Esopus co-presented a screening of acclaimed director and playwright Kenneth Lonergan’s film, Manchester by the Sea, at the Museum of the Moving Image on Wednesday, October 26th, at 7pm. The screening, at the Museum’s state-of-the-art Redstone Theater, was followed by a conversation between Lonergan, a contributor to Esopus 21, and Esopus editor Tod Lippy.  

Manchester by the Sea, which was released on November 18th and went on to garner Academy Awards for lead actor Casey Affleck and Lonergan for his screenplay, features Affleck as a stoic Boston-based handyman who is called back to his Massachusetts hometown after the sudden death of his brother, who has left behind a teenage son. “The persistence of grief and the hope of redemption are themes as timeless as dramaturgy itself, but rarely do they summon forth the kind of extraordinary swirl of love, anger, tenderness and brittle humor that is Manchester by the Sea, a beautifully textured, richly enveloping drama.”—Variety 

Lonergan’s two other features, Margaret (2011) and You Can Count on Me (2011), were also screened at the Museum as part of the series “Written and Directed by Kenneth Lonergan."