Stranger, smaller-room, and in-the-know Scope NYC picks for Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
Anthology’s Avatars of the Whore series gathers short films by or made in collaboration with people from the leathersex scene, challenging familiar screen stereotypes about sex work. This program begins with the dominatrix as its point of departure and screens at 7 p.m.
MoMA presents a program by Claire Atherton, the longtime editor of Chantal Akerman, bringing together reflections on editing, memory and cinema. The 7 p.m. screening offers a chance to see work shaped by a distinctive editor’s sensibility in a museum setting.
Spectacle presents the U.S. premiere of Canadian filmmakers Kalil Haddad and Ryan Steel's 62-minute shorts cycle, a video-mixtape of ten films that includes their new collaboration BAND PRACTICE. Nostalgia, masculine crisis and caustic youth shape this 7:30 p.m. screening.
Marshall Opera celebrates Adolphus Hailstork’s 85th birthday with vocal soloists, an instrumental ensemble and a program of his music, including a world premiere. The 7:30 p.m. concert at Merkin Hall spans opera, chamber and vocal writing by a major American composer.
Berlin’s weekly Torture Tuesday pairs live music with a deliberately rough-edged rock-club atmosphere. Torture and the Desert Spiders take the stage at 8 p.m.; the venue lists doors at 7, so plan for the set rather than treating arrival time as showtime.
The Travelin’ McCourys bring their bluegrass virtuosity to Cafe Wha? for an 8 p.m. set. The band moves between tight acoustic picking and an easy, high-energy stage presence, making this a downtown option for listeners who want roots music in a storied club room.
Saxophonist John Maurice Restrepo leads his quartet at Ornithology for a late set rooted in contemporary jazz. The club’s small-room format makes this a close-up chance to hear a working band stretch through its own material; music starts at 9 p.m.
The Red Pavilion hosts erotic readings and confessions in a late-night gathering that mixes personal storytelling with performance. Doors are listed at 9 p.m.; the evening is for adults and leans into the venue’s theatrical, after-hours sensibility.
Monika Treut and Elfi Mikesch's 1985 film returns to Anthology as part of a series on gender transgression. The late 9:15 p.m. screening is a chance to see the filmmakers' provocative collaboration in the independent cinema archive that has long championed boundary-pushing work.
Spectacle screens Die Hard Dracula, a low-budget horror-comedy that sends an action hero into a vampire story. Its 10 p.m. slot suits the film’s midnight-movie energy; this is the Tuesday screening, with no special guest listed for this date.