Directed by:
Celine DanhierPlots(1)
Blank City is an "absorbing snapshot of a daring time" (LA Times) when a disparate crew of renegade filmmakers emerged from an economically bankrupt and dangerous moment in New York history. From the late 1970's through the mid 80's, when the city was still a wasteland of cheap rent and cheap drugs, these directors crafted daring works that would go on to profoundly influence the development of independent film as we know it today. Made on DIY shoestring budgets with the pioneering musicians, visual artists, performers, and derelicts that ruled Downtown, the films surveyed in Blank City are fitting documents of an exhilarating cultural landscape. Director Céline Danhier weaves together an oral history of the "No Wave Cinema" and "Cinema of Transgression" movements, through compelling interviews with the luminaries who began it all. Featured players include acclaimed directors Jim Jarmusch and John Waters, actor-writer-director Steve Buscemi, Blondie's Debbie Harry, hip-hop legend Fab 5 Freddy, and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Amos Poe
Best movies:
New York Beat Movie (1981)
Ann Magnuson
USA
Best movies:
Panic Room (2002)
The United States of Leland (2003)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
Bette Gordon
USA
Best movies:
11 x 14 (1977)
Deborah Harry
USA
Best movies:
New York Beat Movie (1981)
My Life Without Me (2003)
Elegy (2008)
Fab 5 Freddy
USA
Best movies:
American Gangster (2007)
New York Beat Movie (1981)
Juice (1992)
Jim Jarmusch
USA
Best movies:
Sling Blade (1996)
In the Soup (1992)
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)
John Lurie
USA
Best movies:
Paris, Texas (1984)
Down by Law (1986)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
John Waters
USA
Best movies:
Jackass: Number Two (2006)
Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Hairspray (1988)
Kembra Pfahler
USA
Best movies:
The Misandrists (2017)
Otto; or Up with Dead People (2008)
Lizzie Borden
USA
Lung Leg
USA
Lydia Lunch
USA
Best movies:
Godkiller (2010)
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
Nick Zedd
USA
Best movies:
Terror Firmer (1999)
Joe's Apartment (1996)
Dark Forces (2020)
Richard Kern
USA
Sara Driver
USA
Best movies:
Mystery Train (1989)
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Permanent Vacation (1980)
Steve Buscemi
USA
Best movies:
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Susan Seidelman
USA
Vivienne Dick
Ireland