@2026 by mezzanine film, inc.
HAPPER’S COMET
directed by Tyler Taormina
2022, 62m, U.S., DCP
L.A. premiere with director Tyler Taormina in person
Q&A moderated by Tim Heidecker
Monday, July 17
Brain Dead Studios
611 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
doors: 7pm
film: 7:30pm
A warmly surreal nighttime reverie, Tyler Taormina’s second feature confirms him as one of the most exciting new talents in American independent cinema, following his acclaimed 2019 debut Ham on Rye. Shot during lockdown and made with nonprofessional actors – many of them his own Long Island family and friends – Taormina takes the audience through the nightly routines of solitary suburban residents as they clean their offices, meet their lovers, apply make-up before going out, and rollerblade around town. The film’s title – a reference to Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero – belies the film’s low-key dreaminess, love of eccentric personalities, and its profoundly relaxed feel.
A Factory 25 release.
Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival (Forum), BAFICI, Champs-Élysées Film Festival, BAMCinemafest, 2022
“Its sense of obscurity is almost soothing…. Taormina’s unique sensibility makes the film, more than anything, a cinematic tone poem, expressing a reconciliation with sleeplessness as time yawns into strange infinitudes.” - Slant Magazine
“[It] has a distinct way of viewing the world.” - The New York Times
“A shared dream you’ll want to share with others.” - David Mouriquand, Exberliner
“Hypnotic. Compelling. Beautifully shot.” - Rory O'Connor, The Film Stage