This month’s lineup of screenings across the city offers something for every cinephile: immersive documentaries that descend into forgotten places, boundary-pushing experiments, revitalized classics, music-focused festivals, and intimate comedies with live Q&As. Whether you want to revisit a cultural touchstone in pristine 4K or see a director discuss their work in person, these programs bring filmmakers and audiences together across neighborhood theaters.
Below are highlights and practical notes on where each film is playing and which events include special appearances or discussions. Exact screening dates and venues are preserved so you can book tickets and plan your visits.
Documentary journeys and underground visions
Underland adapts Robert MacFarlane’s exploration of subterranean worlds into a cinematic voyage. Narrated by Sandra Hüller, the film captures caves, catacombs and industrial voids with tight, evocative cinematography that traces the concept of deep time and human curiosity about what lies beneath the surface. Audiences can expect atmospheric imagery and reflective commentary that connect geological and cultural history.
The documentary opens at the Angelika Film Center on June 4. Filmmaker Robert Petit will attend screenings on June 4, 5, 6, and 7 for post-show Q&A sessions, providing context and answering audience questions about production and the film’s thematic concerns.
Experimental cinema and bold genre mashups
Baby Invasion is an audacious experiment in form from Harmony Korine that blends the language of video games with live-action chaos. The film stages a frenetic, first-person-inspired crime spree featuring characters who conceal their identities behind baby masks, mix drug-fueled episodes with surreal set pieces, and confront large-scale CGI creatures. Its pulsing electronic score by Burial amplifies the film’s hypnotic, anarchic energy.
Fans of challenging, sensory filmmaking can catch Baby Invasion at the Roxy Cinema as part of the I Paused My Game to Be Here series on June 9, 10, and 12.
Why experimental work matters
Programs like this highlight how form can reshape storytelling: by borrowing mechanics from interactive media and pushing audiovisual boundaries, filmmakers create unpredictable viewing experiences that demand an attentive audience and reward active interpretation.
Music, memory and restored masterpieces
The Nuestra Escena: Punk Across Latin America series at BAM Rose Cinemas collects films that map punk’s regional impact. Featured titles include Carolina Pfister’s Viva Viva, which follows São Paulo musicians navigating the political and social landscape of early 2000s Brazil; the Colombian coming-of-age drama Los Nadie, about teenagers who channel resistance through music; and Peruvian shorts like Saicomania and María T-Ta. The festival runs from June 12–18 and traces how punk became both a sonic movement and a vehicle for youth dissent.
Also opening at this time is a newly restored 4K edition of Mary Harron’s I Shot Andy Warhol. The 1996 drama stars Lili Taylor as Valerie Solanas and revisits the Factory-era tensions that led to Solanas’s 1968 attack on Andy Warhol. The film, which features Jared Harris as Warhol and a score by John Cale, begins screenings at the IFC Center on June 12.
Restorations and cultural context
Restorations give audiences a chance to reevaluate films within contemporary conversations. A 4K transfer not only sharpens visuals but can bring historical moments into clearer focus, inviting renewed discussion about artistic scenes, politics, and the people who shaped them.
Fictional time travel, new comedic voices, and seasonal classics
Director Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada blends period texture with a surreal premise: a fishing village sees a boat arrive that inadvertently sends two men (played by George MacKay and Callum Turner) decades into the past. Jenkin’s use of older film stocks and manually reconstructed sound creates a tactile, dreamlike atmosphere that suits the film’s mysterious narrative. It opens at the IFC Center on June 19.
Comedian John Early makes his directorial debut with Maddie’s Secret, an absurdist comedy in which Early also stars as a social-media–fixated food influencer whose life risks unraveling. The film mixes pointed satire with unexpectedly tender moments and features collaborators including Kate Berlant and Kristen Johnston. The IFC Center hosts sneak previews on June 16 and 17, both followed by Q&A sessions with John Early; the general opening is on June 19.
Finally, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing returns to the screen as part of the Museum of the Moving Image’s series By the People, For the People: Real American Tales. The film’s heat-drenched portrait of neighborhood tensions in Bed-Stuy remains a vital cinematic document and will screen at the Redstone Theater on June 19 and 20.
With restored classics, daring premieres, music-focused festivals, and director appearances, the month’s cinema calendar is rich with opportunities to see films in communal settings and hear creators discuss their work. Check venue listings and book early for Q&A events and limited engagements.
