In Jackson Heights is a 2015 documentary film about the community of Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, directed by Frederick Wiseman. The film received widespread critical acclaim. In 2017, the film was considered the thirteenth "Best Film of the 21st Century So Far" by The New York Times.
Synopsis The film documents events in Jackson Heights, including "a Muslim school, a Jewish center, a meeting of gay and transgender people, a City Council office and the local headquarters of Make the Road New York, an activist organization dedicated to Latino and working-class people."
Release Critical response In Jackson Heights has received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 95%, based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
In a review for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Phillips wrote, "True to Wiseman's form, In Jackson Heights contains no on-screen identification of camera subjects, no voice-over narration and little in the way of overt polemics. By the end, you arrive at the essential paradox found in every Wiseman portrait: a clear sense of just how cloudy our world and our environments have become." For The New York Times, Manohla Dargis wrote, "Wiseman’s latest documentary is a movingly principled, political look at a dynamic neighborhood in which older waves of pioneers make room for new, amid creeping gentrification."
In Peter Bradshaw's review for The Guardian, he called it "an engaging portrait—film-making which works from the ground up."
Accolades
Award Subject Nominee ResultChicago International Film FestivalBest DocumentaryFrederick WisemanNominatedCinema Eye HonorsOutstanding Achievement in DirectionFrederick WisemanNominatedIndiewire Critics' PollBest Documentary3rd PlaceInternational Cinephile Society AwardsBest Documentary2nd PlaceInternational Online Cinema AwardsBest DocumentaryFrederick Wiseman3rd PlaceBFI London Film FestivalDocumentary FilmFrederick WisemanNominatedNational Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Non-Fiction Film2nd PlaceNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsBest Non-Fiction FilmVenice International Film FestivalQueer LionNominatedVillage Voice Film PollBest Documentary4th Place
Box office As of 4 November 2016, the film has grossed $121,094 at the box office.
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