We often speak of films as portals to both realized and fictional worlds. A worn metaphor, but one that finds renewed meaning when presented in an unprecedented—and on the move—sort of way. This year, The Criterion Collection—beloved by filmaholics for its curation and streaming of art house films—celebrates its 40th anniversary by gathering over 1,000 classic and contemporary motion pictures from around the world and porting them to accessible locations in an 18-foot van: the Criterion Mobile Closet. Most recently, the interactive vehicle ventured to Brooklyn Bridge Park, where it screened 15 years of Closet picks at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

Of course, we don’t get where we’re going without a proper guide. Since director Guillermo del Toro first stepped into the original Criterion Closet at their New York headquarters in 2010, more than 200 filmmakers, actors, and cinephiles have stopped by: from the iconic likes of Agnès Varda and Willem Dafoe to modern pop-culture figures Ayo Edebiri and Zoë Kravitz. Where will this caravan travel next? Who will soon step inside? Perhaps you or I. While we wait for the next appearance of this nomadic catalog, we can find solace in our own daily rhythms, that endless dance in and out of our shared realities—texturized, sometimes, by the endless power of cinema.

Photographed by Veronica Alemu

Written by Isa Luzarraga