In Jackson Heights

Using his time-tested approach of taking a place as his starting point and then observing all of its facets during filming, Frederick Wiseman depicts an entire neighbourhood, and above all its residents: different waves of immigration have made Jackson Heights, in Queens (New York), into a hugely diverse place, especially from the ethnic viewpoint. With a specific focus on groups formed through ties of history, religion, sexuality or private interests, the filmmaker shows what these people have to gain from such a melting pot – the comfort of being able to meet one’s own kind, the lessons to be learnt from the more experienced, the permeability of cultures – while revealing the economic processes that threaten it. (Olivia Cooper-Hadjian)