"Public Access" takes an unprecedented look inside one of the boldest media experiments. Long before social media, New York City’s public access television handed ordinary people total creative freedom — no editors, no censors — turning local cable into a free-speech battleground.
Through rare archival footage and stories of boundary-pushing shows, David Shadrack Smith's film traces how unfiltered creativity, controversy, and First Amendment battles on public access TV foreshadowed today’s creator-driven media landscape.
1 of
— "Public Access" director David Shadrack Smith on The Sundance Reel.JPG
Matt Sampson / KPCW
2 of
— "Public Access" director David Shadrack Smith on The Sundance Reel (2).JPG
Matt Sampson / KPCW
3 of
— "Public Access" director David Shadrack Smith on The Sundance Reel (3).JPG
Matt Sampson / KPCW
4 of
— Public_Access-Director_David_Shadrack_Smith.jpg
David Shadrack Smith, director of "Public Access," an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Anne-Marcelle Ngabirano / Courtesy of Sundance Institute
