Before the film, we walked the audience through the roles Keaton played in the years around Annie Hall — The Godfather, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Interiors, Reds — to show the range that makes her Annie Hall performance land the way it does.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar came out the same year as Annie Hall and is basically a darker, female Saturday Night Fever.

Interiors is Woody Allen’s quietest film, deeply influenced by Bergman, where the ripping of tape sounds like the explosion of the Death Star.

Reds — my favorite Keaton performance, full stop — is one of the great American films of the latter half of the twentieth century.

Keaton’s work is critical given the context of her contemporaries: Faye Dunaway in Network, Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence. Actresses who broke from the theatrical style of the generation before them and brought a naturalism that changed what women were allowed to do on screen.

Aleksy Fradlis and Victoria Brodsky — returning for their third CFS performance — followed with a set of jazz standards from the era. Then we screened the film. Nearly fifty years old, full house, and the whole room was laughing.

Watching Annie Hall on the big screen with sixty-some people, nearly fifty years after it was made — it still works.

La-di-da.

I don’t know why that was the one. Not Annie Hall, not Manhattan, not any of her more “serious” roles. I think it’s because I needed to see her happy. Laughing on a beach. Being adored by Jack Nicholson in a way that felt — for once in a Jack Nicholson movie — completely earned.

She really was a woman to love.

Over the next week I went through a fair amount of her filmography.

Love and Death (1975), where she’s spouting pseudo-philosophy peppered with vaudevillian punchlines and you realize nobody else in Woody’s orbit could land both at the same time. First Wives Club (1996), where she plays the straight woman against Bette Midler and somehow holds the center. Manhattan (1979), which I’ve seen a dozen times and I’m still not sure it’s possible to make a comedy that good anymore.

Then Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Interiors. The Godfather films. Reds. All of it.

When I got to the end of that week, the film I kept coming back to was Annie Hall.

Not because it’s her best performance — I’m not sure it is — but because it’s the one where everything she could do came together in a single role that changed American cinema.

That’s why we’re screening it on March 29th.

To understand why Annie Hall matters, you have to understand what Keaton was doing in the years around it. As one of the premier actresses of her generation, she was moving between worlds while defining the era of “New Hollywood”.

She was 26 when she played Kay Adams in The Godfather (1972). Acting opposite Brando and Pacino and Duvall and Caan — and she was the one you couldn’t stop watching.

Not because she commanded the room, but because she was listening. Kay believes Michael when he says That’s my family, Kay. It’s not me. We all did. Then Part II (1974) makes you pay for believing him.

That scene where Kay tells Michael what she did — what she did to survive him — Keaton plays it completely still and absolutely intense.

The same year as Annie Hall — 1977 — she made Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Richard Brooks adapted it from Judith Rossner’s novel about a schoolteacher who cruises singles bars, and it’s a very difficult watch.

Keaton plays Theresa Dunn as someone who wants liberation but has no framework for it — a woman caught between the Catholicism she was raised on and a sexual revolution that promised freedom but delivered something uglier. A tour de force by Keaton, who (thankfully?) never went this dark again.

Annie Hall in the spring, Goodbar in the fall, same actress, two completely different women.

Then in 1978, Woody made Interiors — his quietest film, where the ripping of tape or the smashing of candle glass hit you like an artillery shell. Three sisters dealing with their mother’s collapse and their father’s remarriage — Keaton plays Renata, the eldest, the one holding everything together while falling apart inside. The performances are so over the top amazing that what could be a very boring film becomes something you can’t look away from.

And then Reds (1981). Warren Beatty’s three-and-a-half-hour epic about John Reed and Louise Bryant — and Keaton holds the entire thing together. She plays Bryant as someone who fights for her own identity against a man whose cause keeps swallowing her whole. There’s a scene where Nicholson, playing Eugene O’Neill, tells her what she already knows about Reed going back to Russia. It really says it all. She won the Oscar for Annie Hall, but Reds might be the performance that proves her range was bigger than any single director deserved.

We tell the story of the New Hollywood as a story about directors — Coppola, Scorsese, Altman, Allen — and then about actors — Pacino, De Niro, Nicholson. But Keaton, alongside Dunaway, Burstyn, Rowlands, Clayburgh — they forced the revolution to take women seriously. Dunaway was the face of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Chinatown (1974) and Network (1976). Burstyn won the Oscar for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974). Rowlands did things for Cassavetes that no other actress could have survived. Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman (1978) basically invented the post-divorce movie.

But Diane Keaton was the one who landed hardest inside the culture.

Because Annie Hall wasn’t an art film or a thriller or a family epic. It was a romantic comedy — and she played a woman who stammers, who second-guesses herself. Annie isn’t performing confidence. She sings “Seems Like Old Times” in a nightclub and her voice is small and slightly off and completely beautiful. She goes to therapy. She grows. And then she leaves.

Keaton took a part that could have been the girlfriend and made her the whole film.

She kept working for another forty-five years after that.

Baby Boom (1987), The Good Mother (1988), Marvin’s Room(1996), Something’s Gotta Give, The Family Stone (2005) — comedies and dramas, leads and ensembles, Nancy Meyers and Woody Allen and everything in between. She directed. She produced.

She made the roles she wanted when Hollywood stopped writing them for women her age.

Diane Keaton defined vulnerability and independence for a generation of moviegoers. We’re honored to celebrate her legacy with a screening of her most iconic role.

On Sunday, March 29th at 1:00 PM, the Cognitive Film Society returns to the Gold Theater at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library to screen Annie Hall — and to celebrate the actress who made it possible. All of it on the big screen where it belongs.

The Afternoon

• 1:00 PM — Program begins

• 1:05 – 1:15 PM — Diane Keaton tribute

• 1:15 – 1:25 PM — Musical performance by Aleksy Fradlis and Victoria Brodsky

• 1:30 – 3:00 PM — Screening of Annie Hall (1977)

• 3:00 – 3:30 PM — Audience Q&A

Aleksy and Victoria return to the Gold Theater after bringing the house down at our Detour and Gilda screenings — this time honoring Annie Hall through its music, the standards that soundtracked Alvy and Annie’s New York.

We may also be joined by our friends from the Malverne Cinema Arts Center, who’ll talk about New Hollywood and share an update on the progress of the arts center. More on that soon.

La-di-da.

The Cognitive Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to cultivating film culture through educational programming and community engagement.

A year ago, Yelena Fradlis, Jeff Hsi and I launched the Cognitive Film Society believing that cinema’s power to bring people together transcends any algorithm. As we prepare for our First Annual Gala, we’re moved by how this belief continues to resonate.

