Blank City

New Cinema. New Wave. New York.

2011•1h 34m•7.1/10

Documentary

Ratings

🎬TMDb

7.1/10(14)

In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come from comfort, and it was precisely those dire circumstances that inspired artists like Jim Jarmusch, Lizzy Borden, and Amos Poe to produce some of their best works. Taking their cues from punk rock and new wave music, these young maverick filmmakers confronted viewers with a stark reality that stood in powerful contrast to the escapist product being churned out by Hollywood.

Open in PickFlick

Production

Insurgent Docs

Language

EN

Status

Released

Release Date

Cast

Amos Poe

Amos Poe

Self

Ann Magnuson

Ann Magnuson

Self

Becky Johnston

Self

Bette Gordon

Bette Gordon

Self

Beth B

Beth B

Self

Casandra Stark

Casandra Stark

Self

Charlie Ahearn

Charlie Ahearn

Self

Daze

Self

Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry

Self

Eric Mitchell

Eric Mitchell

Self

Fab 5 Freddy

Fab 5 Freddy

Self

Glenn O'Brien

Self

James Chance

Self

Jamie Nares

Jamie Nares

Self

Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch

Self

J.G. Thirlwell

J.G. Thirlwell

Self

John Lurie

John Lurie

Self

John Waters

John Waters

Self

Kembra Pfahler

Kembra Pfahler

Self

Lizzie Borden

Lizzie Borden

Self

Recommended

The Last Mercenary

The Last Mercenary

A legendary secret service agent comes out of hiding and returns to France to help the son he's never met get out of trouble.

The Last Mercenary

2021

6.4

CBGB

CBGB

A look at New York's dynamic punk rock scene through the lens of the ground-breaking Lower East Side club started by eccentric Hilly Kristal in 1973 which launched thousands of bands.

CBGB

2013

6.3

The Halt

The Halt

Trains travel through the night without stopping. The clatter of the carriages quickly disappears, along with the wail of the locomotive. The people at the station are all asleep. But why are they so exhausted ? And what are they waiting for? Set inside an isolated train depot, The Train Station is one of Sergei Loznitsa's most haunting films. It is also one of his most pointed social critiques. In this film, we are brought to a remote train station deep in the Russian woods. It's nighttime. In the distance, we hear the clatter of locomotives. The station, a small wooden building, sits silently, surrounded only by snow and train tracks.

The Halt

2000

5.1

Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Exploring the pre-fame years of the celebrated American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and how New York City, its people, and tectonically shifting arts culture of the late 1970s and '80s shaped his vision.

Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat

2018

6.9

Beautiful Darling

Beautiful Darling

James Rasin's documentary “Beautiful Darling” honors American Transgender actress and best-known Warhol Superstar, Candy Darling, and her all-too-brief life and career, with a combination of current and vintage interview material, rarely seen archival photos and footage, and extracts from Darling's movies.

Beautiful Darling

2010

5.7

Head-On

Head-On

With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.

Head-On

2004

7.5

The Way Back

The Way Back

A former basketball all-star, who has lost his wife and family foundation in a struggle with addiction, attempts to regain his soul and salvation by becoming the coach of a disparate ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.

The Way Back

2020

6.6

Return

Eyüp decides to cross mount Ararat looking for his aunt in Yerevan after following a madman's words. His aunt has also been expecting someone to come from behind this mount for many years. Eyüp cannot be sure about the woman he finds behind the blue door, whether it is his aunt or not because they can't understand each other.

Return

6.6

The Way Back

The Way Back

Hüseyin Al Baldawi arrives in Brussels in August 2015. He has traveled thousands of kilometers until he got there from Iraq. A year after his arrival, he receives his residence permit and decides to go to Greece. This journey from Brussels to Athens involves the viewers on the difficulties faced by Hüseyin and thousands of other immigrants. While the story of Hüseyin is taking shape through the countries he travels, the forgotten people he meets and the selfish society of Europe give us many messages, as well.

The Way Back

2019

6.8

The Way Back

The Way Back

Ember is a 21-year-old photography student, stubborn, confident and independent. Her biggest dream has always been to move out of her hometown - she hated it for as long as she could remember and never felt comfortable there. But as Ember fulfils her dream and moves away to a different city, she keeps coming back to the memories of her past life and introspecting her connection with her hometown.

The Way Back

2022

7.2

Return

No overview available.

