The Automat: Film Screening and Director’s Talk Presented by New Canaan Library in Collaboration with Darien Library

Americans once sipped coffee and ate pie around communal tables, sharing their struggles and dreams with strangers at Horn & Hardart’s iconic Automat. 

In collaboration with Darien Library, New Canaan Library present a screening of the documentary The Automat. The film (Runtime 79 minutes) will be followed by a special Q. & A. session with Lisa Hurwitz, Director and Producer of the film.

The event takes place at Darien Library on Monday, June 13 at 6 PM; please register at newcanaanlibrary.org to attend.

Lifetimes ago, Horn and Hardart’s Automats nourished a sense of unity that bridged the diversity of class, language, gender and race in the urban melting pots of the East Coast. From the perspective of former customers – entertainer Mel Brooks, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Horns, the Hardarts, and key employees – The Automat shows how the business climbed to its peak success and then grappled with fast food in a forever changed America. 

Lisa Hurwitz is the Director and Producer of the 2021 Telluride Film Festival Official Selection THE AUTOMAT, a feature documentary film with original music by Mel Brooks and appearances by Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Colin Powell, Howard Schulz and Elliott Gould.

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Submitted by Darien, CT

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