We’ve reached nearly 1,200 Substack subscribers—from local high school students to international film scholars, from our Hewlett-Woodmere neighbors to cinephiles worldwide.

Our Noir-Vember screening of Detour brought our largest crowd yet to the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library’s Gold Theater. High school jazz musicians played standards before the film. Neighbors who’d never seen noir left wanting more.

What’s most exciting isn’t the numbers. It’s what they represent: communities still hunger for cinema that challenges, for performances that matter, for cultural experiences that reward attention rather than merely occupy time.

One year in, our ambitions have grown alongside this tremendous response. And this time of year felt right for our first gala and fundraiser.

December 10: Gilda — Limited Tickets for our First Annual Gala

On Wednesday, December 10th, the Cognitive Film Society presents Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946) at Regal Cinemas Lynbrook— for our first annual gala. This event is a celebration of everything we’ve built together in our first year.

Gilda represents everything we love about classical Hollywood: glamour, moral complexity, sexual tension the Production Code could barely contain, and Rita Hayworth at the absolute peak of her powers. The black satin gown. “Put the Blame on Mame.” Glenn Ford caught in her orbit. All of it on the big screen where it belongs.

Aleksy Fradlis and Victoria Brodsky are returning to open the evening with live jazz. They brought down the house at our Detour screening. This time they’re kicking off our first gala event with glamour and style.

Tickets and Membership

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we rely on community support to bring quality cinema to the Five Towns. Here’s how to join us:

General Admission — $10 Your ticket to the film and the music.

CFS Member — $40 The film, a CFS t-shirt, and free admission to every paid screening in 2026. Plus 20% off the first issue of Cognitive Frames and discounts on future merch.

Founding Circle — $100 Everything above, plus invitations to exclusive pop-up screenings, voting rights on what we screen at those events, and a subscription to Cognitive Frames—our new limited-edition print publication, three issues a year, delivered to your door.

Donation — Pay What You Wish Already have your ticket and want to throw in a little extra? This is the spot.

Seats are limited. Act now to reserve your spot.

Become a CFS Member

Can’t make Gilda? Memberships are open now at the same price points—$40 for CFS Member, $100 for Founding Circle.

All benefits run through 2026. You don’t have to be there December 10th to become a member. You just need to want in.

Contribute to our first annual membership drive here!

All donations are tax deductible.

2026: The Vision

Here’s what we’re building.

More free community screenings in more venues. We’re partnering with Chabad of Hewlett for a series on Jewish life in New York cinema—Crossing Delancey, Hester Street, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Funny Girl—beginning early in 2026.

We’re working with Dr. Andrew Fund, Director of Art and Music, and the Hewlett High School French Department to bring The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) to the newly renovated George W. Hewlett High School auditorium for Valentine’s week.

On Sunday March 1, we return to the Gold Theater to present Annie Hall (1977) at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library. The screening will be a tribute to Diane Keaton, who we lost last fall. Her Oscar-winning performance made vulnerability revolutionary and redefined what a leading lady could be.

We’re coordinating with our friends at to bring a Metropolitan Opera HD screening to the Five Towns this spring—opera on Saturday, community arts celebration on Sunday.

We’re also in early conversations with Bellmore Movies & Showplace—Nassau County’s last single-screen theater—about a late night grindhouse series: Spaghetti Westerns, classic Samurai and Wuxia, terrifying Horror and Giallo. More on that when there’s more to tell.

For members, we’re planning exclusive pop-up screenings in intimate venues. Curated evenings where Founding Circle members vote on what we screen. Collaborations with local and NYC restaurants and film industry professionals, right here in the Five Towns.

And there are opportunities to get involved beyond attending—volunteer at screenings, write reviews for Cognitive Frames, help us build something that didn’t exist a year ago.

Memberships, subscriptions and pledges make all of this possible.

The Bigger Picture

What began as a few friends wanting to watch great films with their neighbors has become something more. We’re thrilled by the growing numbers of people both in the community and online who value shared experience, challenging curation, community conversation, and the irreplaceable feeling of watching cinema together in the dark.

See you at the movies! Get your Gilda tickets here!

—The Cognitive Film Society

What made this screening special wasn’t just the film. It was what came before: live jazz from two extraordinary Hewlett High School seniors, context from filmmaker Alex Rollins Berg, and the kind of intergenerational conversation that proves cinema still works best when experienced together.

Jazz Sets the Mood

Aleksy Fradlis and Victoria Brodsky brought sophistication and maturity far beyond their years to a set of standards from the late 1940s and 50s—the exact era when Detour emerged from Poverty Row. They performed “My Funny Valentine,” “Embraceable You,” and “Time After Time,” transporting the audience directly into the smoky dive bars where Detour‘s protagonist Al Roberts once played piano.

Jazz and noir share DNA: improvisation within constraint, beauty emerging from limitation, desperate hope meeting inevitable doom. Their performance created the perfect atmosphere for Ulmer’s 68-minute nightmare—proof that presentation elevates experience, that taking time to set a mood pays dividends.

While both students will be graduating this year, their performance reminded us why the Cognitive Film Society exists: to create moments where art forms dialogue with each other, where high school musicians and 1945 cinema meet, where community gathers around shared cultural experience.

Alex Rollins Berg on Ulmer’s Journey

Before the film, we screened an introduction from filmmaker and NYU professor Alex Rollins Berg, who runs the essential newsletter Underexposed. Alex traced Edgar G. Ulmer’s remarkable journey from building sets for Metropolis in Weimar Germany to directing masterpieces on Hollywood’s Poverty Row.

Ulmer studied with Max Reinhardt, worked with Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau, understood German Expressionism from the inside. When scandal exiled him from major studios, he brought that European sophistication to America’s cheapest production houses. Detour cost almost nothing—but it’s the only Poverty Row film in the National Film Registry.

That’s because constraints forced innovation. Ulmer understood noir isn’t about expensive sets but about psychology, paranoia, and making audiences question everything they see. Directors from Jean-Luc Godard to Wim Wenders have cited Detour as influential. Wenders called Ann Savage’s performance as Vera “30 years ahead of its time.”

The Film & The Discussion

Who is the protagonist of Detour? Is it Al Roberts, the man telling the story? Or Haskell, whose identity he assumes?

Did Roberts actually kill anyone, or is he lying to himself—and to us?

These questions sparked immediate debate. The film makes everything ambiguous. Reality becomes suspect.

