Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Matthew Harrison’s gritty and electrifying NYC street drama—made for $11,000 at the height of the ‘90s American indie boom—is a time capsule of hard-knock city living in a pre-gentrification Lower East Side, shot in hypnotic high-contrast black-and-white. A cassette-tape bootlegger (Jason Andrews) is down and out on Delancey Street, barely scraping out a living while seeing his on-and-off girlfriend (Kimberly Flynn) and fending off his wannabe-sidekick (Kevin Corrigan), eventually incurring the wrath of a group he’s ripped off (led by Bush Tetras singer Cynthia Sley). Upon its 1994 release, Rhythm Thief was praised by Scorsese and walked away with a directing prize at Sundance, yet has remained among what Richard Brody describes among a “lost generation of independent films” from the 1990s. We are thrilled to present a new restoration of this ‘90s indie classic ripe for rediscovery.
Matthew Harrison’s gritty and electrifying NYC street drama—made for $11,000 at the height of the ‘90s American indie boom—is a time capsule of hard-knock city living in a pre-gentrification Lower East Side, shot in hypnotic high-contrast black-and-white. A cassette-tape bootlegger (Jason Andrews) is down and out on Delancey Street, barely scraping out a living while seeing his on-and-off girlfriend (Kimberly Flynn) and fending off his wannabe-sidekick (Kevin Corrigan), eventually incurring the wrath of a group he’s ripped off (led by Bush Tetras singer Cynthia Sley). Upon its 1994 release, Rhythm Thief was praised by Scorsese and walked away with a directing prize at Sundance, yet has remained among what Richard Brody describes among a “lost generation of independent films” from the 1990s. We are thrilled to present a new restoration of this ‘90s indie classic ripe for rediscovery.
