There is a lot to love about Smithereens (1982), the debut feature film by Susan Seidelman, who is most famous for Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), but who has quite a few terrific films on her rez.

First, though an indie, Smithereens doesn't have a lot of amateurish flourishes to gracefully overlook. It's low-budget, but as it was on location — and as the location was early-'80s NYC, gritty and grimy and colorful and weird — the film has an effortless authenticity.

It also oozes style, and as Seidelman noted in tonight's IFC screening and Q&A, it documents an NYC that no longer exists. (As opposed to Desperately Seeking Susan, which largely documents an NYC that never existed, a heightened and dreamlike variation on the city as viewed through the lens of a modern screwball comedy.)

The film also has a gutsy lead performance by Susan Berman enhanced by naturalistic turns from Richard Hell and a host of so-bonkers-you-can't-fake-it locals, incredible music and something to say about the desperation so many people have when they're young to be ... something else.

Seek it out!

And seek out her new memoir, Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls.