Doors 7:00p
Program 7:30p
Tickets $12

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We’re delighted to present a special screening of Frederick Wiseman’s Racetrack (1985)! This event is part of our 10 day program,  Wiseman’s New York, where we invite participants into an immersive survey and set of seminars on Wiseman’s New York films alongside visits to the institutions, neighborhoods, and civic spaces they document.

Over the course of his six-decade career, the late, great filmmaker Frederick Wiseman returned to New York more than any single location. He made nine films in the city. In early works like Hospital (1969) and Welfare (1975), he addressed the plight of some of the city’s most vulnerable residents. Later films show a city in the midst of transition, including creeping gentrification in In Jackson Heights (2015) and a public library system redefining its purpose in an era of digitization in Ex Libris (2017).

Racetrack is about the Belmont Race Track, one of the world’s leading race tracks for thoroughbred racing. The film highlights the training, maintaining and racing of thoroughbred horses. Everyday occurrences are shown: in the backstretch — the grooming, feeding, shoeing, and caring for horses and the preparation for races; at the practice track the various aspects of training, exercising, and timing the horses; at the paddock — the pre-race presentation of the horses; and in the grandstand — betting and watching the races. The film also has sequences showing the variety of work done by trainers, jockeys, jockey agents, grooms, hot walkers, stable hands, and veterinarians.

Come through!

Program

1985, 114 MINUTES, B&W

Bios

Genevieve Yue is an associate professor of culture and media at The New School. She is an independent programmer and the author of Girl Head: Feminism and Film Materiality (2020) and Trains, which will be available in fall 2026.