Peter Hujar's Day

Director: Ira Sachs
Screenwriters: Ira Sachs

Institute History

  • 2025 Sundance Film Festival

Description

A recently discovered conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and his friend Linda Rosenkrantz in 1974 reveals a glimpse into New York City’s downtown art scene and the personal struggles and epiphanies that define an artist’s life.


In Peter Hujar’s Bloomsday-esque narration of one day in his life, quotidian details like the price of a sandwich mingle with cameos by the likes of Allen Ginsberg. As trivialities and incidents accumulate, softly spoken is the voice of an artist wishing to be truly seen amid his existential fear it won’t happen. In recreating the recounting of Peter’s day to author Linda Rosenkrantz in her 94th Street apartment in New York City in 1974, director Ira Sachs playfully creates a wholly new work of contemporary cinema. With a consciously self-aware style and actors Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall reenacting the encounter with fidelity and elegance, Peter Hujar’s Day is an evocative experience rooted in a particular time and place, but it is also eternal in its recognition of the unstoppable flow of time.—Sudeep Sharma


Available in person only.



Screenings include closed and open captions.

Screening Details

Credits

As you use our Online Archives, please understand that the information presented from Festivals, Labs, and other activities is taken directly from official publications from each year. While this information is limited and doesn't necessarily represent the full list of participants (e.g. actors and crew), it is the list given to us by the main film/play/project contact at the time, based on the space restrictions of our publications. Each entry in the Online Archives is meant as a historical record of a particular film, play, or project at the time of its involvement with Sundance Institute. For this reason, we can only amend an entry if a name is misspelled, or if the entry does not correctly reflect the original publication. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected]