Midnight Cowboy Screening: Free (for the first 100 Members)

A breakthrough film in bloated Old Hollywood becoming the vibrant New Hollywood, Midnight Cowboy is the story of two outcasts — a naive young hustler (Dustin Hoffman) and an ailing conman (Jon Voight)— who form a friendship in the squalid streets of ’60s New York City. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, the film was a catalyst for using cinema as a way to shed light on the turbulent reality of its time. It was the product of a rich collaboration between newly arrived British filmmaker John Schlesinger and his collaborators, chiefly Polish cinematographer Adam Holender who, using grainy film and fisheye lenses, succeeded in capturing the spirit of the city as a dirty, seductive wonderland. Holender, now 87, is credited with changing the whole look of American film, and he will be appearing in person to present his first film.

(dir. John Schlesinger, U.S., 1969, 113 min.)

“To watch Midnight Cowboy is to find one of the great rewards of the movies, two of the finest performances ever seen, and a city made new every time you watch it.” Film Threat

Adam Holender is a Polish cinematographer, best known for his work on Midnight Cowboy. He was born in 1937 in Kraków, Poland, the son of a judge. In 1939, he and his family were deported to a Siberian labor camp, and not allowed to return to Kraków until 1947. Holender studied architecture before enrolling at The Lodz Film Schoolwhere he graduated in 1964. Midnight Cowboy was Holender's first cinematography assignment: he was recommended to director John Schlesinger by Holender's childhood friend, filmmaker Roman Polanski. His other films include: The Panic in Needle Park, Smoke, Blue in the Face, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, and Apollo 11. Longer version