OK Today Tomorrow (1983)
For the first hour of OK Today Tomorrow, Vogl stages a series of fraught encounters around the city between four gentrified New Yorkers before abandoning his vague narrative of youthful angst altogether in favor of documenting the urban landscape itself.
Arriving in the US with a background in abstract art, opera, and film—including work with German director Werner Schroeter—Vogl began making Super8 films in New York that stripped away the stylistic markers of Hollywood, New Wave cinema of the 1960s and ’70s, and classic avant-garde film, leaving only traces of their generic conventions. For the first hour of OK Today Tomorrow, he stages a series of fraught encounters around the city between four gentrified New Yorkers before abandoning his vague narrative of youthful angst altogether in favor of documenting the urban landscape itself. The dusk-to-dawn “city symphony” that ends the film resembles similar Super8 social studies by Vogl’s uptown contemporary John Ahearn; both recorded the daily lives of working-class black and immigrant communities on the streets of a city on the verge of the corporate takeover and sweeping gentrification that followed in the 1980s and ’90s. Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Cast
Screenplay
- Bibiena Houwer (Screenplay)
- Harald Vogl (Screenplay)
Keywords
new york city, urban life, art, avant-garde, gentrification, 1980s, youthful angst, urban landscape
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is OK Today Tomorrow about?
- Arriving in the US with a background in abstract art, opera, and film—including work with German director Werner Schroeter—Vogl began making Super8 films in New York that stripped away the stylistic markers of Hollywood, New Wave cinema of the 1960s and ’70s, and classic avant-garde film, leaving only traces of their generic conventions. For the first hour of OK Today Tomorrow, he stages a series of fraught encounters around the city between four gentrified New Yorkers before abandoning his vague narrative of youthful angst altogether in favor of documenting the urban landscape itself. The dusk-to-dawn “city symphony” that ends the film resembles similar Super8 social studies by Vogl’s uptown contemporary John Ahearn; both recorded the daily lives of working-class black and immigrant communities on the streets of a city on the verge of the corporate takeover and sweeping gentrification that followed in the 1980s and ’90s. Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
- Who directed OK Today Tomorrow?
- OK Today Tomorrow was directed by Harald Vogl.
- Who stars in OK Today Tomorrow?
- OK Today Tomorrow stars Arto Lindsay, Joan Waltemath, Terence Sellers, Jef Bretschneide, Tom Wright.
- How long is OK Today Tomorrow?
- OK Today Tomorrow has a runtime of 1h 30m (90 minutes).
- Where was OK Today Tomorrow produced?
- OK Today Tomorrow was produced in United States of America.