Brooklyn Bridge Park’s ‘Movies With A View’ Is The Free Summer Event You Can’t Miss – Forbes

The warm days of long-awaited summer have finally hit the East Coast, transforming the city as New Yorkers come out from hibernation after another dreary winter. For those not leaving for the Hamptons this summer, the city offers up countless outdoor screenings, performances, workout classes, food festivals and live music.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy has entertained over 500,000 moviegoers since it’s launch 20 years ago, making it one of the city’s oldest and most beloved themed summer film series. This year’s theme, “Better the Second Time Around,” will feature some of the series’ most popular films shown over past years. I spoke to Nancy Webster, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy about this summer’s lineup of outdoor films you can watch on the Brooklyn Bridge Park’s waterfront in DUMBO, Brooklyn and why this park’s events are so special.

Risa Sarachan: How long has the movie series been going?

Nancy Webster: We are very excited because it is the 20th anniversary of our movie series. The film series actually predates the opening of Pier 1 by ten years. Then, we had the film series in the section of the park that currently houses Jane’s Carousel. At that time, it was a somewhat rundown state park that was underutilized. That’s where we initially began the film series.

Sarachan: We have a spoil of riches when it comes to movie screenings in NYC? What makes the Brooklyn Bridge Park unique?

Webster: There are really three pieces to what makes the conservancy’s film festival so unique. The first is that our waterfront location is spectacular. You’re on the harbor view lawn at Pier 1. You just have these sweeping views out across New York Harbor and Lower Manhattan. The second piece is that I think we’re the second oldest film series in the city just shy of Bryant Park. So, we’ve been doing it for a long time and what that means is that we’ve had a lot of time to experiment and tinker to bring you a really quality experience at the movies.

We have a very large screen, we have a great projector, wonderful food and beverage offerings and good upfront programming. We’ve had a lot of experience really crafting this in a great location. Because it’s an outdoor movie series, the films can’t begin until the sun goes down. People love coming down to picnic and enjoy the early evening in the park. We have a DJ who plays in advance of the films and a partnership with Smorgasburg who does food, beer and wine service. So you can come down early and hang out with your friends and listen to music all before we start screening the films.

Sarachan: Who curates the lineup of films?

Webster: From year one, we established a volunteer film committee who would help us pick out the films and who would also help us produce and staff the series itself. So the film series began really with a very strong volunteer route. If you think about its sort of origins in advocacy rights, getting more people involved in it was a principal goal. Getting more people involved in the conservancy’s programming efforts and advocacy efforts. So having that sort of volunteer component with the curation of the series was very important to us and we’ve continued that to this day. I think in our very first screening we did On the Waterfront. We probably had about 300 people for that film. Now currently when we screen a film, we’re getting 4,000 to 6,000 people to join us. So the staffing is really different than it was initially, but the curation of the films themselves is still done by a volunteer film committee.

Sarachan: Any local filmmakers?

Webster: Every year before our feature films we have a short film and our short film program is curated by BAM Cinématek. What they are trying to do it match a short thematically with the feature that is preceding. We often have entries by local filmmakers.

Sarachan: What is the importance of free public events?

Webster: New York is such an amazing city and one of the cultural capitals of the world. Our parks are, I would say, the city’s great democratic spaces where people from all income levels, all neighborhoods throughout the city can come and enjoy a day, an afternoon, an evening that is both outdoors and in nature. It is accessible to you no matter your income level. It provides that opportunity for people all across the city to gather and experience cultural events and to be in this public space with your neighbors that might not be your most immediate neighbors but who are folks from across the city where you get this kind of wonderful sense of the greater mosaic of New York City.

I also would love to mention that we also want to let people know we provide over 500 free local events and activities in Brooklyn Bridge Park from the spring through the fall. We hope people will join us, not only for the movie series but if they want to come out, and say, on Thursdays evenings, jump in a kayak at Pier 2 to experience paddling in the East River. We also offer lots of fitness classes, music and performance in the park. We offer environmental education opportunities for people to take advantage of.

The lineup and schedule this summer are listed below. Doors open at 6:00 PM and the film starts at sundown (generally between 8-9 pm). The pre-movie lineup includes a DJ and a short film created by BAM Cinématek. Smorgasburg has confirmed a variety of food vendors.

• July 11th: Pariah 
• July 18th: Girlfight
• July 25th: It Happened One Night
• August 1st: Crooklyn
• August 8th: The Big Lebowski
• August 15th: An American Tail
• August 22nd: Selma
• August 29th: Public Vote (The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Groundhog Day, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory)

You can find more information about Brooklyn Bridge Park’s summer events and the 20th Anniversary Film Series here.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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