The four-and-a-half-hour “City Hall” first debuted out of competition at the Venice Film Festival in September, followed by a North American premiere in Toronto this month, and then landing at the New York Film Festival, long a favorite venue for Wiseman’s works. Here’s an official synopsis of the film: “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 well as hundreds of other activities that support Boston residents and visitors.
“‘City Hall’ 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 homelessness. ‘City Hall’ shows a city government successfully offering a wide variety of services to a diverse population.” Wiseman, meanwhile, also offered a statement to the Venice Film Festival: “I made ‘City Hall’ to illustrate why government is necessary for people to successfully live together. ‘City Hall’ shows a city government offering a wide variety of important and necessary services to a major American city whose population exemplifies the history of diversity of America. The Boston city government is designed and strives to offer these services in a manner consistent with the Constitution and democratic norms.” Wiseman’s distributor Zipporah Films will handle the release of “City Hall” theatrically in November. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
