"A must-see film for anyone who cherishes the old soul of New York."—Manohla Dargis, New York Times on On the Bowery

Lionel Rogosin (1924–2000) taught himself filmmaking in order to investigate such issues as poverty, racism, and the threat of nuclear war. Shooting On the Bowery, his first film, was his way of preparing for a future project on apartheid in South Africa. Using a hidden camera and creatively staged scenes, he created a harsh documentary/fiction hybrid about the lives of the down-and-out in Manhattan's Bowery, the skid row of the 1950s. The film follows three days in the life of Ray Salyer, a fresh from the road arrival in the Bowery, as he passes from the street to flophouses and back, interacting with human ruins who seem to exist only to find their next drink. On the Bowery was the first U.S. film to win the award for best documentary at the Venice Film Festival. Rogosin's work in it and subsequent documentaries was influential and highly regarded, especially in Europe, and according to filmmaker John Cassavetes, "Rogosin is probably the greatest documentary filmmaker of all time." (65 mins., 35mm)

Stay on for The Perfect Team, a new documentary on the making of On the Bowery by Rogosin's son, Michael. Using archival and recent footage, he provides context for his father’s film by delving into the history of the Bowery neighborhood and following up on the film's crew and "star," Ray Salyer. The Perfect Team features two of the few filmed interviews ever recorded with Lionel Rogosin, one of them a 1956 interview on The Today Show that also featured Ray Salyer. (46 mins., video)

Lionel Rososin never achieved the commercial success his work as a filmmaker deserved, and he was also a pioneer in developing channels for the distribution of independent and sometimes controversial films such as his own. He founded the Bleeker Street Theater, one of New York's leading art houses, in 1960, and owned and operated it until 1974. He also launched a distribution company, Impact Films, which he ran from 1966 to 1978. He made his last film in the 1970s, although he continued to work on new projects, and spend much of his later life living abroad and writing. He died in California in 2000.

On the Bowery was chosen for inclusion on the Library of Congress's National Film Registry in 2008 and is now attracting new viewers and helping revive interest in Rogosin's work. Cineteca del Comune di Bologna in Italy has restored the director's first three films. On the Bowery is currently distributed by Milestone Films, which has resurrected several other lost and neglected classics screened at the Wex, including Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles.

On the Bowery