FILM

The painter Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) joined forces with the photographer Paul Strand (1890-1976) for Manhatta, a work that – despite its Romantic idealisation – is considered to be the first American avant-garde film. Partly inspired by Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman’s collection of poems about New York whose ‘organic’ structure was revolutionary at the time, this film records one day in Lower Manhattan. The makers emphasize the expressive, picturesque skyline of skyscrapers and the dynamism of the city – the hustle and bustle of the harbour, the economic activity – by positioning the camera very dramatically and its fluid editing of brief shots.