Fascinating documentary, punctuated by evocative footage from every conceivable New York story as depicted by several generations of visual artists, which manages to show 'how film is used in a variety of unconventional ways in order to explore and reveal various visions and experiences of a multi-faceted city' (P Adams Sitney)

The three part programme conveys the sense of a city of endless visual possibilities and massive architectural quality where the human mice' develop a fine appreciation of the harsh beauty that distinguishes Manhattan, 'where poverty and wealth are only 10 blocks apart'

Film segments, too numerous and mouth-watering to mention in detail, cover a 60 year period, including works by Chantal Akerman (News from Home, '76), Yvonne Rainer, Rudy Burckhardt, Helen Levitt, Sidney Peterson, D.A.Pennebaker (Daybreak Express, '58), Peter Hutton, Robert Frank, Vivienne Dick, Ron Rice, Ken Jacobs (Blonde Cobra, '59-'63), James Benning, Ralph Steiner and Wilhard van Dyke (The City, ‘39) - P.H.