New York City: Films
This libguide is a supplemental resource for the introductory writing course HCD/HCI-1020 Writing and Thinking : New York City
Streaming Films : KANOPY
- Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Kanopy is a streaming video platform with a "Netflix-like" user experience and a broad, curated selection of documentaries, indie movies, classics, feature films and training videos. Films can be watched from anywhere, anytime by current students, faculty, and staff.
- Los Sures (1984)This documentary follows five people living in the Brooklyn neighborhood nicknamed Los Sures outlining the challenges of its time: drugs, gang violence, crime, abandoned real estate, racial tension, single-parent homes, and inadequate local resources.
- Jean-Michel Basquiat : the Radiant Child (2009)
At the core of this documentary by Tamara Davis is an interview she filmed with Basquiat in 1986, which was later woven together with archival footage and additional interviews with the late artist's friends and associates. - Antonio Lopez: Sex, Disco & Fashion: The Life and Work of a Revolutionary Fashion Illustrator (2017)
This documentary is a vibrant time capsule of the decadent world of ’70s haute couture as viewed through the eyes of Antonio Lopez, the dominant fashion illustrator of the era.
Streaming Films : SWANK
- Swank This link opens in a new window
Swank is a streaming film platform with a curated list of available films from major motion picture studios.
- Do the Right Thing (1989)
Racial tensions grow in a Brooklyn neighborhood on the hottest day of the summer while everyone tries to cope with the heat. Spike Lee received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay. - In the Heights (2021)
A musical set in the Dominican American neighborhood of Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, New York City. The story follows a young bodega owner who dreams about opening a business in the Dominican Republic.
Streaming Films : ACADEMIC VIDEO ONLINE
- Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
This film database has documentaries, feature films, interviews, performances, news programs including award-winning films from PBS, BBC, 60 MINUTES, National Geographic and more. Below are a few examples of relevant titles:
- Whitman from Poetry in America with Elisa New (2020)Guests Elena Kagan, Tony Kushner, Mark Doty, Marilyn Chin, and a group of National Student Poets discuss Whitman’s powerful and timeless work.
- The New Colossus from Poetry in America with Elisa New (2017)Athletes and poets, politicians and musicians, architects, scientists, actors, entrepreneurs, and citizens of all ages join host and Harvard professor Elisa New to experience and share the power of poetry in this visually dazzling and archivally rich series.
DVDs & Blurays
The SVA Library DVD & Blu-ray collection contains over 20,000 titles. What follows is just a small selection of the countless films that highlight New York City:
In Jackson HeightsPublication Date: 2015In Jackson Heights is about the racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood in Queens, New York
Blank CityPublication Date: 2012During the punk rock stage in the late '70s, downtown New York experienced a wave of "Do it yourself" independent filmmaking.
7th StreetPublication Date: 2003A documentary that traces the evolution of New York’s Alphabet City.
New York : A Documentary FilmPublication Date: 2001
The SVA Library DVD & Blu-ray collection contains over 20,000 titles. What follows is just a small selection of the countless films that highlight New York City:
Subway StoriesPublication Date: 1997The film tells the adventures that await those who venture into New York's serpentine subway system.
After HoursPublication Date: 2004The twists and turns of one night in the life of a New York yuppie and the interesting people he comes in contact with from a sexy woman to a crazy ice cream dealer.
Ghost Dog : the Way of the SamuraiPublication Date: 2000
The SVA Library DVD & Blu-ray collection contains over 20,000 titles. What follows is just a small selection of the countless films that highlight New York City:
Downtown : the animated seriesPublication Date: 2000The show follows the lives of Alex and Chaka, a brother and sister pair of polar opposites, as well as their East Village friends. A funny, trippy and often surreal take on modern life in the city, Downtown portrays the intersecting lives of a group of diverse characters who live, work, and play in the greatest town in the world - NYC.
The SVA Library DVD & Blu-ray collection contains over 20,000 titles. What follows is just a small selection of the countless films that highlight New York City:
- Meat Joy byConverted from original film footage of three 1964 performances of Meat joy in London, Paris and New York City.
The SVA Library DVD & Blu-ray collection contains over 20,000 titles. What follows is just a small selection of the countless films that highlight New York City:
Chantal Ackerman's New York FilmsPublication Date: 2009
Treasures IV American avant garde film, 1947-1986.Publication Date: 2009Presents 26 films by artists who helped to redefine cinema ... Samples an array of film types and styles, from abstract animation to documentary and balances acknowledged classics with rediscoveries.
Chinatown VoyeurPublication Date: 1971Gordon Matta-Clark's space and texture work, created specifically for video, is a tour of the skyline and domestic interiors of New York's Chinatown.
Open Web Resources
- Library of Congress : Early Films of New York, 1898 to 1906This collection contains forty-five films of New York dating from 1898 to 1906 from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
- Anthology Film ArchivesAnthology holds one of the world’s most extensive and invaluable collections of avant-garde films and videos, housing, protecting, and preserving works on 35mm, 16mm, and Regular- and Super-8mm film, and on various video formats, as well as film stills and audio recordings. Some clips are available here.