City Hall

Zipporah Films has announced a virtual cinema series that will feature a classic Frederick Wiseman film each week, as curated by some of the top filmmakers in the field. They will join Mr. Wiseman for a pre-recorded conversation prior to the films, with a new one being featured each Wednesday as part of a series called Wednesdays with Wiseman, leading up to the release of his latest film, CITY HALL, on October 28 in NY and November 6 and 13 nationwide.

The series will begin on October 21 with Academy Award winner Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Free Solo) doing a pas-de-deux with Mr. Wiseman about BALLET (1995). Academy Award winner Errol Morris (the Fog of War) goes through the maneuvers with Mr. Wiseman on October 28 with SINAI FIELD MISSION (1978) , and Academy Award nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) pay tribute to health care workers on November 4 with HOSPITAL (1970).

City government touches almost every aspect of our lives. Most of us are unaware of or take for granted these necessary services such as police, fire, sanitation, veterans affairs, elder support, parks, licensing of various professional activities, record keeping of birth, marriage and death as wells as hundreds of other activities that support Boston residents and visitors. CITY HALL, by Frederick Wiseman, shows the efforts by Boston city government to provide these services. The film also illustrates the variety of ways the city administration enters into civil discourse with the citizens of Boston. Mayor Walsh and his administration are presented addressing a number of their policy priorities which include racial justice, affordable housing, climate action, and homeless. CITY HALL shows a city government successfully offering a wide variety of services to a diverse population.