Augusta Films

“Rapt, incisive, and beautifully exploratory making-of-a-movie documentary... digs into the life of John Schlesinger, and reveals him to have been a courageous giant of a filmmaker.”
—Owen Gleiberman, VARIETY

“Convincingly argues that there's no other time at which Joe Buck (Jon Voight) and Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) could have become enduring movie characters, let alone have the tenderness between them depicted so subtly.”
—Ben Kenigsberg, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“A fascinating and hypnotic documentary.”
—DEADLINE

“An extremely ambitious documentary that attempts to navigate the impact and cultural presence of the legendary film while also exploring the history of queer cinema, the death of the western, and the counter-culture of the '60s transforming into the nihilism of the 1970s… Its sheer enthusiasm for the film and the cultural period is infectious.”
—THE FILM STAGE

“Illuminating!”
—Joe Neumaier, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“Makes the case that the 1969 Best Picture winner
is the key film of the New Hollywood era.”
—INDIEWIRE

“Profoundly moving.”
—SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

OUR STORY

Inspired by the New York Time Best Seller “Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Liberation and the Making of a Dark Classic” by Glenn Frankel.

For an exclusive story on the film visit: Variety

This is not a documentary about the making of Midnight Cowboy. It is about a dark and difficult masterpiece and the deeply gifted and flawed people who made it. It is about New York in a troubled era of cultural ferment and social change. It is about an era that made a movie and a movie that made an era.

The 1969 movie tells the story of two homeless loners who join forces out of desperation and struggle to survive. It features superb performances by Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, spirited direction by John Schlesinger, a brilliant screenplay by blacklist survivor Waldo Salt, and a memorable musical soundtrack. The result was the only X-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and John Schlesinger’s win as Best Director over George Roy Hill, Arthur Penn, Sydney Pollack and Costa-Gavras! It paved the way for a generation’s worth of gritty, New York-based movies with adult themes and complex characters.

A half century after its release, Midnight Cowboy remains one of the most original and groundbreaking movies of the modern era. It is set in a New York besieged by economic collapse, social unrest, and cultural upheaval in the midst of Black, gay and women’s liberation movements. It heralded the coming of age of Hollywood – a time when risk-taking movies flourished, old rules were shattered, and a new breed of filmmakers took on adult themes and troubled characters never before seen in mainstream films. We look at Midnight Cowboy’s moment and why this movie resonates so powerfully more than fifty years later.

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

FEATURING

Bob Balaban

Ian Buruma

Michael Childers

Brian De Palma

James Hoberman

Adam Holender

Charles Kaiser

Jennifer Salt

Lucy Sante

Brenda Vaccaro

Jon Voight

Edmund White

OUR TEAM

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Rex Miller

EDITOR

Anthony Ripoli

CONTRIBUTING PRODUCERS

Kim Brizzolara

Harlene Freezer

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Colleen Haggerty

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Estelle Girard Parks

SALES AGENT

Jessica Lacy

PUBLICITY

Cinetic Marketing - Ryan Werner, Rachel Allen, Brian Brooks

Falco Ink- Janice Roland, Shannon Treusch

International Press: Claudia Tomassini + Associates.

CONSULTANTS

Ian Buruma

Glenn Frankel

Charles Kaiser

BIOGRAPHY

NANCY BUIRSKI
Director/Producer/Writer

Director/Producer/Writer DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY.

Director/Producer/Writer A CRIME ON THE BAYOU (2021), World Premiere DocNYC, 20-city Theatrical release; STARZ broadcast. 2 Critics Choice Awards noms. 100%Rotten Tomatoes

Director/Producer/Writer THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR (2017); World Premiere, Venice Film Festival; NA Premiere, New York Film Festival. Human Rights Nights Award at 74° Venice Biennale. NAACP Image
Award and Peabody Award noms. Broadcast on STARZ/HULU.

Director/Producer/Writer BY SIDNEY LUMET (2015); World Premiere, Cannes Film Festival, Tribeca, U.S. Theatrical release at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. American Masters broadcast.

Director/Producer/Writer AFTERNOON OF A FAUN (2013) World Premiere, New York Film Festival; International Premiere, 64th Berlinale; record-breaking U.S Theatrical release; American Masters
broadcast.

Director/Producer/Writer THE LOVING STORY (2011) Full Frame and Tribeca premieres. Oscar shortlisted, Peabody, Emmy Awards. HBO/HBO MAX. 100%Rotten Tomatoes

Producer LOVING (2015) by Jeff Nichols, w/Colin Firth. Focus Features release, Oscar nom Ruth Negga. Winner of PGA Stanley Kramer award.

Special Advisor SUMMER OF SOUL (2020), winner of Academy Award, Best Documentary.

Director/Producer/Writer DESPERATE SOULS DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY (2022) World premiere, Venice International Film Festival; North American premiere, Telluride Film Festival; Hamptons International Film Festival premiere.

Founder, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Director 1998-2008. Consultant, various documentaries. Author/photographer Earth Angels: Migrant Children in America.