Arts & Entertainment

Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali Attend 'Green Book' Screening

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali attend the premiere of their new movie 'Green Book' in New York City. See the red carpet photos below!

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Daniela Kirsch, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali stepped out on Wednesday evening to attend a special screening of their new movie 'Green Book' organized by the Cinema Society. Many NYC based celebrities showed up at the Roxy Hotel to watch the road comedy which already received a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and might be on track to win big at the Oscar's, or as USA Today puts it: 'Finally, an Oscar for Viggo?'.
The film is about an NYC bouncer, played by Viggo Mortensen, who gets hired to chauffeur a world class black pianist, played by Mahershala Ali, during a tour through the US South. The movie is named after a travel guidebook published from 1936–66 listing hotels, restaurants, and other venues safe to visit for African American travelers.
The movie will be released on November 15.

Daniela's Lens was at the screening to capture all the action. Take a look below:

6:45 p.m.
I arrive at the Roxy Hotel.

7:11 p.m.
The first guests arrive, and I just discovered that my camera settings are all wrong. It's dark and I can't focus. The focus points are all weird. What did I do with it last night that it's so messed up?
I frantically start debugging the configuration while still trying to take photos.

7:21 p.m.
Viggo Mortensen is first on the carpet. My camera isn't working properly, and I feel like an idiot asking him to stay put. It usually takes me about 3 seconds to get the shot, today it takes almost 10 and believe me, that's an eternity in red carpet photography.
"I'm so sorry.... just one more," I say to Viggo and blush. I feel like a rookie.
But Viggo is all cool about it. "No problem," he says. "Did you get the shot?" he asks me a moment later.
"Yes, thank you so so much!" I say to him.

7:23 p.m.
The guests are all lined up for the carpet. There is no time to fix the settings on my camera. To make it work, I hold the lens in a strange angle to match the one tiny focus point that's left to target the faces. All my photos will need a lot of cropping but who cares as long as the pictures turn out sharp?!

7:24 p.m.
Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is one of the lead actors in the movie.

7:25 p.m.
Let's get the two lead actors in one shot! Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.

7:28 p.m.
Russian supermodel Vlada Roslyakova.

7:31 p.m.
Actor Damon Gillespie and Grace Aki.

7:34 p.m.
Kathleen Turner speeds the red carpet tonight.

7:35 p.m.
So does Tony Danza. He gives us a quick hello.
And that's so special about Cinema Society events: Many of the celebs are here almost private and for just one reason: To watch the movie!
It's not about promoting themselves, and they are not paid to be here.
Most of them are dressed casually. Look at Tony and Kathleen both are wearing sneakers.
They arrive alone without an entourage, no publicist, no stylist, no security other than the security provided by the event. They are here because they are genuinely interested in the film and are looking forward to having a fun night out eating lots of popcorn and discussing the movie.

7:39 p.m.
Geneva Carr.

7:41 p.m.
Shiloh Fernandez.

7:43 p.m.
Sami Gayle.

7:44 p.m.
Isiah Whitlock Jr.

7:47 p.m.
Jaime Cepero still has his headphones on when starts posing for us. "Your headphones!" the photographers say. "Oh no!" he says, "Thanks for letting me know!" He takes the headphones, and we start shooting again.

8:03 p.m.
Paul Sorvino with his wife, Dee Dee Benkie. "Sorry, we are late!" he says.

Daniela Kirsch is an entertainment photographer and founder of NameFace — an event photo agency based in New York City. Through her creative expertise and unique visual style, Kirsch not only knows more than a thing or two about photographing A-list events, but is forever changing the way we interact with the entertainment industry. In June 2018, Kirsch teamed up with Patch to launch the photo series Daniela's Lens, offering weekly features from local events to red carpet magic.

Check out more coverage from Daniela's Lens here:

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