As their new documentary about New York’s Chelsea Hotel is released, directors Amélie van Elmbt and Maya Duverdier talk about gentrification and why “underground independence is so important for our society”
While some establishments dream of having five stars, the Chelsea Hotel hosted a far greater number. In its heyday, the building, located on 23rd street in New York City, was the temporary home for musicians like Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, Mick Jagger, and Chet Baker. Within the hotel’s walls, Jack Kerouac feverishly typed, and Miloš Forman penned his screenplay for, supposedly basing the asylum on the wild assortment of artists roaming the floors.
“We wanted to stay with the residents that really stayed there all their lives,” van Eltmbt tells me over Zoom from Paris – an alternative to a traditional in-person junket at the Chelsea Hotel. Van Eltmbt and Duverdier initially planned to end the film with the hotel’s grand reopening, but couldn’t wait that long. Instead, the film’s patient pacing highlights a sense of limbo amongst the residents, many of whom are unsure if they’ll be able to afford the presumed rise in prices after the luxury makeover. “When we met the people, we understood that they were still dreaming of their lives as artists,” says Duverdier.
Throughout our conversation, both directors lament the absence of a proper replacement for the Chelsea Hotel. Still, I wonder: haven’t artists simply migrated online? “Maybe,” says Duverdier. “But for me, it’s sad, even if the internet is very powerful.” “There are houses of artists in Belgium,” says van Elmbt. “But the rent is so high. As an artist, if you live in those spaces, you know you can be kicked out.
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