After leaving the IFC Theater for the premiere of Atropia, partygoers knew they were in the right place on Monday night when they spied the LED-screen truck with a larger-than-life Chloë Sevigny on it parked outside of the AIA New York Center for Architecture. The Greenwich Village venue had been transformed for the night into the world of Atropia, writer-director Hailey Benton Gates’s feature debut, thanks to Souvenir Shop, which stars Alia Shawkat as an overcommitted actress in a military-run simulation of a Middle Eastern village. That meant the party was themed to a simulation of a simulation, a trippy, irreverent-chic, multistory experience beginning with a step-and-repeat in front of a porta-potty, naturally. Shawkat, Gates and Sevigny all wore Miu Miu, who produced the original Atropia short film as part of its Women’s Tales series, and it co-sponsored the premiere after-party along with New York Magazine.
Photo: Philip Tran
Photo: Philip Tran
Downstairs, an entire indoor souk stall had been erected to house celebrity chef Hawa Hassan, whose latest cookbook, Setting a Place for Us, was inspired by the cuisines of countries shaped by war and displacement: Yemeni- and Iraqi-inspired dishes like kebab, shawarma, and falafel. The catering extended to giant platters overflowing with dates and nuts in the back of the room, where Abbi Jacobson lounged on a couch and New York editor-in-chief David Haskell chatted with Atropia co-star Callum Turner. Turner then went upstairs to the bar to greet his fiancée, Dua Lipa, looking high-glam and ethereal in a brown fur coat. The duo could later be spotted staging an impromptu photo shoot in front of a Kohn Pedersen Fox gallery display (how very Center for Architecture of them).
Photo: Philip Tran
Shawkat gave a jovial “Speech! Speech!” when Gates appeared on the mezzanine above the crowd, Evita-style, to thank everyone for attending and to introduce “the great” Zahra Alzubaidi, a musician who works in a variety of Arabic styles and happens to co-star in the film. After everyone rushed the stage for Alzubaidi’s performance, DJ Fursa took over the rest of the night’s music. Succession’s Arian Moayed also stopped by to enjoy the celebration.
Photo: Marion Curtis
As the party continued, guests sipped Yola Mezcal cocktails with names like the “Exploding Mule” (tastier and less gruesome than it sounds), and the room filled with even more buzz than when Dua Lipa showed up. People excitedly craned their necks and nudged their friends, asking, “Is that her?” “Her” referred to Rama Duwaji, wife to New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a.k.a America’s First Lady around these parts. It was everyone’s civic duty to stan accordingly.
Photo: Philip Tran
