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The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed film image

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

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While coping with the usual workaday demands of life in New York City, Ann (Joanna Arnow), a thirty-something Jewish woman with a taste for BDSM sex, struggles to maintain a series of casual relationships with various “masters.” When one of her long-term partners suddenly ends things, however, she is forced to reflect on what she really wants out of life. The question is whether she can figure this out before it’s too late. One of the year’s most distinctive and accomplished debut features, The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed showcases Arnow, who also wrote and directed the film, in a fearless and uninhibited lead performance as Ann. Witty, wry, and sexually frank, the film also demonstrates Arnow’s remarkable directorial control, featuring precise, static compositions that draw out physical humour in most every scene. Shot on a shoestring budget, this perceptive, off-kilter comedy finds endless amusement in the uncomfortable, even absurd ways that our bodies move through the world.

Audaciously raw, revealing, and excruciatingly funny.
RogerEbert.com

Director
Cast

Joanna Arnow, Scott Cohen, Babak Tafti

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2023

Series

Panorama

Language

English

Film Contact
Content Warning

Strong Sexual Content

18+

At International Village

19+

At The Rio

87 min
Comedy Drama Women Directors

Book Tickets

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Credits

Executive Producer

Sean Baker, Adam Mirels, Roberts Mirels.

Producer

Graham Swon, Pierce Varous

Screenwriter

Joanna Arnow

Cinematography

Barton Cortright

Editor

Joanna Arnow

Production Design

Grace Sloan

Original Music

Robinson Senpauroca

Director

Joanna Arnow headshot

Joanna Arnow

Joanna Arnow is a filmmaker, actor and writer based in Brooklyn. She wrote and directed Bad at Dancing, a narrative short that was awarded the Berlinale Silver Bear Jury Prize and is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel paired with Jules and Jim. Joanna’s most recent short Laying Out premiered at New York Film Festival and was selected as a festival highlight in The New Yorker. In addition to making films, Joanna works as an actor and writer. As an actor, she has appeared in Aaron Schimberg’s Chained for Life, Zach Fleming’s Staycation, Todd Verow’s Fucked in the Head, Kati Skelton’s Wet Shapes, and more. Joanna also writes fiction and draws comics. Her pieces have been published in Glimmer Train Press, Popula, Monkeybicycle, Crack the Spine, Nanoism and Dogzplot.

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