Leaving January 1

Directed by Morris Engel | 81 mins | 1953
A pioneering influence on the French New Wave, this New York independent classic follows a seven-year-old boy through the hustle and bustle of Coney Island after he runs away from home, spooked by a cruel prank. It’s filmed with close-up immediacy thanks to Engel’s innovative camera (which Godard coveted), and doubles as a grand tour of faces and places in thriving postwar Brooklyn seen from a child’s awed POV.