Sundance Film Festival Review: ‘Public Access’ is an Interesting but Too Dry Look at a Wild Time in Television

It’s hard to imagine now, considering how corporate and high budget television has become, but there was a moment where an aspect of TV was the Wild Wild West. That aspect? Public Access Television. The new documentary Public Access looks at the emergence of that quirky little part of TV, though I do wish it has a bit more to offer. Playing at the Sundance Film Festival, it’s very much the type of doc that succeeds in Park City but struggles to find an audience elsewhere.

Public Access has some amazing clips, befitting an archival documentary, though one does end up wishing that more was done in the movie with this material. Especially with how wild some of the archived clips are, there was an opportunity here to match that energy. Instead, it all feels too dry, which doesn’t fit the content that’s being paid tribute to.

The documentary tells the story of Manhattan’s access television channels, starting in the 1970s. From the 70s until basically the 90s, these channels changed how audiences not just consumes media, but created it as well. In that form, these Public Access stations were downright revolutionary. Not only was the process completely different than normal television production, the content was all over the map. From essentially pornography to the rants of lunatics, all was fair game on these channels.

From the debut in 1971 New York City until close to current times, the doc charts the rise of this cult medium, as well as showcasing the incredibly unique material on display. Could it be bizarre? Sure. Could it be oddly profound at times? Why not? When it came to Public Access stations, everything was fair game.

Without question, the clips are the highlight, especially when things get weird. Director David Shadrack Smith deserves credit for giving you the lay of the land, as well as selecting some very entertaining material to get his point across. The thing is, the dryness of the film ends up preventing you from really appreciating the shows on these stations. The anarchy of it all would have been more effective with a movie that matched its energy and spirit.

Public Access is a decent documentary, without question, but the flick is still a bit disappointing given what could have been. Sundance audiences will largely appreciate this history lesson on a potentially forgotten part of visual media. Beyond the festival crowd? Well, that remains to be seen, but color me a bit skeptical.

SCORE: ★★1/2