Coffee and Cigarettes

Black and white, 35 mm
USA, 2003, 96 min
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

Coffee and Cigarettes is a series of short films disguised as a feature (or vice versa). Each sequence involves several characters just sitting around, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and discussing objects as diverse as caffeine popsicles, Abbott & Costello, Elvis conspiracy theories, the proper preparation of English tea, the inventions of Nikola Tesla, the fictitious rock band SQÜRL, Paris in the twenties, and the use of nicotine as an insecticide... The cast is an extremely eclectic group of extraordinary actors and musicians portraying an equally eclectic collection of oddballs.

About the director

Jim Jarmusch (b. 1953, Akron, Ohio) lives and works in New York. Even his first feature, Permanent Vacation (1980), gained a cult as well as critical following in Europe. His second film, Stranger Than Paradise (1984), won the Camera d’Or at Cannes. Then came the following successful features: Down by Law (1986), Mystery Train (1989) and Night on Earth (1991). In 1995 he shot the atypical western Dead Man, and in 1997 a rock-and-roll movie about Neil Young, Year of the Horse. In 1999 he directed Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and in 2000 the segment Int. Trailer. Night from Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet. He has also directed a number of short films and music videos.