In the 1970s a Benedictine monk, Father Pellegrino Ernetti, claimed he had built a machine that could replay the past like live TV — Cicero's orations, even the Crucifixion. Kevin Walker and Jack Auen turn that disputed story into a lo-fi literary thriller, shot on 16mm in New York's great reading rooms and scored to Holst, with real Columbia professor Anne-Laure Sellier as the obsessed researcher. If you love archives, conspiracies or a genuinely odd debut, catch it before the run ends.
What to expect
A 100-minute feature in French, English, German and Italian with English subtitles, dense with on-screen text pulled from real primary sources. It plays like a slow-burn paper-trail mystery rather than a sci-fi film, and a lot of the pleasure is recognizing New York library interiors on the grain of 16mm.
Good to know
- Take the 1 train to 66 St–Lincoln Center; the theaters are on West 65th Street.
- Subtitled in parts, and a lot of the story unfolds through documents on screen — sit where you can read comfortably.
- A standout of New Directors/New Films and a New York Times Critic's Pick.
- The run ends this weekend, so fewer showtimes remain.
- FLC members get discounted tickets.
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Common questions
Is Chronovisor a documentary?
No. It is a fiction feature inspired by the real, widely disputed claims about Father Ernetti's device, blending real sources into a mystery.
How long is it?
100 minutes.
When does it stop playing?
Film at Lincoln Center lists the run as ending September 20, 2026.