And then there’s Vera. Ann Savage materializes in a stolen car like Roberts’s conscience made flesh—pure hostility wrapped in a cheap coat. Her performance remains shocking 80 years later.

The Q&A revealed what we love most: diverse perspectives colliding. Teenagers seeing noir for the first time debated fate versus free will with longtime film devotees. Some argued Roberts was trapped by circumstance; others insisted he made catastrophic choices.

Everyone agreed Vera was intense, though opinions split on whether she’s villain or survivor.

This was our first screening with student volunteers helping run the program. From greeting audience members to distributing programs to technical setup, these young people demonstrated that building cultural infrastructure requires hands across generations.

Your NoirVember Viewing Guide

Want to continue your noir journey? We’ve curated sixteen essential films—from 1927’s Underworld (the source code) to 1984’s Body Double—on our Letterboxd list.

Many of these are available free at your local library. The Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library has an excellent noir collection, and we encourage you to check them out.

Join Us for GILDA: Our First Annual Gala

December 10th, 6:30 PM
Regal Cinemas Lynbrook

We’re capping 2025 with our First Annual Gala—a celebration of Old Hollywood glamour on the big screen where it belongs.

Rita Hayworth at the peak of her powers in Charles Vidor’s 1946 masterpiece. Pure elegance: stunning gowns, dramatic lighting, and a love triangle dripping with betrayal in post-war Buenos Aires. This is classic Hollywood at its most seductive—George Macready and Glenn Ford caught in Hayworth’s orbit, unable to escape.

Why see Gilda on the big screen?

Because Hayworth’s iconic performance—that black satin gown, “Put the Blame on Mame,” the moment she enters frame and changes everything—demands theatrical presentation. This film made her a legend. Seeing it in a theater, the way 1946 audiences experienced it, is the only way to understand why.

This will be a ticketed event with limited seating. Tickets and full details will be available soon!

Thank You

To the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library for hosting us in the Gold Theater.

To Aleksy Fradlis and Victoria Brodsky for a beautiful performance.

To for essential context.

To our student volunteers for building this community.

To everyone who filled the theater Sunday—our largest crowd yet—proving that people hunger for cinema that challenges and refuses easy answers.

See you December 10th for Gilda.

Ten months ago, Yelena Fradlis, Jeff Hsi and I launched the Cognitive Film Society believing that cinema’s power to bring people together transcends any algorithm. As we prepare for Sunday’s screening of Detour with live jazz, we’re moved by how this belief continues to resonate.

We’ve nearly reached 1,000 Substack subscribers—from local high school students to international film scholars, from our Hewlett-Woodmere neighbors to cinephiles worldwide.

Our Ghost in the Shell screening in August brought together generations who rarely share the same room, let alone the same enthusiasm for philosophical anime about consciousness and identity.

But what’s most exciting isn’t the numbers. It’s what they represent: communities still hunger for cinema that challenges, for performances that matter, for cultural experiences that reward attention rather than merely occupy time.

This Sunday: Detour and the Jazz of Despair

On Sunday, November 2nd at 2:00 PM, we return to the Gold Theater at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library to screen Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour (1945)—68 minutes of perfect noir made with minimal resources but maximum artistry.

Before the film, two talented George W. Hewlett High School seniors—Aleksy Fradlis (saxophone) and Victoria Brodsky (vocals)—will perform era-appropriate jazz standards, transporting us directly into the smoky 1940s clubs where the film’s protagonist Al Roberts once played piano for tips and dreams.

Joining us for a virtual introduction is filmmaker and NYU professor , whose Substack Underexposed champions overlooked films with the same passion that drives our community.

As Alex recently wrote about Detour: “In the annals of noir, Detour is a scrappy outlier—a 68-minute shadow play shot on a shoestring in a matter of days... its shaggy edges and stark fatalism still cast a potent spell.”

This screening launches Noir-Vember—our month-long exploration of cinema’s darkest and most beautiful corner.

Beyond this event, expect deep-dive essays in Cognitive Frames, curated Letterboxd lists, and continued examination of why noir remains cinema’s most essential genre for understanding American dreams and nightmares.

Sunday, November 2 at 2:00 PM

Free admission
Gold Theater, Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library - 1125 Broadway, Hewlett, NY*

*Please note the library’s parking is under construction. Please park next door in municipal lot, and use the front entrance

December 10: Gilda - Our First Annual Gala

Six weeks from now—Tuesday, December 10th—the Cognitive Film Society presents our first annual gala screening: Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946) at Regal Cinemas Lynbrook.

It’s a celebration of everything we’ve built together in our first year—proving that communities want challenging cinema, that physical spaces matter, that gathering to experience art beats infinite streaming options.

Gilda represents everything we love about classical Hollywood: glamour, moral complexity, sexual tension the Production Code could barely contain, and Rita Hayworth at the absolute peak of her powers. “Put the blame on Mame” has never looked—or sounded—better than on a big screen.

This is also a fundraiser. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we rely on community support to bring quality cinema to the Five Towns. Tickets, sponsorship opportunities, and full details coming soon. Mark your calendars now.

Tuesday, December 10 at 6:30pm
Regal Cinemas Lynbrook
321 Merrick Road, Lynbrook, NY

Community Partnerships: Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools + OOMPAH

We’re thrilled to announce that the Cognitive Film Society is partnering with Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools to bring film and opera programming directly to students. We’re in early discussions with the district about presenting screenings at George W. Hewlett High School’s newly renovated auditorium beginning in 2026.

Working alongside Dr. Andrew Fund (the district’s Director of Art and Music) and OOMPAH (the Organization of Music Parents and Alumni at Hewlett-Woodmere), we’re exploring how these screenings would integrate with curriculum—English, French, History departments—while providing students with community service opportunities, publication platforms in Cognitive Frames, and professional mentorship in cultural programming.

Beyond the schools, we’re finding partners across the Five Towns who share our belief that culture builds community.

Community Partnerships: Chabad of Hewlett Presents Jewish Life Through Cinema

We’re also proud to partner with Chabad of Hewlett to present a new series at their beautiful new Center for Jewish Life exploring a century of Jewish experience in New York—from the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side, from immigrant arrival to contemporary life.

Chabad of Hewlett, under the leadership of Rabbi Nochem and Rebbetzin Rivkie Tenenboim, has just opened their stunning new facility and welcomed us to bring Jewish cinema to their community. While rooted in Chabad’s mission of celebrating Jewish culture and tradition, these screenings are open to everyone in the Five Towns and beyond. The series creates space for intergenerational dialogue, community gathering, and discovering how film captures who we are and where we’ve traveled.

