A Day In The Life - Deeper Into Movies

This month we asked Steven T. Hanley, the founder and lead curator of Deeper Into Movies. For the past 10 years they have been screening important contemporary films and documentaries across cinemas and art spaces in London and New York. Alongside the screenings, they also release soundtracks, publish books, and host a podcast.

I get up around 8 a.m. The first thing I do is say hello to my dog, Blu-ray.

Then I check emails, texts and Instagram. I make Earl Grey tea, recently I've become obsessed with a breakfast my friend introduced me to: Birds Eye waffles, black dhal, fried eggs and Sriracha. 

After breakfast I take Blu-ray for a long walk. We usually go to one of the local parks. I listen to music or the Bret Easton Ellis podcast. I leave long voice notes for friends and I call my mum.

My favourite thing to do is go to charity shops. I head straight for the DVD section. I'm always looking for forgotten films. Films that never made it to streaming or films that sat on the shelves of Blockbuster in the 2000s and then disappeared. 

For my birthday this year I bought myself a portable DVD player. I own a large TV and a Blu-ray player, but lately I prefer the portable DVD player. There's something comforting about lying in bed, loading a disc. No notifications. No tabs. No buffering. Just the movie.

In the evening I'll usually meet a friend for dinner. I prefer one-on-one conversations. We normally meet in Soho around six or seven, get Chinese food or pizza, then go to the cinema. My favourite cinemas are Curzon Soho and BFI Southbank. After the film we'll get coffee and talk about what we've just watched. Then I'll get an Uber home. I like being in car rides at night. I put on headphones and listen to ambient music and I look out the window. It’s great for the brain to power down, It’s even better when it's raining.

When I get home I get into bed with my dog and read for an hour.

Some of my favourite writers are Bret Easton Ellis, Donna Tartt, Martin Amis, Tao Lin, Ben Lerner, Douglas Coupland, Ottessa Moshfegh and Gary Indiana.