“Harry Chapin - Cat’s in the Cradle: The Song That Changed Our Lives” is set to screen at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington on November 1st—fitting, considering the hyper-local legend status of the film’s subject.
Rick Korn’s documentary recently won Best Film at the 2025 Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) Film Festival. It celebrates 50 years since the folk singer-songwriter turned world hunger fighter released his most popular song.
Notable musicians who appear as talking heads within the documentary to discuss “Cat’s in the Cradle’s” everlasting cultural impact include Billy Joel, Pat Benatar, Judy Collins, Dee Snider, Darryl McDaniels, Mandy Patinkin, Robert Lamm, and Whitfield Crane. This collective waxes nostalgic on the track’s parenthood and passage-of-time themes.
“What makes this song so amazing is the multi-generational and multi-cultural effect it has on people around the world, even to this day,” said Korn.
The film’s Cinema Arts Centre appearance will come a day after “Cat’s in the Cradle” premieres at Tribeca in NYC on October 30th, and a few days before its DVD and digital streaming release, which the documentary’s editor, S.A. Baron, and producer Jason Chapin, Harry's son, announced together with Korn this week.
This trio was recently honored with the 2024 Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award for their efforts advancing Harry’s fight for food justice.
Proceeds from the Cinema Arts Centre screening will benefit both the community arthouse itself and Harry Chapin’s local legacy, the Long Island Cares food bank, which he founded a year before his untimely death in 1980.
The film’s tour at large will also benefit WhyHunger.
“However, what makes this song and film unique is that it gave Harry a platform to launch his hunger charities like WhyHunger,” Korn continued. “Fifty years later, WhyHunger is helping millions of people in 24 countries around the globe at a very crucial time in world history.”
Adds Jason Chapin: “My father wrote many unforgettable story songs. But ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ is by far his best known… I’m thrilled at how the film captures so many wonderful stories about the song and my father told by music legends, fans, family, and others.”