The four films—Crossing Delancey, Hester Street, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Funny Girl—trace Jewish New York from 1890s immigrant struggles through Depression-era resilience to Broadway triumph and contemporary romance. Together, they tell the complete story of adaptation, success, and the eternal question of staying connected to roots.

Screenings begin in late fall or early winter pending final logistics, with more details coming soon.

Looking Ahead to Spring

On March 1st at 1:00 PM, we’ll present Annie Hall (1977) at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library in tribute to Diane Keaton, who passed away on October 11th. Her Oscar-winning performance redefined what a leading lady could be—making vulnerability revolutionary, awkwardness beautiful. We’ll celebrate an artist who proved that being authentically yourself matters most of all.

Also this Spring we’re working toward our goal of bringing the Metropolitan Opera to the Five Towns as part of weekend. We’ve secured licensing from the Met to screen recent productions at minimal cost, with free admission for students and community—pending district approval of specific screenings.

The selection is still being finalized, but the idea is clear: opera shouldn’t require Manhattan commutes and expensive tickets. It should be accessible to everyone who wants to experience it.

This partnership builds on the district’s commitment to opera education—chorus students recently attended a dress rehearsal of La Fille du Regiment at the Met—and extends it to the broader community.

The Bigger Picture

What began as three friends wanting to watch great films with their neighbors has become proof that grassroots cultural organizing works. We’re not competing with streaming services—we’re offering what they can’t: shared experience, challenging curation, community conversation, and the irreplaceable feeling of watching cinema together in the dark.

Our partnerships with schools, libraries, OOMPAH, Chabad of Hewlett and the Metropolitan Opera aren’t empire-building. They’re creating sustainable ways for communities to access culture beyond corporate gatekeeping.

Every screening that draws dozens of neighbors proves the point. Every student who writes for Cognitive Frames proves the point. Every partnership that works proves the point.

The argument is simple: Cinema still matters. Community still matters. Bringing them together matters most of all.

See You Sunday!

Four more days until Aleksy and Victoria perform, until helps us understand why Detour haunts us, until 68 minutes of perfect noir reminds us why we gather in dark rooms to share stories.

This is just the beginning of Noir-vember. This is just the beginning of what we’re building together.

Thank you for being part of it.

—The Cognitive Film Society

Before the film begins, the talented jazz duo Aleksy + Victoria will perform music rooted in the smoky 1940s clubs where Detour's protagonist Al Roberts once played piano for tips and dreams.

These seniors at Hewlett High School are old souls, who bring a maturity to era standards. They’ll transports us directly into Roberts' world of dive bars, late nights, and desperate hope that fuel both great jazz and great noir.

Jazz and Detour capture the improvisation and beautiful accidents of American art-making: musicians finding melody in chaos, Ulmer finding cinema in constraint. When Roberts hitchhikes west toward what he hopes will be a better life, he's jazz-walking into a nightmare of mistaken identity, bad decisions, and the kind of existential dread that only 68 minutes of perfect filmmaking can contain.

Noir-Vember Begins

This screening launches Noir-Vember - our month-long dive into cinema's darkest and most beautiful corner. Beyond this kickoff event, expect Cognitive Frames deep-dive essays exploring noir's philosophical depths, curated Letterboxd lists of essential and overlooked titles, potential partnership screenings (we're in active talks with Regal Theaters), pop-up discussions, and online programming that examines why noir remains cinema's most essential genre for understanding American dreams and nightmares

Special Guest: Alex Rollins Berg

Joining us for our post-screening discussion is filmmaker and NYU professor , whose newsletter Underexposed has become essential reading for anyone serious about cinema. As a leading voice in the "Filmstack" movement, he champions overlooked films with the same passion that drives our community's growing enthusiasm for cinema that challenges and rewards.

Alex's recent analysis of Detour captures exactly why this film endures: "In the annals of noir, Detour is a scrappy outlier - a 68-minute shadow play shot on a shoestring in a matter of days." He understands what makes Ulmer's masterpiece so haunting—how its "shaggy edges and stark fatalism still cast a potent spell, even all these years later."

As Alex notes, this is cinema that impressed masters like Wim Wenders, who called Ann Savage's performance "30 years ahead of its time," and Errol Morris, who declared Detour his favorite film for its "unparalleled quality of despair, totally unrelieved by hope." Alex's insights will help us understand why this scrappy B-movie became the only film of its kind selected for the National Film Registry.

Building Our Cinema Community

With highly-engaged, well-attended screenings of Rear Window and Ghost in the Shell, we're proving something important: neighbors want more than algorithm-approved content. They want films that challenge, conversations that matter, and the irreplaceable experience of watching cinema together.

What's most exciting? Watching young people discover these masterpieces for the first time. Seeing teenagers and octogenarians alike gasp at Hitchcock's suspense techniques. Hearing students debate anime philosophy in the library lobby. Witnessing neighbors who've never met bond over a shared love of great storytelling.

Detour represents everything we celebrate—a masterpiece made with minimal resources but maximum vision. This is cinema that rewards attention, that sparks conversations, that proves great art transcends generations.

Essential Details:

• When: Sunday, November 2, 2:00 PM

• Where: Gold Theater, Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library

• Cost: Free admission

• Music: Live jazz opening by talented Hewlett High School students

• Discussion: Alex Rollins Berg of Underexposed

• Runtime: 68 minutes + discussion

What to Expect: Live music, film screening, expert discussion, and the growing community that makes each Cognitive Film Society event special.

The Cognitive Film Society: Building critical infrastructure for cinema that matters, one screening at a time.

Last Thursday, something remarkable happened at the Hewlett-Woodmere Library. Around fifty people—teens, families, lifelong anime fans, and curious newcomers—gathered to watch a 30-year-old animated film about consciousness and identity. In an era when everything streams everywhere all at once, they chose to experience Ghost in the Shell together, in a theater, the way Mamoru Oshii intended.

Even better: they stayed long after the film ended to discuss it with Tes and Jim from LI Comic Shop, turning a night at the movies into an active cultural dialogue.

You can see their insights in the video above—from origin stories to underrated picks.

The Origin Story Nobody Expected

The evening's best moment (captured at the beginning of our video) came when Tes explained how LI Comic Shop began—not with a business plan or market research, but with two guys meeting on the Long Island Railroad, bonding over a Midtown Comics bag

"We noticed, just being regular fans, we were on the outside looking in. It was like, how do we get to that inner level? How do we become more of a part of it?"

That question—how do we move from consumers to participants in culture—is exactly what I think so many on Substack are seeking to answer.

