This is an excellent doc on the 70s/80s film movement in the crumbling rightwing NYC of a band of radically anarchist directors and the artists cast in their films. Its a great condensed history of the filmmakers who were inspired by Warhol & John Waters, the birth of punk & hip-hop & the tragic disenfranchisement and ultimate commodification of America's greatest city. These filmmakers were usually just making drug fueled odes to Godard or having fun showing off how artsy they were, but accidentally became documentarians of great artists like Basquiat or captured the painful experience of the impoverished urban transplant. Theres the usual "bleeding heart" exploitative business typical of cowardly faux-leftists, but these people were definitely on the right side of history in hindsight.
These filmmakers channeled their anxiety, anger, despair, confusion and insanity into their films as good as can be done. Some of it is ineffectual, masturbatory and not the protest you might expect, but its very admirable and progressive for its time (and a lot of it is cool by today's standards). Its too often overlooked that cinema was an extension of the punk scene, especially the more extreme "No Wave" style. Its a very inspiring watch.
https://vimeo.com/78429727
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