Indie filmmaking icon Jim Jarmusch turns 60 today. He’s always seemed ageless, sporting a shock of gray hair since he was a teenager, immersed in the underground arts scene with a finger on the pulse of “unassuming cool.” Jarmusch, a longtime resident of the Lower East Side, has explored the hidden exoticism of the everyday in other cities, but he remains a quintessential New York filmmaker. “When I left Ohio when I was 17 and ended up in New York and realized that not all films had the giant crab monsters in them, it really opened up a lot of things for me.” As a musician, Jarmusch was a memorable figure in the city’s No Wave scene during the 1980s with his band The Del-Byzanteens. Last year, he even narrated a walking poetry tour of the East Village called Passing Stranger. We wanted to celebrate Jarmusch’s birthday by looking at other filmmakers who have shared their appreciation for New York City and the way it helped shape their oeuvre. See what they had to say about their favorite New York films, and read their musings on life in the city and its enduring influence on cinema. … Read More