We’re so happy to see a growing enthusiasm in our community — even during the dog days of summer to sit and discuss cinema, with people who have made it happen.

Cable?? Batou??

Jim had never seen Ghost in the Shell before Thursday. His fresh-eyes reaction (which you can hear in the video) illuminated something veteran anime fans might miss: this film's DNA is everywhere in contemporary media. "When she's battling the tank," Jim observed, "I literally just played a Robocop video game where there's a scene where he's fighting ED-209. This is definitely pulled right from that."

But the influence flows both ways. Jim spotted the connection between Batou and Marvel's Cable (who debuted in 1990, five years before the film). Tes agreed immediately: "Very, very Cable inspired." This kind of cross-pollination—comics influencing anime influencing Hollywood—shows how artificial our medium boundaries really are.

Comics often are Community

Perhaps the evening's most insightful observation came when Jim and Tes discussed why comic shops matter in 2025. As they explained in our conversation, the storytelling in independent comics from Image, Dark Horse, and smaller publishers often surpasses what Marvel and DC produce.

Their example? Bug Wars—which they described as "Lord of the Rings meets Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Conan the Barbarian." Try finding that on an algorithm's recommendation list

This connects directly to why Ghost in the Shell still matters. As Tes noted about the film's influence on everything from The Matrix to Johnny Mnemonic: sometimes the most important cultural works are the ones that teach other works how to think.

Building the Inner Circle

The guys from LI Comic Shop are kindred spirits who understand that comics, manga, anime, and cinema exist on the same continuum.

When Tes and Jim started their podcast, did video book clubs, and eventually opened their shop, they were solving their own problem: moving from "outside looking in" to active participants in comics culture.

That journey from corporate jobs to comic shop owners mirrors what many of us are doing—choosing meaning over convenience, community over isolation.

Today - their shop has become as essential to the South Shore as Kim's Video once was for Lower East Side—a laboratory for cross-media discovery.

We're proud to be their partners, and really hope they'll return for future screenings! (Their discussion of favorite and underrated superhero films at the end of the video—from '89 Batman to The Losers—shows exactly the kind of unexpected connections we love.)

What's Next for the Cognitive Film Society

Coming soon!

• September: The launch of our live performance criticism within “Cognitive Frames: In the Room”, starting with the Metropolitan Opera’s premier of an adaptation of ’s“The Adventures of Kavailer and Klay”

• October: The Cognitive Community Twin Peaks Rewatch. Details soon on how you can participate. First time viewers welcome!

• November 2, 2025: We return to the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library for a screening of Detour. The screening will incorporate a live jazz performance from local teen musicians and other surprises for our Noirvember celebration

A little more than six months ago, , Jeff Hsi and I launched the Cognitive Film Society with a simple belief: that cinema's power to bring people together transcends any algorithm. In an era increasingly defined by isolation and digital mediation, we believed that gathering in dark rooms to share stories still matters—perhaps more than ever.

We also, quite simply, wanted to watch great films on the big screen with our friends, family and neighbors.

As we prepare for our August 21st screening of Ghost in the Shell, we're moved by how this belief has resonated throughout our community and beyond. What began as a modest experiment has evolved into something truly exciting.

Our inaugural Rear Window screening in June, covered by the LI Herald, is helping spark a local renaissance of interest in repertory cinema. From that first gathering of 70 people at the library, we're hoping to expand our screenings across Long Island.

On Substack, we've discovered a remarkable community of cinephiles and critics and filmmakers.

The emerging "Filmstack" movement—with thoughtful voices like , , , , , , , , , , (and others I’m sure I’ve missed!) represents the most exciting development in film criticism in years.

The conversations unfolding in Substack Notes and comments sections about the NonDé movement remind us of the passionate debates that once filled the pages of Cahiers du Cinéma, but with a democratic spirit unique to our moment.

We also take note that — Substack’s primary arbiter of coolness (and one of our personal favorites) — is planning a Feed Me screening later this month.

On our own site, we’ve blown past all of our possible audience expectations. This past weekend we crossed 400 subscribers and 2200 followers.

Our long-form essays in Cognitive Frames are finding readers across generations and geographies—from local high school students to international film scholars, from our Hewlett-Woodmere neighbors to cinephiles worldwide.

To everyone who has contributed an essay, subscribed, shared our work, or joined us for a screening: you've helped prove that community engagement with art isn't nostalgic but necessary. You've shown that thoughtful criticism and passionate discussion can thrive outside traditional gatekeepers.

And we’re incredibly excited about what’s next.

Ghost in the Shell: August 21st at the Gold Theater

Our next free screening brings Mamoru Oshii's 1995 masterpiece to the Gold Theater at the Hewlett-Woodmere Library on August 21st at 6:30 PM. This film poses essential questions about consciousness and identity that feel particularly urgent as we navigate our own technological transformations.

As a thank you, anyone who attends the screening will be entered into a raffle to win an annual Criterion Channel subscription, timed perfectly with their new anime collection.

Following the screening, we'll be joined by Tes and Jim from the LI Comic Shop in Lynbrook, NY—our first corporate partner and kindred spirits in the fight for physical media culture.

They understand that comic culture and film culture exist on the same continuum. Their shop is a place where newcomers get the same respect as silver age collectors, and Wednesday new release days generate real excitement.

LI Comic Shop is a community laboratory for cross-media discovery—comic readers becoming film buffs, movie fans discovering manga, everyone understanding that great storytelling transcends format. The anime boom represents another bridge between our worlds.

Jim's a true believer who can explain how Akira changed everything, while Tes approaches anime with healthy skepticism—a dynamic that makes their conversations particularly rich. They've watched customers discover that anime films like Ghost in the Shell ask philosophical questions Hollywood won't touch.

Their insights will help us trace how visual storytelling evolved from panel to screen, how comics prepared audiences for cinema's possibilities, why physical media shops remain essential cultural spaces.

Watch for their guest piece in Cognitive Frames next week.

Looking Ahead: Jazz, Noir, and November Experiments

On Sunday, November 2nd, we're returning to the Gold Theater to screen Edgar G. Ulmer's classic Detour (1945) with live jazz accompaniment. This 1945 noir masterpiece—created with minimal resources but maximum artistry—deserves to be experienced with musicians who understand that constraint often produces the most innovative art.

We're thrilled to be working with two local high school students who've formed their own jazz combo—a saxophonist and vocalist whose understanding of the genre's emotional architecture belies their age.

