”The Automat” with Lisa Hurwitz

Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

Nostalgia isn't all bad. That’s one of the themes of our conversation with Lisa Hurwitz, director of “The Automat”, which charts the rise and fall of a uniquely American institution–though one with surprising roots in Northern Europe. Despite what you might have seen in the pictures, The Automat was more than brass, nickels, and glass windows. It was an inclusive, and for many, magical place, one from which luminaries such as Colin Powell, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Howard Schultz drew important personal and professional lessons. Find out what advice Mel Brooks gave Lisa–and check out the film to hear him sing a song he composed about the Automat with a full orchestra!

"The Automat" will be shown at the Film Forum in NYC starting February 18th, as well as the Laemmle Royal, Laemmle Town Center, and Laemmle Playhouse in the LA area starting February 25th.

Screenings: automatmovie.com

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Books Mentioned:

Trapped behind the Automat

The Automat