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The Riverside Bench

A close-knit Upper West Side family's untroubled lives are altered by a personal tragedy. Over the seasons, they find community, sanctuary,and renewal
in New York City's Riverside Park.

The Story

One family, one park bench, the life of the city. The Riverside Bench, based on the real-life experiences of writer/director Austin Chang, interweaves a series of small moments in the lives of New Yorkers, captured over time at a single park bench on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The bench is the unifying thread running through the seasons of these disparate lives, bearing silent witness as one family returns to it for sanctuary, while for others it is simply where they stop to pass the time of day.

The Riverside Bench is a celebration of our urban public spaces—where we lose ourselves but never feel alone, where our lives intersect with unknown others, and where our individual dramas unfold and are quietly absorbed into the greater story of city life.