The premiere of Frederick Wiseman's documentary "City Hall" is on PBS and streaming.

[Tactical Peek]

". . . a film by Frederick Wiseman, that illustrates the variety of ways the Boston city administration can enter into civil discourse with its citizens. We see Mayor Walsh and his administration address policy priorities such as racial justice, affordable housing, climate action, and homelessness."


https://www.pbs.org/show/city-hall/



Streaming ...

https://www.pbs.org/video/city-hall-ozdubs/

The film explores the government of Boston, Massachusetts from racial justice, housing, climate change action and more. Wiseman's documentaries don't have a standard narrative arc, narration, or interviews, but are based on observation of day-to-day organizational life, in this case the activities of Boston's city government in fall 2018 and winter 2019. Much of the film follows Mayor Marty Walsh in activities such as meetings with aides, addressing business leaders about the impact of climate change on the Harbor, listening to veterans at Faneuil Hall on November 11, observing Thanksgiving Day at Goodwill Industries, and giving his state of the city address at Symphony Hall. A second major theme of the film is public servants helping people in need: the eviction prevention task force, another task force on economic advancement for Latina women, and an economic development adviser working with an ethnically-focused grocery store.[2]

On numerous instances the Mayor and public servants complain about the policies of the Trump Administration. In an interview done for the Toronto International Film Festival, Wiseman says, "City Hall is an anti-Trump film because the mayor and the people who work for him believe in democratic norms. They represent everything Donald Trump doesn't stand for."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Hall_(2020_film)

[Tactical Peek]

1. I give it five thumbs up.

City Hall received positive reviews from film critics. It holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 50 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A glimpse of local government at work that's as patiently observant as it is engrossing, City Hall adds another insightful gem to master documentarian Frederick Wiseman's filmography."[9] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 88 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[10]

Cahiers du Cinéma named it the best film of 2020.[11]