The Heart of Indie Cinema: 10 Films Set in New York

Note: This article was originally published on Ekranom on February 6, 2022. It is republished here as part of my archive of previously published film writing.

New York sits at the very center of many of the contradictions that define modern life. It is both a global capital of capitalism and a city that has continuously nourished artists, filmmakers, and creative communities. There is little doubt that, in cinematic terms, New York belongs to figures such as John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese. Yet for this list, I wanted to move beyond the classics and focus instead on more recent films — stories that offer a glimpse of contemporary New York and the people who inhabit it.

Would you rather spend your night searching for the location of a Where’s Fluffy concert, or lose yourself among the paintings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art? The answer, I suspect, can only be found by exploring the films on this list.

1. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)

“Every night has a soundtrack…”

According to Nick’s watch, it has been three weeks, two days, and twenty-three hours since Tris (Alexis Dziena) broke up with him. She has already found herself a new boyfriend, while the mix CDs Nick carefully made for her have ended up in the trash. Norah (Kat Dennings), however, rescues the discarded CDs and becomes a fan of Nick’s playlists long before she ever meets him. Their paths eventually cross at a bar where Nick is performing with his band. In an attempt to escape Tris, who keeps mocking her for not having a boyfriend, Norah asks Nick to pretend to be her boyfriend for five minutes — and from there, the night takes on a life of its own.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist could easily have been just another forgettable teen romantic comedy. Instead, thanks to its charming characters, witty dialogue, and an outstanding soundtrack that never stops pulsing through the film, it has earned its place as a cult favorite of the genre. And yes, seeing Devendra Banhart on screen, even for a couple of seconds, was an absolute delight.

2. Frances Ha (2012)

Frances (Greta Gerwig), a twenty-seven-year-old apprentice with a dance company, is far from a successful dancer. Without a stable job or a clear path forward, her greatest dream is simply to become a permanent member of the company she works for. The only person who truly seems to understand her is Sophie, her best friend and roommate. But when Sophie decides to move to the city of her dreams, Frances suddenly finds herself alone, forced to navigate the confusing realities of adulthood on her own. Unable to settle into a stable life and constantly struggling with financial insecurity, she begins drifting from one apartment, one job, and one phase of life to the next.

Director Noah Baumbach co-wrote the screenplay with Greta Gerwig, his longtime creative partner and the actress who brings Frances to life. Although filmed in black and white, Frances Ha feels unmistakably contemporary. Shot on 35mm with a guerrilla-style approach, the film captures both the energy and uncertainty of modern urban life. The frustrations, ambitions, and disappointments Frances experiences are not all that different from our own. She stumbles, makes mistakes, and occasionally loses her way, but she never abandons her ideals. Through Frances, Baumbach and Gerwig have created a character who is financially adrift yet full of life, idealistic yet wonderfully awkward — a character who effortlessly earns a permanent place in our hearts.

3. The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008)

“I wrote something here even though I was in handcuffs.”

Eleonore (Eleonore Hendricks) is a lonely and endlessly curious woman living under the spell of kleptomania. During one of her thefts, she discovers a set of car keys inside a stolen handbag. While attempting to start the vehicle, she unexpectedly runs into her old friend Josh (Joshua Safdie). What begins as a chance encounter soon turns into a spontaneous reunion, and before long, the two decide to drive from New York to Boston together.

The Pleasure of Being Robbed is Josh Safdie’s first feature film, made before the Safdie Brothers would become a filmmaking duo. He co-wrote the screenplay with Eleonore Hendricks, who was his partner at the time, and both of them appear in the film’s leading roles. Safdie also served as the film’s cinematographer, editor, and producer. The result is a film that embraces the eccentricity of American independent cinema while remaining surprisingly gentle and sincere.

If I had to describe the film in a single word, it would be natural. One moment we find ourselves watching Eleonore form an unlikely friendship with a bear; the next, we are accompanying her and Josh on a road trip to Boston in a stolen car. Admittedly, this is not a film for everyone. But for viewers willing to surrender to its peculiar rhythm, The Pleasure of Being Robbed is more than worth a chance.

4. Jobe’z World (2018)

Jobe, a mysterious middle-aged skateboarder, spends his days selling drugs to an assortment of eccentric characters scattered across the city. When he is given the chance to deliver a special order to his favorite actress, he can barely contain his excitement. What begins as a thrilling encounter, however, quickly spirals into a bizarre nightmare filled with equal parts comedy and disaster.

