John Early selects: Zhe Zhe Marathon

Director: E.J. O'Hara, Leah Hennessey

2013 / 262min / DCP

Actor, comedian and friend of Metrograph, John Early returns to Metrograph to introduce a marathon screening of the web series Zhe Zhe, followed by a Q&A with series creators Emily Allan, Leah Hennessey, and Ruby McCollister.

Zhe Zhe Marathon

“Sometime between the sexy noughties and the apocalyptic free fall of the 2020s, there existed something known as Zhe Zhe. A cult phenomenon watched only by the freakiest of the fringe, the increasingly legendary web series begs the question—if a web series predicted the future but no one was around to hear it, how did our world become Zhe Zhe? Kind of like if Josie and the Pussycats were directed by John Waters (in his sleep), Zhe Zhe chronicles the delusional struggles of a doomed rock ’n’ roll band. Satirizing everything from the corporate co-option of gender fluidity to the ascendency of Trump, the jaw-droppingly irreverent, timelessly hip show was made over the course of eight years by New York superstars (in the truest Warholian sense) Ruby McCollister, Leah Hennessey, Emily Allan , E.J. O’Hara, and shot by Max Lakner, on a nano budget. Each episode features original music by the fictional band Zhe Zhe and an array of cameos that almost make you believe New York in the 2010s was the coolest imaginable underground you were just square enough to miss.”—John Early