Cinecity 25: Peter Hujar's Day

DIR: IRA SACHS. WITH: BEN WHISHAW, REBECCA HALL. USA, GERMANY 2025. 76 MINS.

The colourful life of a cult New York photographer is conjured up in an absorbing two-hander starring Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall.

Peter Hujar has been invited by journalist friend Linda Rosenkrantz to record an interview in her apartment. She wants him to recount everything that he did in the previous 24 hours. Peter’s recollections are peppered with phone calls and photo shoots with the likes of Susan Sontag and Allen Ginsberg, reflecting the mid-1970s celebrity scene that he moves in. With great chemistry between the two leads, the film builds an engrossing portrait of friendship and creativity, based on a transcript of the conversation that actually took place.

Director Ira Sachs’ previous films include Passages (which also featured Whishaw) and Love Is Strange.

‘In its tiny-scaled staged-documentary way, Peter Hujar’s Day is exquisitely done and arresting to watch.’ - Owen Gleiberman, Variety