‘Blank City’: Doc explores hidden NYC cinematic history1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteModern American independent film was born in New York, fermented on the mean streets of the East Village and the LES during the ’70s and ’80s.
Filmmakers such as Jim Jarmusch (“Ghost Dog”) and actors such as Steve Buscemi got their start in small, stylistically daring, self-financed productions made during that time in the then-downtrodden neighborhoods.
Few know the full story of the motley band of underground artists that comprised that cinema movement, dubbed No Wave.
First-time filmmaker Céline Danhier tells the tale in “Blank City,” a documentary that offers a primer on the largely unavailable-on-DVD movies made during the period, as well as a portrait of a grimy, gritty NYC long since gentrified.