Their involvement represents everything we believe in: that expertise comes in many forms, that young artists deserve serious platforms, and that the connection between jazz and noir runs deeper than mere historical coincidence.

The synthesis of live music with classical cinema represents our commitment to creating singular theatrical experiences. Each screening should feel unrepeatable, existing only in that moment for that specific audience.

These experiments in singular theatrical experiences—Rear Window with film historian Foster Hirsch, Ghost in the Shell with comic shop philosophers, Detour with teenage jazz musicians—are just the beginning.

This fall, we're expanding both our reach and our vision with two initiatives that challenge how cultural programming and criticism work on Long Island.

Expanding Our Programming

As we look to increase the frequency of our programming, our near-term goal is to establish regular repertory screenings at our local Regal Theater in Lynbrook.

This compliments our library programming by allowing us to bring in 35mm prints, host visiting filmmakers and host larger screenings right in the midst of Lynbrook’s commercial district.

An expansion of this sort requires partnerships with individuals and businesses that recognize the value of supporting cultural infrastructure.

We're seeking local and national sponsors who understand that investing in arts programming creates lasting community value.

Early founding sponsors1 will have the opportunity to shape our programming direction, create custom events for their organizations, and associate their brands with Long Island's emerging cultural renaissance.

Additionally, board member will be exploring opportunities to establish Cognitive Film Society screenings in Los Angeles, creating a bi-coastal dialogue about cinema. This expansion could offer sponsors reach in both markets, connecting audiences unified by cultural engagement rather than geography.

For partnership inquiries and our full sponsorship packet, contact dhesney@cognitivefilms.org.

But programming is only half the equation. Criticism and discussion are essential.

Cognitive Frames: In the Room

This fall, we're launching Cognitive Frames: In the Room—bringing our democratic approach to all live performance. Opera, symphony, theater, rock concerts, jazz clubs. The same philosophy that’s driven our film criticism now turns to any room where culture happens live.

Our critics aren't assigned performances. They choose them. They save for tickets, wait in rush lines, climb to the Family Circle. They write not because they must, but because what they witnessed demands documentation. The view from the cheap seats—the seats bought out of love—often sees clearest.

Consider classical music coverage.

This week, The New York Times posted a job listing for a classical music critic who can create “multimedia-first criticism,” appear on podcasts, and deliver reviews on camera. After reassigning four senior journalists this summer, it’s clear they're not seeking a critic—they're seeking a content creator who happens to know Mahler from Mozart. They want someone to make classical music 'accessible to a general audience,' as if the problem is the audience, not the coverage.

In the Room believes the opposite. Whether it's opera or hardcore, symphony or stand-up, the audience already gets it. The high school student at their first Dudamel performance sees things “a content creator” will ignore. The subscriber who's watched the Met evolve over decades brings perspective no multimedia strategy can replicate. The person who saved for months for a single ticket understands the stakes.

We need a multitude of voices - not a singular authority that’s been simplified and flattened into bland nothingness.

Our inaugural reviews will focus on the new classical season in New York, beginning with Gustavo Dudamel's opening week as the NY Philharmonic's Music Director Designate (September 11-16), featuring 22-year-old sensation Yunchan Lim performing Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3.

Dudamel's appointment represents a generational shift at the Phil, while Lim—who stunned the classical world winning the Van Cliburn Competition at 18—brings fresh perspective to Bartók's final masterpiece, composed during the Hungarian composer's exile in New York.

We'll follow this with the Metropolitan Opera's world premiere production of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which opens September 21 and runs through October 11. Mason Bates and Gene Scheer's adaptation of 's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel perfectly embodies our belief in artistic porousness: a story about Jewish comic book creators fighting fascism through Superman-like fantasies, now becoming opera at America's most prestigious house.

If our press credentials are approved, we'll also be covering the 63rd New York Film Festival (September 26-October 14) in full, bringing this same democratic approach to cinema's prestigious showcase.

These are important developments in our culture (or at least we think so) and they deserve due consideration.

Here's what makes our coverage different: We'll publish credentialed press reviews alongside perspectives from the Family Circle, the rush ticket line, the subscription holder in their twentieth season.

If you're experiencing these performances—whether from press seats or standing room, whether it's your first opera or your fiftieth—we want your perspective.

The person who saved for months for a single ticket often sees things the regular critic misses. The subscriber who's watched the Phil evolve over decades brings different insight than opening night society coverage.

We welcome your voices. Your perspectives enrich our collective understanding.

Submit film criticism or performance reviews to submissions@cognitivefilms.org.

No really, thank you!

What started six months ago as friends wanting to watch great films with their neighbors has become something larger: proof that culture thrives when communities claim it.

We're not interested in nostalgia for how culture used to work. We're building how it works now: democratic, passionate, present. Not mediated by algorithms, but by people who show up because they’re excited about art and discussion.

See you at the Gold Theater on August 21 and “In the Room” this Fall.

Thanks again for your support.

-The Cognitive Film Society

Foster Hirsch has spent fifty years teaching film history, but he still gets fired up defending the 1950s. "In my opinion, it's the greatest era of American movies," he declared, leaning forward in the Gold Theater. "Not everybody shares that, but I feel so. That's why I wrote this book."

In a filled theater on Long Island, with ages ranging from teenagers to nonagenarians, we were about to discover why a 71-year-old film about a man stuck in his apartment still matters—maybe more than ever.

The Ultimate Body Snatcher

The 1950s forced Hollywood to reinvent itself against what Hirsch calls "the ultimate body snatcher—television." The industry's response? VistaVision, CinemaScope, 3D—experiences that couldn't be replicated on small screens.

Rear Window itself showcases VistaVision's "great depth and clarity," perfect for a film about the act of looking. As Hirsch notes: "We're all voyeurs. We're all interested in looking." Stewart's immobilized photographer makes us complicit in his surveillance, transforming universal human curiosity into suspenseful art.

Grace Kelly: Action Hero in Haute Couture

When I brought up Grace Kelly, Foster delivered the evening's best insight. While she embodied 1950s femininity, he quickly pivoted: "She's really the action star of the film."

This sparked a fascinating discussion—with Stewart's leg in a cast (Foster confirmed Hitchcock wanted us to read into that), Kelly's Lisa Fremont becomes the active force. She scales fire escapes and breaks into apartments while Jeff watches helplessly. Yet Foster wondered aloud whether this mismatched couple could actually work. His uncertainty lingered in the theater.

We Want the Murder

Most disturbingly, Hitchcock makes us complicit in darkness. "If there isn't a murder, it isn't as interesting," Hirsch observes. "We want to be thrilled. If there's no murder, we feel let down."

