Studio 54 (2018)

Studio 54, dir. Matt Tyrnauer, 2018 USA, 98 minutes 👏
Sunday, June 24, 7:00 p.m. Castro • CLOSING NIGHT FILM
BAY AREA PREMIERE

Studio 54

By the time I went to Studio 54 in 1981, its heyday was clear­ly over — rather than carefully screening for only the most glam­orous guests, they were having college nights, even let­ting in unglamorous freshmen like me. All the same, I can honestly say that I personally witnessed people snort­ing cocaine in the balcony of Studio 54. I was dimly aware that Studio 54 had been a much bigger deal only a few years prior, but knew next to nothing of the details.

Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary covers a subject that has been written and filmed about quite extensively, but, even if you’ve seen multiple documentaries and/or feature films about Studio 54, you haven’t seen this doc. Studio 54 co-founder Ian Schrager speaks publicly about it for the first time in decades, giving the inside story in a way other films couldn’t, and Tyrnauer also found many never-before-seen still photos and 16mm films from the club’s heyday. It’s well worth seeing if you experienced the pinnacle of disco culture, or if, like me, you missed it by a few years. Highly recommended.

• IMDb • official website • trailer (YouTube) •