27th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel
director: Maya Duverdier, Amélie van Elmbt
original title: Dreaming Walls - de sista gästerna på Chelsea Hotel
year: 2022
running time: 80 min.
synopsis
The legendary Chelsea Hotel in New York City finds itself at a critical moment in its existence. Eight years of reconstruction means hope for the owners that it will be reopened in its full glory and beauty. But for the more than 50 regular tenants, the already difficult living conditions in the middle of a construction site can result in an even more difficult existential situation. It is this unique turning point that is the subject of the documentary, which uses profiles of residents of different ages and interests to piece together a historical picture of the iconic building. A hotel that in the pop culture imagination – but apparently also in reality – has become more than just a mere place of habitation.“Our intention was to keep a distance from the mythology and deconstruct it. We wanted to welcome the audience through the backdoor of the Chelsea Hotel and to show something different from what people usually imagine.”
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Source: https://www.cineuropa.org/en/interview/422124/
biography
Amélie van Elmbt (b. 1986) is a Belgian director who works mainly in fiction film. Her film The Elephant and the Butterfly (2017) was produced by Martin Scorsese. Maya Duverdier studied in France and Switzerland, and her graduation project was a film on Joan of Arc. She works in documentary and fiction films and television.more about film
| director: | Maya Duverdier, Amélie van Elmbt |
| producer: | Hanne Phlypo |
| script: | Amélie van Elmbt, Maya Maya Duverdier |
| photography: | Joachim Philippe, Virginie Surdej |