Each apartment window reflects Jeff's psychology—"something wrong in each of them," mirroring what's wrong in the protagonist's life. Hirsch, a Village resident himself, admits: "My back courtyard is not totally different from the courtyard in this film. I'm living rear window all the time."

Why This Matters Now

Thinking about our current streaming age, Foster's insights hit home. The 1950s didn't retreat from television's threat—they revolutionized cinema. The parallel to our moment was impossible to miss.

When our Q&A ended only because the library needed to close—with hands still raised and questions unasked—I knew we'd tapped into something real. Great films demand great conversations, and both need the shared darkness of a theater.

"You think it's going to be a film of great confinement," Hirsch said about Rear Window's single apartment setting. "Not at all. You feel very open and liberated."

Same for our evening at the Gold Theater—one film, one expert, infinite windows onto human nature.

Our inaugural screening packed the Gold Theater with 60+ film lovers of all ages. The conversation ran until closing time—a perfect beginning for the Cognitive Film Society.

The responses mapped our community's cinematic DNA: Greg's passionate "Rear Window by far!" (prophetically choosing our inaugural film).

Someone recalling Titanic as their first American movie.

A defense of both Blade Runners as a "controversial" double pick.

Kids rattling off every Avengers film while their parents kept returning to Princess Bride.

From Kurosawa's Ran to Ice Cube’s Friday, from On the Waterfront to Step Brothers—every list an autobiography, every choice - a conversation starter.

The rain didn't matter. People wanted to connect through cinema.

The Next Step: June 5th at the Gold Theater

So what happens when a community reveals its hunger for cinema connection? You give them a place to gather.

On Thursday, June 5th at 6:30 PM, the Cognitive Film Society presents our inaugural screening: Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library's Gold Theater.

When Greg declared it his "#1 by far" at Arts Below Sunrise, he didn't know he was choosing our first film—or maybe the cinema gods were just smiling on us that day!

Film scholar Foster Hirsch, author of "Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties," will introduce the film and lead our post-screening discussion. But this isn't just about expert analysis—it's about community conversation.

Student critics from Hewlett High School and Valley Stream will have their work featured in next week’s “Cognitive Frames”, because the best film discussions happen when multiple generations share the same dark room.

This screening represents months of discovery: meeting with local film clubs, recording Four Favorites in the rain, learning that our neighbors hunger for the same cinematic community we do. And as we've prepared for June 5th, we've discovered something extraordinary—we're not alone in building this movement.

The Larger Canvas: We're Not Alone

What we're building with the Cognitive Film Society isn't happening in isolation. Across Long Island, a genuine film culture revival is erupting, and the timing of our launch couldn't be more perfect:

The Malverne Miracle: Just one town over from Valley Stream, the shuttered Malverne Cinema and Art Center is being resurrected through pure grassroots determination. Nick Hudson and Maria Dente-Higgins—strangers united by shared grief over the theater's closure—have mobilized hundreds to transform this community anchor into a nonprofit arts center.

Their packed public meeting this week, with lines down the block, proves what we discovered at Arts Below Sunrise: the hunger for communal cultural experience runs deep.

We’ll be looking to support this initiative as part of our inaugural screening and beyond.

Cinema Arts Centre's Evolution: In Huntington, the 50-year-old Cinema Arts Centre stands as proof that independent cinema can thrive. Fresh off major 2022 renovations (including 167 new parking spaces!), they're not resting on laurels but pushing forward with initiatives like the Long Island Youth Film Festival.

The Festival Explosion:

• The Long Island Film Festival (34+ years and counting)

• NYLIFF, now expanded to five days, showcasing 106 films in 2024

• Multiple specialty festivals creating year-round programming

This isn't nostalgia—it's strategic resistance against the algorithmic flattening of culture.

Why Physical Spaces Matter (We Learned This in the Rain)

Every high school student we've met, every "Four Favorites" recorded, every community member who braved the rain at Arts Below Sunrise understands something the streaming services don't:

Cinema is a collective art form.

The gasp during a thriller, the shared laughter at a comedy, the post-screening debates that spill onto the sidewalk—these can't be replicated by hitting "play" alone on your couch.

That rainy Sunday proved it.

People didn't just want to list their favorite films—they wanted to share WHY those films mattered, to connect their choices to their neighbors' experiences, to discover they weren't alone in their obsessions.

The best part? This is just the beginning. Every new theater saved, every festival launched, every film society started adds another node to the network. We're not competing—we're collaborating in the grand project of proving that film culture thrives when communities claim it as their own.

Long Island's cinema landscape is transforming from scattered venues into an interconnected cultural ecosystem.

Our model—combining theatrical screenings with critical discourse, partnering with schools, building community at local festivals—isn't revolutionary. It's evolutionary, building on what's already happening from Malverne to Montauk.

Your Part in the Story

This Thursday's "Rear Window" screening is more than a movie night. It's a statement that the Five Towns deserves—and can sustain—serious film culture.

It's proof that when you build it (even in the rain), they will come.

For everyone who shared their Four Favorites, who stopped to chat about Kurosawa or Coppola or Gerwig, who asked "when's the next screening?"—this is your answer.

See you June 5th!

Join Us on June 5th

• What: "Rear Window" (1954) with Foster Hirsch

• When: Thursday, June 5th, 6:30 PM

• Where: Gold Theater, Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library

• Why: Because great films deserve great audiences

The Cognitive Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to cultivating film culture through education and community engagement. Founded in January 2025, we're building a home for film lovers of all kinds.

You had so many inspired choices and really got into that May the 4th spirit. What a great day!

We hope you’ll join us on June 5th for the Cognitive Film Society’s screening of “Rear Window” at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, with film scholar Foster Hirsch.

Thanks again for attending Arts Below Sunrise.

And don’t forget to sign up for Letterboxd and follow our Cognitive Films HQ account.

See you on June 5th!

Subscribe now

Where and When

takes place on Broadway in Hewlett and Woodmere, from the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library to Franklin Place. The festival runs from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Sunday, May 4th, with a rain date of Sunday, May 18th.

Our table will be located on Broadway, right in front of the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library. Look for our film-themed display!

What We're Doing at

When you visit our table, you'll have the chance to participate in two fun activities that capture what we're all about:

Tell Us Your "Four Favorites" and join our Letterboxd HQ

Everyone has those movies that stick with them forever – the ones you've watched a dozen times, the ones you recommend to everyone, the ones that changed how you see the world.

