This Is the Bowery

Man in Red Bandana

September 2017 •English

"Man in Red Bandana" is about Welles Remy Crowther, an extraordinary 9/11 hero. However, how his heroics became known is even more remarkable. Eight months after the disaster, his parents learned about how their son spent his last hour due to an ordinary object ... a red bandana. This revelation dramatically shifts their perspective on their loss. After hearing his remarkable story and how it unfolds, viewers will see how the actions of one man have touched 1,000s. This inspirational segment of the film depicts the unique, diverse and folklore ways that Welles is honored throughout the United States including in art, sports and song. Even President Barack Obama pays homage to this young man in the film. Our uplifting ending culminates in the revelation of a secret about Welles that can only be described as "perfect".

Pestilent City

March 1967 •English

Pestilent City covers Manhattan from South to North, from Times Square to Harlem, finding along the way ever more poverty, violence, rage and tragic drunkenness.

Shine a Light

April 2008 •English

Martin Scorsese and the Rolling Stones unite in "Shine A Light," a look at The Rolling Stones." Scorsese filmed the Stones over a two-day period at the intimate Beacon Theater in New York City in fall 2006. Cinematographers capture the raw energy of the legendary band.

The Mona Lisa Curse

September 2008 •English

The Mona Lisa Curse is a Grierson award-winning polemic documentary by art critic Robert Hughes that examines how the world's most famous painting came to influence the art world. With his trademark style, Hughes explores how museums, the production of art and the way we experience it have radically changed in the last 50 years, telling the story of the rise of contemporary art and looking back over a life spent talking and writing about the art he loves, and loathes. In these postmodern days it has been said that there is no more passé a vocation than that of the professional art critic. Perceived as the gate keeper for opinions regarding art and culture, the art critic has supposedly been rendered obsolete by an ever expanding pluralism in the art world, where all practices and disciplines are purported to be equal and valid. Robert Hughes, however, is one art critic who has delivered a message that must not be ignored.

Donald Trump: All-American Billionaire

January 2010 •English

Emily Maitlis tells the story of Donald Trump, the world's most famous developer, who changed the New York skyline with his glitzy towers and made himself a multi-billionaire.

Half Sour

April 2014 •English

A group of young skateboarders find direction in their lives when they move to New York and start a pickle business.

View on Boulevard, New York City

September 1896 •English

Taken in 1896 on the Boulevard (upper Broadway) on the occasion of a bicycle parade in the heyday of the wheeling craze. Old-fashioned horse cars lend interest to the scene.

The Automat

September 2021 •English

The 100-year story of the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, the inspiration for Starbucks, where generations of Americans ate and drank coffee together at communal tables. From the perspective of former customers, we watch a business climb to its peak success and then grapple with fast food in a forever changed America.

Notes on an American Film Director at Work

January 2008 •English

Filmmaker Jonas Mekas follows his friend, film director Martin Scorsese, and his cast and crew, through various locations during the shooting of his film The Departed, released in 2006.

The Best Thing I Ever Done

October 2010 •English

Hailed as the “godfather of Brooklyn pizza,” for forty five years Domenico DeMarco, Italian émigré and father of seven, has been slinging pizzas in his legendary corner shop, Di Fara. Employing five of his children, Dom works tirelessly from morning until night hand crafting each and every pizza himself while his kids take orders and manage the mob of devoted pizza aficionados. The Best Thing I Ever Done is a portrait of DeMarco and his beloved pizzeria, an exploration of his rise to fame and an ode to pizzaioli who take their time to 'make it right.'

Glory Daze: The Life and Times of Michael Alig

September 2015 •English

A review of the wild New York City nightlife of the 90s. The cast of characters who made up the infamous Club Kids speak candidly about that era, culminating with Alig's release from incarceration.

Dream City

January 1986 •English

This film is a portrait of New York in the 1980s by famed photographer Steven Siegel, including footage of the subways, the parks, Times Square and other neighborhoods. The film is narrated by teenagers of that era.

City of Children

August 1949 •English

This final John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short looks at a community, Mooseheart, in Illinois that orphaned children call home.

Roaches' Lullaby

February 1972 •English

A humorous short documentary which features interviews with three zealous New York City roach-haters who demonstrate their own extermination techniques and recount - in hilarious detail - their own personal experiences with cockroaches. Includes an original musical composition lamenting the presence of this pesty insect in urban life

Paperboy Love Prince for Mayor!

February 2023 •English

A documentary following the 2021 campaign of Paperboy Love Prince, a rapper and activist, for Mayor of New York

Not Bad at All

Invalid date •English

Every weekend for six years, Jessica takes a bus from NYC, where she lives and works as a set decorator, to Boston, her hometown, where she cares for her dad, Aloysius, who is 87 and has advanced Alzheimer's disease.

The Rise & Fall of Penn Station

February 2004 •English

In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, connecting the railroad to New York and New England, knitting together the entire eastern half of the United States. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Penn Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. But just 53 years after the station’s opening, the monumental building that was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroyed.

Die Menschenfischer

October 2004 •English

Meet Me in the Bathroom

November 2022 •English

Set against the backdrop of 9/11, this documentary tells the story of how a new generation kickstarted a musical rebirth for New York City that reverberated around the world.

The Face Behind the Mask

March 1938 •English

This dramatized short film describes the historical mystery of France's "man in the iron mask". King Louis XIV imprisoned a man who was never identified, but who was forced to wear an iron mask for the length of his captivity, which ended only in his death. Several candidates for the identity of the man are investigated.