Past Event: Moonlight & Movies | Man Push Cart

Please note that this event is now sold out. If you would like to join the waitlist, please email programs@mcny.org with your name, number of tickets you would like, and phone number.

Presented as part of the 45th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF45).

Join us for a screening of Man Push Cart (2005), the acclaimed debut film of director Ramin Bahrani that follows the life of Ahmad, a once famous Pakistani rock star now working long hours in the streets of Manhattan selling coffee and bagels from his cart. Providing a "rare immigrant’s-eye view of a post-9/11 city suffused with subtle paranoia and xenophobia, Man Push Cart gives at once empathetic and clear-eyed expression to the everyday drama of human endurance" (Criterion Collection). The film's Oscar-nominated director, Ramin Bahrani, will introduce the screening with Mohamed Attia, Director of the Street Vendor Project, and Dan Barry, senior writer at The New York Times.

Event Timeline:
7:00 pm - Doors open; drinks and popcorn available for purchase
7:45 pm - Introduction by director Ramin Bahrani, Mohamed Attia, and Dan Barry
8:00 pm - Screening of Man Push Cart (87 mins)
9:27 pm - Film ends, Museum closes

About the Speakers:
Mohamed Attia is the Managing Director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center (SVP), a 2,800+ member-strong organization that champions the rights of street vendors as small businesses to earn a living and contribute to the culture and life of New York City. Attia migrated to the US from Alexandria, Egypt, in 2008 working as a street vendor for nearly ten years selling hot dogs, halal chicken over rice, and smoothies in Times Square. He joined as a member of the Street Vendor Project (SVP) in 2012 and was an elected member leader of the organization until 2018, when he joined SVP's staff as Managing Director. Attia championed legislation passed in 2021 by the New York City Council that expanded the number of permits available to street vendors for the first time in nearly 40 years. He has been profiled for his advocacy work on behalf of the street vendor community by The New York Times, Crain's New York, and was recognized on City & State's Community Engagement Power 50 List. Through direct legal representation, small business development training, grassroots organizing, leadership development, and strategic legislative advocacy, the Street Vendor Project builds power and community among vendors. Learn more about SVP at http://streetvendor.org/.

Academy Award® and Emmy nominee Ramin Bahrani is the Iranian-American writer, director, and producer of The White Tiger, for which he has earned Oscar®, BAFTA®, and WGA Award nominations. Bahrani is the internationally renowned, award-winning filmmaker of critically lauded films such as Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo, 99 Homes and most recently his debut feature documentary 2nd CHANCE. His films regularly premiere at the Cannes, Venice, Toronto and Sundance film festivals. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert proclaimed Bahrani as “the director of the decade” in 2010. Bahrani is a Guggenheim Fellowship winner and his cinematic oeuvre is housed in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Bahrani produced Alex Camilleri’s debut award-winning feature Luzzu, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and is Malta’s submission to the Oscars. He also produced Alexandre Moratto’s Brazilian debut feature, Socrates, which garnered three Spirit Award nominations in 2019, as well as Moratto’s new film, 7 Prisoners for Netflix which premiered to rave reviews at The Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals in 2021. Both filmmakers won The Someone to Watch Independent Spirit Award which Bahrani himself also won in 2008. Bahrani is also a professor at the MFA film program at Columbia University.

Dan Barry is a senior writer at The New York Times. He shared a 1994 Pulitzer Prize as a member of an investigative team at the Providence Journal, and since then has twice been a nominated Pulitzer finalist for feature writing.  His other honors include a George Polk Award, two American Society of Newspaper Editors Awards, the Mike Berger Award from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and a Best American Newspaper Narrative Award. He is the author of Pull Me Up: A Memoir; City Lights, a collection of his “About New York” columns; Bottom of the 33^rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game, which won the 2012 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting; The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland; and This Land: America, Lost and Found, a collection of his national columns.

Watch the Trailer:

Event Logistics (subject to change based on NYC regulations):

• In the event of inclement weather, the screening will take place inside on the same day. 
• Please contact programs@mcny.org with any questions or ticketing issues.
• Program tickets include Museum General Admission.
• All sales are final; refunds not permitted. Exchanges and credit for future programs only. Programs and dates may be subject to change.