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The History of Concrete

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United States2026101 minEnglish
History of Concrete

After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.

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After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.

Documentarian and observational humor connoisseur John Wilson makes his feature directorial debut with a film that is effortlessly hysterical and genuinely hard to describe. The How to With John Wilson creator’s quick, permeating wit and boundless curiosity clock in, this time through the lenses of urbanism and, somehow, the institution of Hallmark.

A heady comedic whiplash emerges as Wilson bounces between (literal) textures of the mundane. Underlying Wilson’s well-established, unique filmmaking language are both an intellectual specificity and a strangely leveling impulse — a fascination with the breadth of American life and the built environment that contains it.

The History of Concrete rests on a pure, generative desire to give warmth to the invisibly ubiquitous, answering key questions such as: “Who removes the gum from our sidewalks?” This is an unassumingly strange, joyful documentary that no one else could have made, perfect for the chronically online, the studied philosopher, and everyone in between. — CA

Available in person only.

PremieresAll FeaturesEnvironmental StoriesFirst-Time FeaturesComedyNonfictionClosed CaptionOpen CaptionU.S. Only- less

Credits

  • Director(s)

    John Wilson

  • Producers

    John Wilson

    Clark Filio

    Shirel Kozak

    Allie Viti

  • Edited By

    Cori Wapnowska

  • Executive Producers

    Josh Safdie

    Eli Bush

    Ronald Bronstein

    Conor Hannon

    Richie Doyle

  • Co-Producers

    Francis Carr

  • Additional Camera

    Nellie Kluz

  • Additional Editor

    Sascha Stanton-Craven

  • Post-Production Supervisor

    Jake Williams

  • Sound Mixers

    Austin Plocher

    Tom Tierney

  • Music by

    Suzanne Ciani

  • Contact

    Billy Offer

    Billy.Offer@unitedtalent.com

Meet the Artist

Panelist Name

John Wilson

    John Wilson is a New York City–based documentary filmmaker. He was born in Queens and started his career editing surveillance footage for a private investigator. He is best known for his series How to With John Wilson, which ran for three seasons on HBO to international critical acclaim.

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