The New School is shedding light on the shadows of noir this weekend when it kicks off its first arts festival focusing on this elusive genre.
“Noir has become such a style touchstone, and it’s appealing to a very wide range of people,” says the festival’s director, Jim Miller. “Yes, it’s a period genre — but it keeps getting revived and has remained current.”
The noir style dates back to the 1940s and refers to corruption and crime films and literature full of gangsters, private investigators and femme fatale protagonists.
“Noir is focused on the dark side of things — the dark side of art,” says Robert Polito, one of the curators of the festival.
“It really struck me as resonant of our time,” he says.
“We’re in this moment of political upheaval and overall chaos. This style is really a microcosm of our cultural moment.”
New School students explore these themes in the “Illuminating Noir” visual art exhibition. On view through Friday, the show includes an original video game, photography, films and illustrations from the media studies program and Parsons.
According to Miller, another highlight will be tonight’s 8 o’clock performance by guitarist Marc Ribot. Ribot is playing his jazz interpretation of music from noir films as well as no-wave music from the ’80s, which was influenced by such films.
Also lending a hand to the fest is filmmaker Guy Maddin, who is introducing and screening his film “Hauntings” on Wednesday at 8 p.m. The film is a series of silent shorts, which he based on plot summaries of noir films found in old Variety magazines.
For the literary set, don’t miss novelist Mary Gaitskill and poet Robert Pinsky reading some of their contemporary noir takes set to improvisational jazz.
“What really strikes me is the range of the festival,” says Polito. “We are incorporating all the different families here at The New School.”
Ongoing through Friday at various locations. Free with reservation, visit newschool.edu/noir for more information.