Jon Jost's ANGEL CITY (1976) 50th Anniversary of the Sly Satirical LA Noir!
About this Event
In celebration of its 50th anniversary and as part of PRS's YesterdayLA 2026 series—a month-long exploration of the people, places, and works of art that have become part of the fabric of Los Angeles history—7th House is proud to present a rare screening of iconoclastic independent filmmaker Jon Jost's ANGEL CITY (1976), a slyly satirical and irreverently subversive excursion through the sun-soaked fantasies and hot-asphalt realities of La La Land.
This very special evening will be preceded by an exclusive video introduction by Jon Jost, followed by a pre-recorded Q&A with the director about the making of the film!
Long before Doc Sportello wandered through Pynchon’s pages, ANGEL CITY’s Frank Goya was already on the case, ambling a similarly bleary path through the overlapping worlds of power, paranoia, and California dreamin’. Part detective fiction, part essay-film, part LA postcard, and wholly playful in its experimental approach, Jost’s meta-mystery follows its laid-back hippie sleuth, armed with a camera, a stack of polaroids, and an “okay, man” outlook, through a landscape of media moguls, Hollywood operators, corporate intrigue, and manufactured facades. Hired to investigate the death of a powerful media mogul's wife, Goya's search gradually expands into something far larger: an irreverent excavation of the systems, myths, and power structures underlying the city itself.
A sun-dazed chop-suey of slacker noir fiction, documentary detours, politico-cultural satire, and deadpan humor, Jost mixes rapid-fire montage, Godardian pop-art asides, and airy long takes for a trip that delights in discursion, cruising the perimeters of Chandleresque tropes as it traces the strange shape of the Big Orange and scans the dial for the dreams and schemes that rattle inside it.
Emerging from the American underground film movement of the 1970s, Jost developed a fiercely independent body of work that consistently challenged narrative conventions while engaging directly with the political and social realities of contemporary America. Produced for just $6,000, Angel City remains a remarkable feat of scrappily resourceful filmmaking, incorporating aerial photography, elaborate camera movements, visual effects, and a Hefty bag full of cinematic tricks on a shoestring budget.
Released during America's Bicentennial year, ANGEL CITY stands as a shaggy, laconic rebuke to the self-congratulatory illusions of progress, prosperity, and reinvention that have long defined both Los Angeles and the nation itself. Fifty years later, many of the forces Jost skewered remain firmly intact—or, as the filmmaker himself laments, "sadly even more so." His mischievous, casually provocative, and deeply inventive film is ready to be rediscovered as one of the great unsung, and underseen, portraits of Los Angeles.
“Rarely has the city been used to such effect as in Angel City, a 1976 film made by the 34 year old experimental filmmaker Jon Jost. Jost works light-years away from the movie mainstream but he clearly knows the Hollywood standards which he mocks so mercilessly in this brightly funny and extremely inventive film made for a phenomenal $6000.” – Martha DuBose, Sydney Morning Herald
“Jost’s outsider is Frank Goya, a guy with a red shirt, a far-fucking-out-in-the-morning-man delivery, and a fist full of Polaroid snapshots. Ever-cool Goya peers into the camera, announces that he’s a motel-haunting divorce-dick and from then on Angel City is kabuki Raymond Chandler." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
“A really joyous endeavor, a blithe attempt to trash on some of our most revered institutions...It’s weird, smart-ass, and totally irreverent...Proof positive that some of our most exciting cinema is being put together by the people in the streets, not in the Bel Air mansions where the Hollywood honchos live. Thank God for Jon Jost and his ilk, because they池e keeping the art of cinema alive and well.” - Distant Drummer
Dir. Jon Jost, 1976, 76 mins, United States, English, Unrated, Digital.
Tickets: $12 (All Screenings Are In Person Only)
Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.
ABOUT YesterdayLA 2026
This July, the Philosophical Research Society celebrates our beloved city’s rich and diverse past with YesterdayLA 2026, our second annual month-long exploration of unique stories and works of art that have become part of the fabric of Los Angeles history. The landscape of our city is changing faster than ever before. By examining the LA of yesterday, we invite Angelenos to gather together to not only look back but forward to the possibilities of our great city’s tomorrow.
Throughout its 90+ year history The Philosophical Research Society has stood as a sanctuary for those seeking truth and enlightenment, with its doors open to Angelenos who have created great works of art and innovation, political movements, and spiritual evolutions across the eras. YesterdayLA will explore the fascinating stories of our city’s past with the continued spirit of curiosity that has stood as the pillar of PRS’s mission.
ADVISORY DISCLAIMER
With some exception, The Philosophical Research Society’s 7th House Screenings does not typically provide advisory warnings about potentially upsetting content or subject matter, as sensitivities are particular to each viewer. Please be sure to read event listings, research on the web, or visit Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com for thorough info on content and age-appropriateness. If you have any specific content advisory questions, please email [email protected].
CONTENT DISCLAIMER
The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed within exhibited works are solely those of their creators and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Screenings are intended for educational and entertainment purposes.
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Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 14.64
