Welcome to Low Cinema
Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1966, Cuba, 85 min., in Spanish with English subtitles
Co-presented with Public Sector Office.
A comedy of errors of bureaucratic proportions, Death of a Bureaucrat (La muerte de un burócrata) documents the absurdity and contradictions within the well-meaning structures that buttress civic life. Set in Havana just seven years after the Cuban revolution, the message carries forward to the present day with searing clarity and a healthy dose of morbid humor.
Bureaucracy aficionados Casey Peterson and Lucas Vaqueiro will moderate a panel discussion and untangle the red tape of the film following two screenings:
Monday, April 27 @ 6pm with Jhon Usmanov, Director of Operations at The Green-Wood Cemetery
Wednesday, April 29 @ 6pm with Meghan Peterson, President of DC 37 Local 3005 and Creator of @miceofworthst
Jahongir "Jhon" Usmanov holds a BA in History from Brooklyn College, with a minor in Archival Studies, and a longstanding passion for genealogy. He has built his career around connecting people to their histories, helping individuals uncover and tell their families' stories. Jhon is the Director of Operations at The Green-Wood Cemetery and the founder of All Roots Lead to Brooklyn, a genealogy-focused company. Born in Tajikistan, he has been living in New York City since 1997.
Meghan Peterson is President of DC 37 Local 3005, representing scientific and technical workers at the health department and medical examiners office. She is a public health epidemiologist, rabble-rouser, and expert in bureaucracy (against her will). She created the Instagram @miceofworthst, which was recently featured in Politico NY.
Casey Peterson is an urban planner whose experience spans the public, private, and non-profit sectors in New York City. She launched the Instagram account @publicsectoroffice in 2018 as a coping mechanism for working at 100 Gold Street. She continues to administer the account with delight, curating submissions from public servants across North America and hosting events for the bureaucratically-minded. She is the diligent secretary of Brooklyn Community Board 2’s Land Use Committee.
Lucas Vaqueiro is a Brazilian civic designer, educator, and researcher based in Queens. Informed by his experience working with cities across the Americas, from New York to São Paulo and Montreal to Montevideo, his practice includes installations, publications, and community engagement that reframe bureaucracy as a civic infrastructure worth reimagining — and celebrating. His work has been featured at Milan Design Week and the Creative Bureaucracy Festival. Lucas is a 2025–2026 New City Critics Fellow and a frequent collaborator with @publicsectoroffice.
All sales are final; no refunds or exchanges. Five minutes after the listed showtime, any unused tickets will be considered no-shows and released to standby customers.
Death of a Bureaucrat
Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1966, Cuba, 85 min., in Spanish with English subtitles
Co-presented with Public Sector Office.
A comedy of errors of bureaucratic proportions, Death of a Bureaucrat (La muerte de un burócrata) documents the absurdity and contradictions within the well-meaning structures that buttress civic life. Set in Havana just seven years after the Cuban revolution, the message carries forward to the present day with searing clarity and a healthy dose of morbid humor.
Bureaucracy aficionados Casey Peterson and Lucas Vaqueiro will moderate a panel discussion and untangle the red tape of the film following two screenings:
Monday, April 27 @ 6pm with Jhon Usmanov, Director of Operations at The Green-Wood Cemetery
Wednesday, April 29 @ 6pm with Meghan Peterson, President of DC 37 Local 3005 and Creator of @miceofworthst
Jahongir "Jhon" Usmanov holds a BA in History from Brooklyn College, with a minor in Archival Studies, and a longstanding passion for genealogy. He has built his career around connecting people to their histories, helping individuals uncover and tell their families' stories. Jhon is the Director of Operations at The Green-Wood Cemetery and the founder of All Roots Lead to Brooklyn, a genealogy-focused company. Born in Tajikistan, he has been living in New York City since 1997.
Meghan Peterson is President of DC 37 Local 3005, representing scientific and technical workers at the health department and medical examiners office. She is a public health epidemiologist, rabble-rouser, and expert in bureaucracy (against her will). She created the Instagram @miceofworthst, which was recently featured in Politico NY.
Casey Peterson is an urban planner whose experience spans the public, private, and non-profit sectors in New York City. She launched the Instagram account @publicsectoroffice in 2018 as a coping mechanism for working at 100 Gold Street. She continues to administer the account with delight, curating submissions from public servants across North America and hosting events for the bureaucratically-minded. She is the diligent secretary of Brooklyn Community Board 2’s Land Use Committee.
Lucas Vaqueiro is a Brazilian civic designer, educator, and researcher based in Queens. Informed by his experience working with cities across the Americas, from New York to São Paulo and Montreal to Montevideo, his practice includes installations, publications, and community engagement that reframe bureaucracy as a civic infrastructure worth reimagining — and celebrating. His work has been featured at Milan Design Week and the Creative Bureaucracy Festival. Lucas is a 2025–2026 New City Critics Fellow and a frequent collaborator with @publicsectoroffice.
All sales are final; no refunds or exchanges. Five minutes after the listed showtime, any unused tickets will be considered no-shows and released to standby customers.
