FRINGE LIFE: SEAN BAKER

For many newcomers to the world of Sean Baker, it was love at first sight seeing Sin-Dee through the lens of an iPhone, or the (un)happiest place on earth through the eyes of a six-year old named Moonee. Yet the fiercely independent filmmaker, and newly-minted Palme d’Or winner, has been crafting singular, transgressive character studies of life in the margins and disrupting the typical fare that glows across multiplex marquees for over twenty years now. And we’re all the better for it.

SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER

Tickets

$14 | $9 for PFS Members

Ticket Bundle

$40 | $32 for PFS Members

Purchase Ticket Bundle
Become a Member
FOUR LETTER WORDS
As a summer party in 2000 turns hazy and the beer runs dry, Sean Baker, in his debut film, explores the inner workings of America’s most dangerous minds: the post-college suburban white male.
Director: SEAN BAKER
Runtime: 82 min
Fri, Sep 27 | 4PM & 6:30PM /// Mon, Sep 30 | 4PM & 7PM
Genre
Comedy
Category
Curated
Formats
DCP
Release
2000
TAKE OUT
Sean Baker, with co-director Shih-Ching Tsou, creates an immersive, cinéma vérité experience that follows an undocumented Chinese delivery man, Ming Ding, as he traverses the chaotic streets of New York City biking for survival and delivery tips.
Director: SEAN BAKER, SHIH-CHING TSOU
Runtime: 88 min
Fri, Sep 27 | 8:30PM /// Sat, Sep 28 | 1PM /// Tue, Oct 1 | 4PM & 7PM
Genre
DRAMA
Category
Curated
Formats
DCP
Release
2004
PRINCE OF BROADWAY
Amidst the hustle of the New York Flatiron district, Ghanaian immigrant, Lucky, successfully peddles knockoff brands. When Lucky’s child makes a surprise appearance in his life, he must balance work with taking care of his little Prince in Baker’s stirring slice of life portrait.
Director: SEAN BAKER
Runtime: 100 min
Sat, Sep 28 | 3:30PM /// Sun, Sep 29 | 4PM /// Wed, Oct 2 | 4PM & 7PM
Genre
DRAMA
Category
Curated
Formats
DCP
Release
2008
STARLET
After finding a stash of money hidden in junk from an old woman’s yard sale, twentysomething Jade attempts to befriend the crotchety purveyor with surprising results in Baker’s sweet study of a very unique intergenerational friendship.
Director: SEAN BAKER
Runtime: 103 min
Sat, Sep 28 | 6PM /// Sun, Sep 29 | 1PM & 6:30PM /// Thu, Oct 3 | 4PM & 7PM
Genre
DRAMA
Category
Curated
Formats
DCP
Release
2013
TANGERINE
Fresh out of a short prison stint on Christmas Eve, transgender sex worker Sin-dee hits the streets with her BFF, Alexandra, by her side to find Sin-dee’s allegedly cheating boyfriend Chester in this wild, groundbreaking yuletide odyssey.
Director: SEAN BAKER
Runtime: 88 min
Theater: Film Society Center
Sat, Oct 5 | 8PM | 35MM SCREENING
Genre
Comedy
Category
Curated
Formats
35MM
Release
2015
THE FLORIDA PROJECT
It’s hard to upstage the great Willem Dafoe, but a bunch of pipsqueaks, led by the phenomenal Brooklyn Prince, living at a motel in Kissimmee, Florida do just that in Sean Baker’s poignant coming-of-age film about surviving in the shadows of the happiest place on earth.
Director: SEAN BAKER
Runtime: 111 min
Theater: Film Society Center
Sun, Oct 6 | 6PM | 35MM SCREENING
Genre
DRAMA
Category
Curated
Formats
35MM
Release
2017
RED ROCKET
Retired porn star Mikey Davies (Simon Rex) unceremoniously returns to his hometown of rural Texas with little fanfare and proceeds to burn every single bridge from his past in Sean Baker’s outrageously dark comedy about a middle-aged has-been seeking validation and finding it in the eyes of a 17 year-old girl.
Director: SEAN BAKER
Runtime: 130 min
Theater: Film Society Center
Thu, Oct 10 | 7:30PM | 35MM SCREENING
Genre
Comedy
Category
Curated
Formats
35MM
Release
2021