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 Ghould.