Jobe’z World is one of the hidden gems tucked away in MUBI’s catalog. If you ask me, the peculiar charm of American independent cinema still doesn’t get nearly enough recognition. The film’s atmosphere is remarkably well-crafted from the very beginning. Director Michael M. Bilandic manages to create something that feels far bigger than its modest budget would suggest. Between its striking visual style and its gallery of eccentric characters, the film has a way of pulling you into its world almost immediately. Once it begins, it effortlessly convinces you to follow wherever its story may lead.

Part of that success comes from its cinematography. The film’s director of photography is Sean Price Williams, who previously collaborated with the Safdie Brothers on Good Time and Heaven Knows What. Unsurprisingly, traces of the Safdies’ influence can occasionally be felt throughout the film. Ultimately, Jobe’z World feels like a lo-fi dream drifting through the streets of New York — strange, funny, and impossible to forget.

5. Begin Again (2013)

Dan (Mark Ruffalo), the founder of a major New York record label, has seen better days. His career is in decline, he is struggling with his family life, and he has recently been fired from the company he helped build. One evening, while drowning his frustrations at a local bar, he stumbles upon a performance by Gretta (Keira Knightley), a young English songwriter singing one of her original songs. Instantly captivated by her talent, Dan proposes that they make an album together. Gretta, still recovering from a breakup with her rising-star musician boyfriend, is hesitant at first. Eventually, however, she agrees, setting both of them on an unexpected journey.

Part romantic comedy, part musical, and part heartfelt drama, Begin Again gently pokes fun at the modern music industry’s obsession with manufactured sounds while celebrating the value of genuine musicianship. At its core, it is a deeply sincere film — one of those comfort movies that never seems to lose its charm. Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine also appears as Gretta’s recently ex-boyfriend, adding another layer to the film’s music-centered world.

For anyone looking to curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and spend two hours in good company, Begin Again is an easy recommendation. The film also makes wonderful use of New York, turning many of the city’s most beloved streets and corners into part of its charm. In the end, it’s a simple combination of New York, great music, Mark Ruffalo, and Keira Knightley — and somehow, everything just works.

6. Skate Kitchen (2018)

Camille (Rachelle Vinberg) is a teenage girl living with her mother in the suburbs. Her quiet and predictable life changes dramatically when she befriends a group of female skateboarders. Cruising through the streets of New York on their boards, the girls create a world entirely of their own. As Camille is drawn deeper into this vibrant subculture, she begins to discover the meaning of friendship, explore her own identity, and navigate the uncertainties of adolescence.

The film takes its name from Skate Kitchen, a real-life all-female skate collective based in New York City. Director Crystal Moselle first crossed paths with the group while making the 2016 short film That One Day, and Skate Kitchen emerged from that collaboration. What follows is an unfiltered look at the dynamics of a six-member skate crew as they carve out a space for themselves in a culture often dominated by men. The film captures their friendships, insecurities, ambitions, and struggles with remarkable honesty.

One of Moselle’s greatest strengths as a filmmaker is her ability to give each character a moment of their own while making the audience feel like part of the group. By the end, Skate Kitchen feels less like a traditional coming-of-age film and more like an invitation into a community. It is also worth noting that the story later continued in Betty, an HBO spin-off series that reunited many of the film’s cast members.

7. Madeline’s Madeline (2018)

Madeline’s Madeline unfolds through the perspective of Madeline (Helena Howard), a teenager struggling to find her place within a contemporary performance ensemble in New York. When the group’s director begins pushing her beyond her emotional limits, Madeline’s inner world and her complicated relationship with her mother gradually become incorporated into the work itself. As rehearsals blur into reality, the line between performance and lived experience becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish. At a certain point, one begins to wonder: is this the Madeline on stage, or the real Madeline?

Director Josephine Decker has said that the film was inspired by a friend diagnosed with dissociative disorder, who once described the feeling as, “It’s as if I’m not living my life, but watching it unfold from the outside like a film.” In many ways, Madeline’s Madeline transforms the growing pains of adolescence into a world where imagination and reality constantly bleed into one another. Through remarkable performances — particularly Helena Howard’s — as well as its vivid colors, unconventional camerawork, and dreamlike shifts in perspective, the film succeeds in immersing the audience in Madeline’s fractured emotional landscape.

