The Dryden will screen The Cool World (Shirley Clarke, U.S. 1963, 105 min., 35mm).

Based on the novel by Warren Miller, Shirley Clarke's film follows teenager Duke (Hampton Clanton) as he moves through the precarious gang world of 1960s Harlem in search of a gun. One of the first features shot on location in Harlem, Clarke's film features improvisational performances by mostly nonprofessional actors, handheld 35mm cinematography (it was the first feature film to do so), and a coolly minimal soundtrack by Mal Waldron and Dizzy Gillespie. In these ways, it serves as a powerful document of the combustible and lively atmosphere of Uptown Manhattan in the period leading up to the Black Power movement. Clarke herself was associated with the New American Cinema Group founded in 1960, whose membership roster included names such as Jonas Mekas, Peter Bogdanovich, Lionel Rogosin, Emile de Antonio, and Robert Frank. Now considered one of the giants of American independent cinema, Clarke and her films were largely overlooked until recently. Preserved by the Library of Congress.

[source: George Eastman Museum website, 2016-May-30]