Our City Dreams

Filmed over the course of two years, Our City Dreams is an invitation to visit the creative spaces of five women artists, each of whom possesses her own energy, drive and passion. These women, who span different decades and represent diverse cultures, have one thing in common beyond making art: the city to which they have journeyed and now call home - New York.

The artists profiled are Nancy Spero, who was at the forefront of the feminist movement of the late 50s and 60s and whose work continues to question the polemics of sexual identity and warfare; Marina Abramovic, a pioneer of performance art who uses her own body as a canvas to respond deeply to contemporary cultural issues; Kiki Smith, who addresses philosophical, social and spiritual aspects of the human body through work that incorporates glass, plaster, ceramic, bronze and paper; Ghada Amer, who paints erotic canvases in traditional needle and thread and who refuses to bow to the puritanical elements of Western and Islamic culture and "institutionalized feminism"; and Swoon, one of New York's most promising emerging artists, whose arresting and fugitive street art transmits the pulse of urban life. Director Chiara Clemente combines an intimate style of documentary filmmaking with the ephemera of city life surrounding each woman and the work she creates.

The documented year held many triumphs and challenges for each of the participating artists, and the audience will catch a glimpse into the processes of creation and inspiration. Chiara Clemente has captured many moments in these artists's lives, including Swoon's first solo exhibition at Deitch Projects in New York, Ghada Amer's return to her Egyptian homeland, Kiki Smith's traveling retrospective, Marina Abramovic's weeklong series of performances at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and Nancy Spero's preparations of a new piece for the 2007 Venice Biennale. Stylistically, the film will have the feeling of a textured collage that will be the culmination of the director's collaboration with the artist. Ultimately, Our City Dreams intends to bring a unique cultural and artistic experience to viewers and provide a testimony to the need to preserve great art and artists.

“Exquisitely crafted. The film itself quite simply ranks as a work of art.” (Ronnie Scheib, Variety)

“Manages to be not only a first-rate portrait of great artists but also an impressive look at the way they interact with the city that feeds their work.” -Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

“A lyrical documentary about the intersection of location and imagination.” –Jeanette Catsoulis, The New York Times

“Vibrant & Illuminating! Tantalizing.” -Dennis Dermody, Paper Magazine

“Celebratory…a joyous infusion of life!... Clemente depicts these women in all of their fiery intensity and the profiles of Our City Dreams meld into a hymn of hope and courage for the fervor of artistic creation.” – Paul Brenner, Filmcritic.com

"An intimate portrait of five women artists. Celebrates the metropolis as a cauldron of creativity."- Leslie Camhi, Vogue

“A thoughtful, sometimes revealing look at creative lives and the forces that shaped them.” -Maitland McDonagh, Time Out New York

“Exquisitely crafted. Five powerhouse femme artists, renowned, wildly eclectic creators who span the spectrum in age, provenance and medium, connected to the city through a complex, ever-changing dialectic. Combining formats and textures with a hypnotic, shape-shifting score, (the film) itself quite simply ranks as a work of art.” - Ronnie Scheib, Variety

“Airy and intimate …Candid and unpretentious.”-Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine

“An intimate series of portraits... Clemente’s film compellingly depicts the underlying, rather un-dreamy mores that propelled these individual careers in the bright lights of the big city––veracity, dedication, and commitment, to name a few.” -Lauren O'Neill-Butler, ArtForum

Closely observed, beautifully shot and scored, and often moving.” –Maya Singer, Style

“This beautiful, patient, and thoughtful film examines what it means to be a woman working as an artist in the city that quivers with the energy of the past, present, and future.” -Katie Rolnick, Tiny Mix Tapes

“Intimate opportunity to see how successful women artists navigate the art world while infusing their work with feminist consciousness.” -Nora Lee Mandel, Film Forward

“B+ ...Our City Dreams finds the myriad dimensions in a simple concept….the 15 minutes or so we spend with each artist is enough to see how they've turned their habitats, their gender, and their personal crusades into imaginative, eye-catching work.”-Noel Murray, Onion AV Club

"Filled with gorgeous shots of New York and from-the-heart discussions of artistry and inspiration, this wide-ranging appreciation is a nice glimpse into the artistic process.” –Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

“Inspired…a collage of self-conscious acceptance and human struggle.” –Nick McCarthy, L Magazine

“Fascinating…bracing in its spirit and also a refresher course in some of the permutations of what is now regarded as feminist art across the decades.” –Bruce Eder, Allmovie Blog