The 78 Project Movie Premieres In NYC August 5th

THE 78 PROJECT MOVIE ANNOUNCES NEW YORK PREMIERE AS PART OF THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER SOUND + VISION SERIES

THE 78 PROJECT CREATORS WILL CELEBRATE HOMETOWN PREMIERE BY CUTTING A RECORD LIVE AT THE AUGUST 5TH SCREENING

The 78 Project is honored and thrilled to announce that their feature length documentary film, The 78 Project Movie, will have its New York City premiere on August 5th at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater as part of its Sound + Vision series.

This is an exciting homecoming for The 78 Project Movie, on the heels of the film’s critically-acclaimed world premiere at SXSW Film Festival in March and successful screenings at Nashville Film Festival and Independent Film Festival Boston.

The 78 Project Movie contains never-before-seen musical performances and interviews shot in a year-long road trip across America, during which director Alex Steyermark and recordist Lavinia Jones Wright traveled to visit musicians and historians in their hometowns. Says Steyermark, “After we’d done The 78 Project web series for about a year, we felt the need to make a feature-length film which would explore some of the context for our fascination with the early field recordings and also show the musical connections of folks from all kinds of musical genres and from seemingly disparate cultural backgrounds.”

As an independently self-produced documentary, The 78 Project Movie was an ambitious undertaking. For a majority of the shoot, Steyermark and Jones Wright were just a two-person crew, operating cameras, sound and the Presto recorder themselves. This also afforded them the flexibility to do unplanned recordings with musicians they met along the way. The result is a documentary with strong vision and spontaneity; it is broad in scope, and, at its core, intimate and emotional.

For Steyermark and Jones Wright, the ability to make the film organically and independently was key. Says Jones Wright, “We were constantly amazed by the openness with which we were received by the artists, and by the support we received from friends and strangers along the way. A lot of generous folks made us meals and let us crash on their floors. We’re also extremely grateful to everyone who backed our Kickstarter campaign, which made the film possible in the first place.”

The 78 Project Movie is a culmination of all of the pieces of Steyermark’s accomplished and varied career, including the three narrative features he has directed (Prey for Rock & Roll, One Last Thing…, Losers Take All), the countless films on which he acted as music supervisor and music producer (Malcolm X, Crooklyn, The Ice Storm), and his early work as a documentary editor.

To celebrate this momentous hometown screening at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Steyermark and Jones Wright will be on hand with their Presto and cameras and a special guest musician at Lincoln Center to demonstrate the exciting process of cutting a 78rpm record live. Directly after the recording, The 78 Project creators will play back the record for all to hear, and then give a Q&A about their process and experiences on the road when they traveled across America to shoot The 78 Project Movie.

This will be the second edition of The Film Society of Lincoln Center Sound + Vision series, the annual documentary series that explores a diverse range of music, artists, genres and styles from all over the world. Tickets and a discount package for Sound + Vision will go on sale Thursday, July 10.