THE HOTTEST AUGUST

NYC. August 2017. The summer after the presidential inauguration. A city oppressed by unrelenting heat and the tensions that have been simmering ever since the election. A city that is trying to grapple with growing anxiety over economic insecurity, rising rents, marching white nationalists and ever-present news of natural catastrophes across the country. THE HOTTEST AUGUST, director Brett Story’s latest documentary, is a complex and nuanced portrait of a city and its inhabitants in the age of climate change. Weaving in excerpts from Zadie Smith, Karl Marx, and Annie Dillard, the film offers a hypnotic glimpse into a society on the verge of catastrophe, registering the anxieties, distractions, and survival strategies that preoccupy ordinary lives.