Blank City

New York in the late ’70s is to today’s cool kids the apogee of all that is hip and challenging. In this documentary, director Celine Danhier explores one of the many artistic substrata fuelling that uniquely creative period: experimental film. Intercutting talking-head (no pun intended) interviews with the likes of Debbie Harry, Jim Jarmusch, Steve Buscemi and Lydia Lunch, Danhier tracks the story of NYC outsider cinema from grimy no-wave rock docs to Richard Kern, Nick Zedd and the cinema of transgression. It’s an interesting tale that’s strong on place and mood but oddly repetitive and confusing. It’s hard to shake the suspicion that ‘Blank City’ is just an excuse for these ageing hipsters to pat themselves on the back.