2000
THE HEART OF MANHATTAN
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL
USA
45 min tv documentary
author: Jürgen Thebrath
director: Marcel Kolvenbach
camera: Steven Pike
montage: Sibylle Grunwald
ARD German public tv
A 24-hour portrait of New York‘s Grand Central Terminal.
This filmic portrait captures the soul of New York‘s iconic Grand Central Terminal over the course of 24 Hours: from the first light of dawn to the last lovers parting at the tracks late at night. It‘s a tribute to the building itself: its grandeur, its history, and its resilience. The film highlights Jackie Kennedy’s pivotal role in saving Grand Central from demolition, and features the visionary architects who led its restoration in the late 1990s. It also explores the terminal‘s complex relationship with the city‘s homeless population. Author Lee Stringer appears, reflecting on his time living beneath the tracks and his journey from addiction to becoming a writer. The filmmakers follow commuters, wanderers, and couples, capturing the intimate and transient moments that unfold within this vast and beating heart of the city. This is not just a documentary about a building — it‘s about the life it contains.