Maya Duverdier & Amílie Van Elmbt’s “Dreaming Walls”

Dreaming Walls (2022)

The passing of time and the ghosts of brick and mortar are explored in this wistful documentary on New York’s Chelsea Hotel

There’s a melancholy hanging over Dreaming Walls like the scene of a party on the morning after when everyone’s left with a few stragglers determined to keep things going. Documenting the current inhabitants of the Chelsea Hotel whose previous occupants included writers, musicians and artists such as Allen Ginsberg, Arthur Miller, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan and Iggy Pop.

Focussing on the remaining occupants whose rent-controlled agreements allow them to stay, there’s the added backdrop of a seemingly endless, Kaftaesque redevelopment of the property around them with workmen wandering the corridors, climbing scaffolding and dismantling evidence of its glory days in favour of a proposed luxury establishment complete with alternative lifts for the new and existing clientele.

As someone who lived in Greenwich Village during the final years of old New York (attending the final hours of the party), this felt quite sad to see those who remained. At once, I admire their determination to remain steadfast to their ideals while also feeling they’ve cocooned themselves in a moment in time that has passed.

The film is always engaging though doesn’t always hold together though does hint at interesting themes around mortality, change and nostalgia.