Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibilityPublic Access | 2026 Sundance Film Festival
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U.S. Documentary Competition

Public Access

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United States2025107 minEnglish
Public Access

An unprecedented look inside one of the greatest media experiments to hijack American screens. Rare archives from New York’s underground capture a world of creators who shattered rules, defied censors, and transformed our televisions into a free-speech battleground where anyone could be a star.

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An unprecedented look inside one of the greatest media experiments to hijack American screens. Rare archives from New York’s underground capture a world of creators who shattered rules, defied censors, and transformed our televisions into a free-speech battleground where anyone could be a star.

The internet and social media platforms may have given birth to influencers and content creators, but decades before their popularization, public access television such as New York City’s Manhattan Cable Television opened up the floodgates for technological free expression. With no editorial input allowed, ordinary New Yorkers had carte blanche to create — from the interactive Grube Tube to Glenn O’Brien’s underground scene free-for-all TV Party and the pioneering LGBTQ+ series The Emerald City. But when sexually explicit programming pushed the boundaries and stirred public debate, First Amendment court battles followed. David Shadrack Smith takes viewers through the unfiltered creativity and chaos of this paradigm-shifting new technology, which presaged today’s media-driven world. As Public Access cheekily warns, “Brace yourself! Nothing you have ever seen before can prepare you for this.” — BT

This film contains mature content and may not be appropriate for all ages.

Available in person. Also available online for the public (January 29–February 1) and credentialed press and industry (January 28–February 1). 

U.S. Documentary CompetitionAll FeaturesLGBTQ+ StoriesScience & TechnologyNonfictionClosed CaptionOpen CaptionU.S. Only- less

Credits

  • Director(s)

    David Shadrack Smith

  • Produced by

    Sara Crow

    Anne-Marcelle Ngabirano

  • Production Companies

    Part2 Filmworks

    Olive Productions

  • In Association with

    Out for the Count

  • Executive Producers

    Wren Arthur

    Steve Buscemi

    Benny Safdie

  • Original Music by

    adore

  • Edited by

    Geoff Gruetzmacher

  • Archival Producer

    Anne-Marcelle Ngabirano

  • Additional Editors

    Maya Tippett

    Craig Rinkerman

  • Assistant Editor

    Cristian Uriostegui

  • Music Supervisor

    Olivier Spencer

  • Cinematographer

    David Shadrack Smith

  • Graphics

    Norn Jordan

    Erica Lee

  • Picture Finishing Services and Archival Processing

    Module

  • Colorist

    Steve Beganyi

  • Sound Design

    Ruy Garcia

Meet the Artist

Panelist Name

David Shadrack Smith

  • Instagram

Brooklyn-born filmmaker David Shadrack Smith began his career reporting in China and producing for National Geographic before founding Part2 Pictures. He’s produced award-winning nonfiction for CNN, Hulu, HBO Max, and more, which has earned Emmys and James Beard Awards, among other honors. Public Access is his feature directorial debut.

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