimpse into the filmmaking madness of Francis Ford Coppola, who battles man, nature and himself in an epic struggle to realize his beleaguered masterpiece, "Apocalypse Now". "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse" is based on 16mm footage shot on location in the Philippines by the ultimate insider, Coppola's wife Eleanor. New York Times film reviewer Stephen Holden will interview directors Eleanor Coppola, Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper and producer George Zaloom. A meet-the-filmmakers reception will follow.

The New York Documentary Center, in partnership with The New York Times is pleased to announce the launch of a new monthly screening series of classic documentaries.

The Classic Documentary Series blasts off Sunday, February 4th, with a rare, not-to-be-missed 35mm print of the cult space film FOR ALL MANKIND (1989), a Sundance Grand Jury Award and Audience Award winner and Oscar nominee for Best Documentary.

To recreate the actual human experience of touching another planet, FOR ALL MANKIND famously culled the best of millions of feet of film from NASA's nine lunar flights ("the most expensive location shooting ever") and added astronaut voice-overs in their own words. A haunting original score by Brian Eno, released as the CD "Apollo," has since become a classic and was recently reprised by Stephen Soderbergh in the final scene of TRAFFIC.

In a dedicated article (May 1988), Premier put it this way: "FOR ALL MANKIND lacks only a distributor. It lacks nothing in drama or visuals. We're talking intercosmic colossus here, evolutionary axis mundi, infinite stupenditude unto the Over-soul, unceasing light-years of backdrop, a vast wasteland to dwarf even Dynasty--take any adjective from the Biblical epics of the late 50's and triple it. We're talking a time when America really knew how to blow holes in the ozone layer. If Tom Wolfe convinced you that going to the moon was an adventure, Al Reinert will convince you that going to the moon was art."

The New York Documentary Center is proud to announce as special guests director Al Reinert (also screenwriter of Ron Howard's APOLLO 13) and legendary NASA flight controller Gene Kranz (played by Ed Harris in APOLLO 13). Both will be interviewed on stage after the screening by noted New York Times Science Correspondent John Noble Wilford. A reception will follow.