Blank City/Celine Danheir/2010

Céline Danhier’s first documentary film, Blank City, is a love letter to the filmmakers of New York’s No Wave movement in late Seventies/early Eighties. Much in the spirit of the subject’s do-it-yourself spirit, Danhier started the project shortly after receiving her law degree despite her lack of formal training in filmmaking. The documentary is strewn together by footage from No Wave films, including Jim Jarmusch’s Permanent Vacation, Amos Poe’s Unmade Beds(featuring Debbie Harry of Blondie) and Vivienne Dick’s She Had Her Gun All Ready(featuring Lydia Lunch). Other artists featured in the documentary include Jean-Michel Basquiat, hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddie and actor Steve Buscemi.