THURSDAY, MAY 22 – 10 PM – Moderated by Caroline Golum, filmmaker, writer, programmer, and masochistic Mets fan.
Much like cinema itself, America’s pastime has endured across three centuries: from the scrappy days of the Lumiere Bros’ actualities and the amateur club ball of the late 19th century, through Hollywood and baseball’s dominating heyday in the middle-20th, to the shared uncertainties of the 21st-century’s hyper-capitalist technocracy. Played in a “wide shot” and packed with nine innings’ worth of narrative, baseball is arguably our most cinematic sport – and few broadcasters in the game understand this magic quite like Sports New York director John DeMarsico.
Since 2019, DeMarsico has brought his filmmaking background and cinephile bona fides to the New York Mets’ broadcasts, sweetening regular season games with Sergio Leone-inspired showdowns, kinetic camera moves, and an array of spicy graphics. His work on Sports New York has screened throughout the city, and touted in the pages of MUBI Notebook, Baseball Prospectus, and the New York Times. Thanks to the Mets’ increasing prevalence on national broadcasts, DeMarsico has graciously offered to join us on a night off for a survey of his most exciting work. For movie buffs and baseball fans alike, this one-night-only event is not to be missed (and yes, you can check the score during the screening)!