On the Bowery

Rogosin spent six months "on the Bowery", a street and neighborhood in New York, immersing himself in life—but without a camera. He then created a sometimes shocking feature film covering three days in the life of Ray, a young railroad worker looking for a job, who roams through desolate alleys, bars and homeless shelters. Amid the homeless people, prostitutes and drug addicts who make up his precarious environment, Ray finds temporary support in Gorman, a longtime Bowery resident. ON THE BOWERY was one of the first films ever shown by Arsenal (then known as the Friends of the German Cinematheque) in its founding year, 1963.