The end of a long upmarket renovation of the legendary Chelsea Hotel is partly longed for and partly dreaded by the artists who still live there. The film grants us access to their apartments and interweaves the past with the present.
Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel■
Synopsis
The legendary Chelsea Hotel, an icon of 1960s counterculture - former residents and regulars have included Patti Smith, Jim Morrison, Robert Mapplethorpe and the superstars of Warhol's factory - an artists’ refuge for over a century, will soon reopen as a luxury hotel.
Caught between fear and frenzy, after eight years of construction and living with scaffolding and constant building, some 51 residents prepare for imminent upheaval as others protest or hole up in their rooms. Against this chaotic backdrop, the film explores the utopian origins that contributed to the Chelsea’s mythical stature and questions the challenges it confronts in the future, as its residents, sold to capitalism, and walls themselves face a turning point in their common history.
Credits
Rating: 15
Genre: Documentary
Directors: Maya Duverdier, Amélie van Elmbt
Stars: Merle Lister