As an official Letterboxd HQ partner, we'll be recording our community’s "Four Favorites" at our table. Through our partnership, we'll be able to share this content on the Letterboxd platform – joining the ranks of conversations featuring film enthusiasts from across the world.

Stop by our table to record your own "Four Favorites" video. Not familiar with the format? It's simple – just share the four films that have meant the most to you and briefly tell us why.

We'll compile these into a special community edition that showcases the diverse film tastes of the Five Towns. Contributions will be featured on our Letterboxd HQ account and may appear in pre-show content at future screenings.

We want to hear about yours!

Rear Window Poster Competition

We're also launching a design competition for our first official screening!

On June 5th, we'll be showing Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece "Rear Window" at the Gold Theater in the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, and we need a poster that captures the film's suspense and voyeuristic themes.

At our table, you'll see examples of vintage "Rear Window" posters that have promoted the film since its 1954 release. Whether you're a professional designer or just someone who loves to create, we invite you to submit your own interpretation.

The winning design will be featured at our June screening, and the artist will receive a full one-year subscription to the Criterion Channel – giving you access to a treasure trove of classic and contemporary cinema from around the world!

Plus, your artwork will grace the cover of the inaugural print edition of Cognitive Frames, our film society journal debuting this summer.

Submissions are due by May 15th, giving you plenty of time after the festival to perfect your design.

Mark Your Calendar: June 5th at the Gold Theater

Our inaugural screening will be held on Thursday, June 5th at 6:30 PM at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library's Gold Theater. We'll be showing a beautifully remastered version of Hitchcock's "Rear Window" on the big screen.

What makes this more than just a movie night? We're thrilled to have Foster Hirsch, author of "Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties," joining us to introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion. It's the perfect blend of entertainment and insight that defines what we're building with the Cognitive Film Society.

The Gold Theater's excellent projection and sound systems make it an ideal venue for experiencing this classic as it was meant to be seen.

If you've never seen "Rear Window", or only watched on your TV or laptop, you're in for a treat!

Who We Are

For those who haven't discovered us yet, the Cognitive Film Society is a community organization based right here in the Five Towns. We're your neighbors who believe films are best when they're shared – both on the screen and in conversation afterward.

Founded in January 2025, we're building a home for film lovers of all kinds:

• Casual moviegoers looking to expand their horizons

• Dedicated cinephiles who want to discuss cinema with like-minded folks

• Families seeking quality film experiences beyond the multiplex

• Anyone who believes movies matter as both art and entertainment

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, our mission is to cultivate film culture through educational programming and community engagement, presenting curated theatrical screenings that bring people together through the shared magic of cinema.

Connect With Us

Can't make it to Arts Below Sunrise? You can still be part of our community:

• Subscribe to this Substack for updates on screenings and events

• Follow us on Letterboxd to see what our curators are watching

Subscribe now

We're just getting started, and your participation will help shape what we become. From monthly screenings to film education programs, we have big plans for bringing the best of cinema to our community.

See You at !

Look for our table on Broadway in front of the Hewlett-Woodmere Library. Bring your film enthusiasm and your Four Favorites – we can't wait to meet you!

The Cognitive Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the Five Towns of Long Island, dedicated to cultivating film culture through educational programming and community engagement.

Featuring:

• Crossing Delancey (1988)

• The Younger Generation (1929)

• Hester Street (1975)

• Funny Girl (1968)

*Dates, full schedule and special guests to be announced

The Cognitive Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating film culture through educational programming and community engagement.

Ghost in the Shell (1995): The Cognitive Film Society is proud to present Mamoru Oshii's 1995 masterpiece on the big screen at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library’s Gold Theater. This anime classic poses essential questions about consciousness and identity that feel particularly urgent as we navigate our own technological transformations.

As we think about a world increasingly powered by “artificial intelligence”, this prescient film asks us what it means to be human.

Time: 6:30pm

Location: Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library (1125 Broadway, Hewlett, NY)

FREE ADMISSION!

All attendees will be entered to win an annual Criterion Channel subscription!1

Following the screening, we'll be joined by Tes and Jim from the LI Comic Shop in Lynbrook, NY—our first corporate partner and kindred spirits in the fight for physical media culture.

They understand that comic culture and film culture exist on the same continuum. Their shop is a place where newcomers get the same respect as silver age collectors, and Wednesday new release days generate real excitement.

LI Comic Shop is a community laboratory for cross-media discovery—comic readers becoming film buffs, movie fans discovering manga, everyone understanding that great storytelling transcends format. The anime boom represents another bridge between our worlds.

Jim's a true believer who can explain how Akira changed everything, while Tes approaches anime with healthy skepticism—a dynamic that makes their conversations particularly rich. They've watched customers discover that anime films like Ghost in the Shell ask philosophical questions Hollywood won't touch.

Their insights will help us trace how visual storytelling evolved from panel to screen, how comics prepared audiences for cinema's possibilities, why physical media shops remain essential cultural spaces.

Please read Ted’s piece on the history of comic book cinema right here:

See you Thursday night!!!!

The Cognitive Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating film culture through educational programming and community engagement

Rear Window (1954)

The Cognitive Film Society invites you to be part of cinema history in the Five Towns as we launch our celebration of film culture. Our evening begins at the majestic Gold Theater at Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library for Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece of urban voyeurism, Rear Window (1954).

Every window tells a story. Every story hides a secret.

Through his rear window, L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) witnesses what he believes to be a murder. But in an age before smartphones and social media, can he convince anyone else?

With Grace Kelly at her most luminous and Hitchcock at his most precise, Rear Window remains both a perfect thriller and a meditation on the art of watching itself - the perfect film to launch our mission of bringing cinema lovers together.

Join us for our inaugural screening featuring Hitchcock's masterpiece of urban voyeurism.

A Night to Remember

• 6:30 PM: Special Introduction with Foster Hirsch

• 6:50 PM: Screening of Rear Window

• 8:45 PM: Post-film discussion and Q&A

Special Guest: Foster Hirsch

We're honored to welcome noted film historian and author Foster Hirsch (Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties) for an introduction and post-screening discussion. A professor at Brooklyn College and regular presence at Film Forum, Foster brings deep insight and infectious enthusiasm to every screening

Supporting a Greater Cause

We're proud to partner with the American Cancer Society for this special evening. Film has always had the power to bring communities together, and we're excited to announce how our partnership will help support their vital mission. Stay tuned for details on how your participation will make a difference.

Join Our Community

Members receive priority seating and other special benefits throughout the year.

Become a founding member today!

Subscribe now

The Cognitive Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating film culture through educational programming and community engagement.