Bed and Sofa: with special guests Kate Saccone and Ben Model

A comedic 1927 silent film set in Moscow during a housing shortage highlights the circumstances of life lived in close quarters.

A controversial and polarizing movie at the time of its release, Bed and Sofa is both an intimate domestic drama and a sly national satire. Not widely seen outside the Soviet Union due to its treatment of then-taboo subjects, the film, directed and produced by Abram Room, tells the story of a husband, wife, and the husband’s friend, who are thrown together in a small basement apartment due to a housing shortage in Moscow.  The titular furniture—and which man is sleeping on which item—become signals indicating shifting loyalties and evolving romantic entanglements in this story of adultery, abortion, motherhood, gender dynamics within the family unit, and (female) sexual autonomy.

Kate Saccone of Columbia University’s Women Film Pioneers Project presents a screening of the Soviet silent film. Ben Model, one of the nation's leading silent film accompanists, will accompany the film on piano. 

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED
For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form one hour before the program.

PRESS 
Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc.) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Sara Beth Joren at sarabethjoren@nypl.org.

For all other inquiries, please contact publicprograms@nypl.org.

ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org.