High Art
Directed by Lisa Cholodenko • 1998 • United States
Starring Radha Mitchell, Gabriel Mann, Ally Sheedy
In a revelatory performance, Ally Sheedy stars in writer-director Lisa Cholodenko’s debut feature, a wry and incisive look at the politics of the New York art scene wrapped in the guise of an emotionally spiky queer romance. When Lucy Berliner (Sheedy), a once prominent photographer who has retreated into a life of heroin abuse with her faded-actress lover (Patricia Clarkson), is rediscovered by Syd (Radha Mitchell), an up-and-coming editor at a photography magazine, professional ambition and personal attraction become dangerously entwined. Stripping away art-world glamour to tell a seductive yet troubling story of complicated human connection, HIGH ART stands as an essential work of both queer and 1990s independent cinema.
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High Art
Directed by Lisa Cholodenko • 1998 • United States
Starring Radha Mitchell, Gabriel Mann, Ally SheedyIn a revelatory performance, Ally Sheedy stars in writer-director Lisa Cholodenko’s debut feature, a wry and incisive look at the politics of the New York art scene wrapped in the guise of an em...
Extras
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HIGH ART Commentary
This commentary track, recorded in 2004, features director Lisa Cholodenko.
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Lisa Cholodenko and Karyn Kusama on HIGH ART
In this new conversation, director Lisa Cholodenko talks with friend and filmmaker Karyn Kusama about the genesis of HIGH ART, shooting the feature in New York, and how independent filmmaking has changed over the years.
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Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell on HIGH ART
This interview features actors Ally Sherry and Radha Mitchell in conversation with photographer JoJo Whilden.
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The Photographs of HIGH ART
In this interview, recorded in 2026, photographer JoJo Whilden recalls creating the fictional Lucy Berliner’s portfolio for HIGH ART.
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Dinner Party
This short film, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, was released a year before her debut feature, HIGH ART.
