WINTER AT WESTBETH
directed by Rohan Spong
After the likes of Bill Cunningham New York and Iris, it seems that docos about colourful and ancient Manhattanites are becoming their own genre. The quietly charming Winter at Westbeth delivers a trio – 95-year-old dancer-turned-documentarian Edith Stephen, 82-year-old poet Ilsa Gilbert and 75-year-old dancer Dudley Williams, all decades-long residents of the rentcontrolled apartments in the Westbeth Artists Housing block in Greenwich Village. With his commanding screen presence, Williams is the star of the piece, helped by his well-illustrated past career in modern dance. But the personalities of all three, captured by Australian director Rohan Spong, suggest that staying creative goes hand in hand with staying vital in the twilight years.