GUY AND MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH

Writer/director Damien Chazelle combines the cinematic sensibilities of Cassavetes and Godard in a gritty, 16mm, MGM-style musical. Backed by a score by Justin Hurwitz, the film tracks a pair of young lovers after they meet by chance in a Boston park and bond over old-timey music.

Damien Chazelle was at the top of Hollywood with La La Land, his jubilant throwback to the American musical. Yet this was not his first foray into the genre—his debut film similarly focuses a kaleidoscope of influences into an absorbing story of love, youth, and, of course, jazz!