Starring David Brisbin (NBC’s ER), with appearances from Steve Buscemi, Luis Guzmán, and Richard Hell, this cinematic time capsule of New York’s pre-gentrification East Village centers on scrappy jukebox operator Macabee “Mac” Cohn (Brisbin), who wanders the tenements, dive bars, and derelict streets of the village in search of a mysterious woman in a striped dress.
No Picnic premiered at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival, where Peter Hutton won the Best Cinematography prize. Director Philip Hartman, who later went on to open New York City pizza institution Two Boots, also worked alongside producer Doris Kornish, Emmy Award–winning director Mike Spiller as assistant cameraman, animator Lewis Klahr as boom operator, legendary producer Christine Vachon as assistant sound editor, with assistance from, among other notables, Jacob Burckhardt and Jeff Preiss. Scored by Ned Sublette, the soundtrack features The Raunch Hands, Fela Kuti, Charles Mingus, and Student Teachers.
