City Hall

Documentary Rated: NR 272 min
Streaming Online: Fri, Nov 6—Thu, Nov 19
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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.

“Constitutes a love letter to civic governance, and the notion of democracy, at a time when public discourse seethes with scorn for urban life.” — Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
“The result is not a portrait of a city, really. Refreshingly – and maybe even a little surprisingly – it’s a portrait of a government that actually seems to be working for its citizens.” — Allison Wilkinson, Vox
directed by
Frederick Wiseman
written by
Frederick Wiseman
with
Marty Walsh
production company
Puritan Films