8. All the Vermeers in New York (1990)

Anna (Emmanuelle Chaulet), a young French actress studying in New York, crosses paths with Mark (Stephen Lack), a stockbroker, while standing in front of a Vermeer painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What follows is a romantic game shaped by misunderstandings, missed connections, and opportunities that seem to slip away just as quickly as they appear.

Directed by Jon Jost, All the Vermeers in New York is an experimental film shot on 35mm in just four weeks with a production team of only three people, including Jost himself. Remarkably, before filming began, Jost had only three scenes in mind; almost everything else emerged organically during the shoot. By weaving together the superficiality of the 1980s art world, the tensions between art and everyday life, and the unlikely presence of a stockbroker, the film offers a surprisingly sharp portrait of its era.

Its unconventional camera work and experimental score give individual moments a distinct texture, making them feel both immediate and strangely significant. Even beyond its themes, All the Vermeers in New York is worth watching for its beautiful engagement with Vermeer’s paintings alone.

9. Hello, My Name is Doris (2015)

Directed and written by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name Is Doris stars Academy Award winner Sally Field alongside Max Greenfield, Beth Behrs, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Tyne Daly. The film follows Doris, a woman who unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with a much younger coworker. Premiering at SXSW, the film went on to win the festival’s Audience Award.

Before anything else, I should say this: Doris is a wonderful character, and fortunately for us, we get to spend the entire film in her company. The story follows her attempt to reinvent herself after attending a self-help seminar, her efforts to win over her younger crush, and the deeper emotional reasons that motivate those choices. What begins as an unconventional romantic comedy gradually reveals itself to be something far more heartfelt.

I can almost guarantee that you will find yourself smiling from beginning to end. And just when you think the film is content to remain charming, it unexpectedly pulls you into an emotional current of its own. It is funny, sincere, and surprisingly moving. And as an added bonus, there is also a delightful cameo appearance by Jack Antonoff and his band that is well worth mentioning.

10. So Pretty (2019)

So Pretty follows Tonio/Tonia, Franz, Paul, and Erika as they navigate love, political activism, and life within New York’s queer scene. At the same time, the film can be seen as an adaptation, translation, and contemporary reinterpretation of Ronald M. Schernikau’s 1980s novel So schön.

I have always had a particular fondness for films that feel unmistakably independent — films that know exactly what they want to say and never lose their footing while trying to say it. Even more so when they make such thoughtful use of a city’s spaces and spirit that I begin to feel immersed in their world. So Pretty is one of those films. Admittedly, it stumbles a little toward the end, but that does not take away from what it achieves elsewhere. At its core, it is a thoughtful and engaging exploration of queer love, sexual fluidity, and activism.

BONUS: GİRLS (2012–2017)

Girls premiered on HBO on April 15, 2012. Created by Lena Dunham, who also stars in the series, the show follows a group of close friends in their twenties as they navigate life in New York City. Drawing heavily from Dunham’s own experiences, Girls explores friendship, ambition, romance, and the uncertainties of early adulthood. After six seasons, the series came to an end on April 16, 2017.

You might be wondering what a television series is doing on a list of films. But if we’re talking about New York, there was no way I could leave Girls out. My love affair with the city began with this show. At its center are four very different women in their twenties, each trying to make sense of friendship, love, ambition, disappointment, and everything in between.

Girls is not built around grand revelations, extraordinary characters, or endlessly quotable dialogue. What it offers instead is something far more valuable: a sense of reality. In particular, it captures the experience of young women trying to find their place in the world with remarkable honesty. I was seventeen when I first watched the series, and I remember asking myself, “Will life really be this complicated in three years?” Answering that question now, as a twenty-three-year-old, my response is simple: absolutely yes.

The struggle to figure out who you are, to build a life for yourself, to meet other people’s expectations while trying not to lose sight of your own — Dunham observes all of it with impressive clarity. The lives of Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna are not glamorous in the way Sex and the City often presents New York. Their lives are ordinary. In other words, they look a lot like ours.

For that reason, Girls will always occupy a special place in my heart, and I couldn’t finish this list without mentioning it. Perhaps some of you will want to spend time with Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna as well. And finally, thank you, Lena Dunham, for creating such a memorable series. As for the occasional questionable public statement… let’s just say we’d prefer not to lose our respect for you entirely.

To accompany this journey through New York, I put together a playlist of my own. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. 🙂

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QSshUu0i7nfVIDwp5Hdzy?si=a0fc901fa0e84450