DocuMemories #2: I Like Killing Flies - True/False Film Fest DocuMemories #2: I Like Killing Flies - True/False Film Fest

July 17, 2012

DocuMemories #2: I Like Killing Flies

The tenth edition of the True/False Film Fest is less than eight months away. In the interim we’re inviting you to DocuMemories, a retrospective spotlighting some of the greatest films to ever grace our screens. The series takes place on the final Monday of every month at our sister theater, Ragtag Cinema.  Next up July 30th is I Like Killing Flies (T/F 2005), director Matt Mahurin’s peek into kitchen and mind of Greenwitch Village restaurateur Kenny Shopsin.

Before directing feature films, Matt Mahurin was celebrated as both a photo essayist and a prolific director of music videos (you can see a full list of his credits on his Wikipedia page). Here’s an example of his work, his classic 1991 video for Metallica’s The Unforgiven.

Kenny Shopsin has operated Shopsin’s, a cluttered thirty four seat New York cafe, for over thirty years. The restaurant is famous for its 900 plus item menu, featuring Macaroni and Cheese Pancakes and hundreds more of Kenny’s original creations. Equally famous (or infamous) is Shopsin himself, notoriously foul mouthed and gruff, routinely ejecting potential customers for violating a strict set of rules. For example, no parties of five or more are accepted (pretending to be a party of two and a party of three is not a good idea). I Like Killing Flies was filmed in the wake of Calvin Trillin’s 2002 New Yorker profile of Shopsin (Trillin himself appears in the film). Both the article and the documentary reveal Kenny Shopsin as someone uniquely admirable, a man constantly striving for authenticity and given to profound bursts of existential wisdom.

Tickets for DocuMemories are priced as follows:

$8.50 for the general public.

$5 for Ragtag members and all T/F volunteers; if you’ve ever volunteered for T/F 2003-2012, dig out your volunteer pass and present it at the box office to receive the member discounted admission price of $5 for all films in the series (you must present your pass, sorry but there are thousands of you out there and we need some way to recognize your contribution to receive the discount).

FREE for current Guffman members, T/F 2012-2013 Core Staff, and T/F 2013 Super Circle Passholders.

We hope to see you there!