TEHRAN – “City Hall”, Frederick Wiseman’s documentary that shows why government is necessary for people to successfully live together, will be screened at the 14th edition of Cinéma Vérité, Iran’s major international festival for documentary films.

The documentary was shot in 2018 and 2019, which means that it already plays like a pre-COVID-19 time capsule.

The documentary illustrates that 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.

It 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 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.

The Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) as the main organizer of Cinéma Vérité has selected a variety of top documentaries to screen during the festival, which will be held totally online from December 8 to 15 due to a spike in the COVID-19 cases in the country.  

“Kubrick by Kubrick”, a documentary by the French filmmaker Gregory Monro, and “The Cordillera of Dreams”, the winner of the 2019 Golden Eye Award for best documentary film at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival by Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzman has also been selected to go on screen at the festival.

Francisco Bermejo’s documentary “The Other One” and “Wintopia”, a documentary tracing the enigmatic footsteps of iconic Canadian documentary filmmaker Peter Wintonick through his daughter Mira’s lens, are also included.

Photo: “City Hall” by Frederick Wiseman.

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