New Film About a 1950's Ping-Pong Champ Transforms NYC's Lower East Side

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If you found yourself on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side last week, you may have felt like you entered a time warp. People in old-timey clothes milled about the street, vintage signs covered storefronts, and old cars parked along the curb. We even spotted a wooden push cart! Untapped New York received a tip from one of our longtime contributors that a film set had taken over this stretch of New York City, so we had to check it out for ourselves.

Signs plastered on telephone poles noted that this area of Orchard Street, from Delancey to Rivington, is being used for the production of “BFM.” Filming notices often use fake titles to deflect interest, and because the official title of the project may not be set yet. We asked around and discovered that the film stars Timothée Chalamet. Variety reports that the actor has been spotted in various locations around Manhattan in period costume.

We learned that the set is part of a new A24 film written and directed by Josh Safdie. Titled Marty Supreme, the film stars Chalamet as ping pong champion Marty Reisman. Further details about the plot are scarce, but Reisman’s colorful life makes great fodder for the screen.

Reisman was born in Manhattan to Ashkenazi Jewish parents on February 1, 1930. He started playing table tennis at nine years old and became a junior champion by the age of thirteen. Soon he was traveling the world and performing as an opening act for the Globetrotters. For decades, his home base was at the Riverside Table Tennis Courts at 96th Street and Broadway. Throughout his 50+ year career, Reisman became known for his gregarious personality as much as for his skills. He won 22 major table tennis titles, amassed and lost a fortune betting on the game, and challenged celebrities to ping-pong matches.

It’s fascinating to see the intricate work that goes into transforming modern-day New York into a former version of itself, from the dirt and wear on business signs and awnings to the carefully curated displays in shop windows. We noticed laundry hanging from fire escapes, signs written in Hebrew, and a vintage taxi cab (Reismam’s father was a cab driver).

See more photos from the set below, and check out behind-the-scenes shots of other television and film shoots we’ve visited in New York City, like the recreation of an automat for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the real-life police station used in Brooklyn 9-9!