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City Dark

Directed by Ian Cheney

OFFICIAL SELECTION
BRYCE CANYON ASTRONOMY FILM FESTIVAL
WINNER
GRAND JURY PRIZE
ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL AT YALE
OFFICIAL SELECTION
MOUNTAIN FILM IN TELLURIDE
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SXSW
City Dark still

US, 2011, 84 min, HDCam, BluRay

After moving to New York City from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question, “Do we need the stars?”

"Excellent"

- The Los Angeles Times

Press

The most important thing The City Dark has to tell us is that by losing touch with the stars, we've lost touch with something that inspired our distant ancestors in a profoundly spiritual way.

Michael D. Lemonick, -, Time Magazine

A documentary about light pollution that is entertaining and thought-provoking? It hardly seems possible, but that's what Ian Cheney has made in The City Dark.

Neil Genzlinger, -, The New York Times

Wonder, open-mindedness, and curiosity are the best things about The City Dark

Mark Feeney, The Boston Globe

'The City Dark' is more poetry than science.

Ken Korman, -, Gambit Weekly, New Orleans

A gorgeous, tragic essay on the effect light pollution has on viewing the night sky, will make even the most dedicated city-dweller wince.

Eric Kohn, Indiewire

Thoughtful and yes, illuminating.

Steve Dollar, The Wall Street Journall

Impressive images of star-filled nights will remind auds of childhood trips to the planetarium

Jay Weissberg, Variety

A fetching, personal investigation.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Informative in the best sensegenuinely inquisitive and exploratory ... as beautiful to look at as it is eye-opening in its content...This is a truly enlightening film, the increasingly rare documentary that not only opens your eyes to what the filmmaker considers an important issue, but also has the power to expand your perceptions in valuable and even life-affirming ways.

Kenji Fujishima, Slant Magazine

Ian Cheney's poetic, at times profound, film sheds, well, light on how the constant increase of modern-day artificial illumination has brightened our urban - and many suburban - night skies to the point that the stars and planets can often barely be seen.

Gary Goldstein, -, The Los Angeles Times

An absolutely beautiful film from its quiet, nostalgic beginning to the final rapid-fire revelations from the compelling individuals we meet throughout

Nick GioBarbieri, Autinist

The City Dark will make us reconsider how much illumination can darken life as we know it.

Jenn Brown, Slackerwood

The film touches on...that childlike sense of wonder we still get when looking up at the night sky.

Victoria Jaggard, National Geographic