Four by Nathan Silver
The glorious chaos of life bubbles right at the surface of Nathan Silver’s unpredictable sketches of human comedy. His idiosyncratic microbudget movies show people unraveling and regrouping and setting each other off as they search for what’s missing from their lives. Their romantic misadventures and wild lapses can turn unexpectedly soul-bearing as Silver pushes into the spaces buzzing between us, with organic rhythms that feel indebted to American auteurs of the 1970s like John Cassavetes or Elaine May. Drawing on a coterie of indie stalwarts, discoveries, and his scene-stealing mother, Silver makes a beeline right into the messiness of existence.
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Exit Elena
Directed by Nathan Silver | 72 mins | 2012
One of the great under-the-radar debuts, Silver’s sly comedy drops a twenty-something nursing aide (Kia Davis) into a suburban house where her kibitzing employer—played by the director’s scene-stealing mom—keeps drawing her into drama and chit chat. Show... -
Soft in the Head
Directed by Nathan Silver | 70 mins | 2013
Twenty-five-year-old force of nature Natalia escapes a bruising relationship and lands like a tornado touching down in the lives of a best friend and a kindly shelter manager. Silver’s feel for the helter-skelter of existence and its volatility in the f...
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Stinking Heaven
Directed by Nathan Silver | 70 mins | 2015
A group home for recovering addicts teeters into cult-like territory in Silver’s hot-house drama, starring a dream team of micro-indie talent including Keith Poulson, Deragh Campbell, and Eleonore Hendricks. Shot on analog video and set in the early 1990... -
The Great Pretender
Directed by Nathan Silver | 71 mins | 2018
When a French theater director (Maëlle Poesy-Guichard) comes to New York to direct an autobiographical play about her disastrous last relationship, a chain reaction of romantic escapades is set off by her two stars (Esther Garrel and Keith Poulson). Each... -
First Films with Nathan Silver
Directed by Metrograph | 8 mins | 2024
Nathan Silver discusses the making of his first feature, "Exit Elena."
