Monday December 8, 7pm
Rachel Amodeo: What About Me
As part of “New York By Foot”
Artist in person!
Microscope is pleased to present a screening of Rachel Amodeo’s 1993 cult film “What About Me,” as part of our new monthly screening series “New York by Foot,“ curated by and with Julius Ziz. Amodeo will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A with the audience. The film will be shown in its original 16mm film format.
“What About Me” is a fictional film with Amodeo in the lead role of a woman who has found herself homeless after the death of her aunt, with whom she had lived, and her subsequent eviction from the apartment. The movie was shot in Tompkins Square Park and the Lower East Side. The soundtrack includes music by Johnny Thunders, who also appears in the film, along with many other artists and friends of Amodeo including Gregory Corso, Judy Carne, Jerry Nolan, Dee Dee Ramone, Nick Zedd, and Richard Hell.
The title of the series “New York by Foot” references both the history of filming the city while walking its streets and that referring to the length of a celluloid film by the number of feet of its rolls, rather than its duration in minutes.
Future programs are scheduled to take place on the third Monday of each month.
General Admission $10
Members Admission $8
WHAT ABOUT ME
Written, Directed and Produced by Rachel Amodeo
16mm film, b&w, sound, 1993, 85 minutes
WHAT ABOUT ME tells the story of a young woman, Lisa Napolitano (Rachel Amodeo), who through uncontrollable circumstances, finds herself homeless in New York City. The film portrays her gradual deterioration as she exists on the streets, intermingling with the outcasts of society.
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Rachel Amodeo was born in Terravecchia, Italy. At four years old, she traveled to the United States, where she and her siblings were greeted by their parents who had worked and saved for their long journey. After graduating from high school, Rachel moved to Santa Barbara, California where she attended Santa Barbara City College and majored in Photography. During this period she became a rock drummer and performed in various clubs. In 1982 Rachel moved to New York City to pursue her career as a rock drummer. She started her own band Vacuum Bag and later joined Das Furlines, with whom she appeared on Entertainment Tonight, MTV’s Andy Warhol’s 15 Minutes and was featured in People magazine. Starting in 1988, with her partner, animator and cinematographer M. Henry Jones, she co-produced eleven animated television commercials. From 1989 to 1992, Rachel wrote, produced, and starred in “What About Me”. She plays the lead role as “Lisa,” who ends up homeless and drifting in New York City. The film traveled the festival circuit and was featured at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. Its unusual ensemble of cast and characters in a cinema verite portrait of the East Village in the late 1980s made it a cult classic. She worked with cinematographers M. Henry Jones and Mark Brady. In 1998 she wrote, produced, and directed her second film, a short called “Rest in Peace,” set in the 1800s. The film is a tribute to the silent film era with double exposure special effects. Rachel plays the lead role as “Mable Dibble,” a ghost who haunts her sister, played by Dame Darcy. She also wrote, produced, and directed a short film called “Pierre Paolo,” set in her hometown of Terravecchia, Italy. Since 2015, she has been writing a new screenplay, with the working title “Rock’n’Roll Gangster,” based on her experiences in New York.