Return

6.4

The Return

The Return

After twenty years away, Odysseus washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The king has finally returned home, but much has changed in his kingdom since he left to fight in the Trojan war.

The Return

2024

6.5

Similar Movies

Anthem

Anthem

When twenty-six-year-olds Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn quit their Hollywood jobs, packed up a borrowed car and hit the road, it was with the deeply felt conviction that somewhere, shrouded in the din of talk shows and tabloid headlines, they'd discover the real America, alive and well in all of its regions and demographics.

Anthem

1997

5.0

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?

Amanda is a divorced woman who makes a living as a photographer. During the Fall of the year Amanda begins to see the world in new and different ways when she begins to question her role in life, her relationships with her career and men and what it all means. As the layers to her everyday experiences fall away insertions in the story with scientists, and philosophers and religious leaders impart information directly to an off-screen interviewer about academic issues, and Amanda begins to understand the basis to the quantum world beneath. During her epiphany as she considers the Great Questions raised by the host of inserted thinkers, she slowly comprehends the various inspirations and begins to see the world in a new way.

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?

2004

5.1

Uncle Yanco

Uncle Yanco

While in San Francisco for the promotion of her last film in October 1967, Agnès Varda, tipped by her friend Tom Luddy, gets to know a relative she had never heard of before, Jean Varda, nicknamed "Yanco". This hitherto unknown uncle lives on a boat in Sausalito, is a painter, has adopted a hippie lifestyle and loves life. The meeting is a very happy one.

Uncle Yanco

1967

7.2

DARIO ARGENTO - The Exhibit

DARIO ARGENTO - The Exhibit

No overview available.

DARIO ARGENTO - The Exhibit

2022

Art as a Weapon

Street art, creativity and revolution collide in this beautifully shot film about art’s ability to create change. The story opens on the politically charged Thailand/Burma border at the first school teaching street art as a form of non-violent struggle. The film follows two young girls (Romi & Yi-Yi) who have escaped 50 years of civil war in Burma to pursue an arts education in Thailand. Under the threat of imprisonment and torture, the girls use spray paint and stencils to create images in public spaces to let people know the truth behind Burma's transition toward "artificial democracy." Eighty-two hundred miles away, artist Shepard Fairey is painting a 30’ mural of a Burmese monk for the same reasons and in support of the students' struggle in Burma. As these stories are inter-cut, the film connects these seemingly unrelated characters around the concept of using art as a weapon for change.

Art as a Weapon

2014

6.0

Aliens, Dragons, Monsters & Me

Aliens, Dragons, Monsters & Me

Documentary about the life and work of Ray Harryhausen.

Aliens, Dragons, Monsters & Me

1983

8.0

Pat XO

Pat XO

This documentary profiles the life and career of Pat Summitt, the NCAA's winningest basketball coach, who resigned from her post at the University of Tennessee in 2012 due to early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Pat XO

2013

8.0

The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened? feature film documents the process of development of the ill fated "Superman Lives" movie, that was to be directed by Tim Burton and star Nicolas Cage as the man of steel himself, Superman. The project went through years of development before the plug was pulled, and this documentary interviews the major filmmakers: Kevin Smith, Tim Burton, Jon Peters, Dan Gilroy, Colleen Atwood, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and many many more.

The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

2015

6.7

A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later

A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later

George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back at The Empire Strikes Back 30 years later.

A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later

2011

After the Apology

After the Apology

Suellyn thought the Department of Community Services (DOCS) would only remove children in extreme cases, until her own grandchildren were taken in the middle of the night. Hazel decided to take on the DOCS system after her fourth grandchild was taken into state care. Jen Swan expected to continue to care for her grandchildren but DOCS deemed her unsuitable, a shock not just to her but to her sister, Deb, who was, at the time, a DOCS worker. The rate of Indigenous child removal has actually increased since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology to the ‘stolen generations’ in 2008. These four grandmothers find each other and start a national movement to place extended families as a key solution to the rising number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care. They are not only taking on the system; they are changing it…

After the Apology

2017

Food

Food

This is an animated documentary about FOOD! I interviewed vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian and meat eater about their opinions about food and life choices. Then I animate real food with stop-motion technique based on the interviews. By putting the conversations in different context, the food speak for themselves.

Food

2014

6.2

L7: Pretend We're Dead

L7: Pretend We're Dead

A real time journey witnessing the rise, fall, and ultimate redemption of the fierce feminist pioneers of American grunge punk: L7.

L7: Pretend We're Dead

2017

7.0