Caught between fear and frenzy, after eight years of construction and living with scaffolding and constant building, some 51 residents of the legendary Chelsea Hotel prepare for imminent upheaval as others protest or hole up in their rooms.

Against this chaotic backdrop, the film explores the utopian origins that contributed to the Chelsea’s mythical stature and questions the challenges it confronts in the future, as its residents, sold to capitalism, and walls themselves face a turning point in their common history.

Directors Maya Duverdier and Amélie van Elmbt shoot "Dreaming Walls" in a fly-on-the-wall vérité style, using ghostly projections and archival footage to tell the story of the Chelsea’s past. No such embellishment is needed to make the current residents compelling: As fine a group of eccentrics as has ever been assembled, they capture the spirit of New York better than any ad agency ever could.