In New York thousands of doormen have played the role of father, brother, friend or even the occasional lover for the residents of their apartment buildings for centuries. One chooses to have a doorman mainly for practical reasons (who else will sign for delivery of packages and red roses when you are out jogging?!) and safety. The friendly smile every time you arrive at or leave your building is a pleasant extra that makes the sometimes lonely life in this big city somewhat more bearable. The presence of the doorman appears to be hardly noticed. In most cases however he knows more about his residents than they would like to believe.

Doormen come in every shape, form and size. In ALL VISITORS MUST BE ANNOUNCED we will get to know three of them really well. Harvey is about to retire. His whole life he has been working in 21 Jane Street in the West Village.
Many residents consider him an indispensable family member. Franco likes to keep things a little more aloof. After years in the city, this sensitive Italian in his forties still looks at the often cold and hard ways of New York with amazement. Being a doorman is his second job. During the day he works in a barber shop and in the early evening hours he finds time to do housecalls in order to support his rather large family. Peter has done every typical New York job in the book. Now in his thirties he decided it was time to get serious. He accidently found a job in the prestigious San Remo, a building on Central Park West where the residents include Bruce Willis, Steve Martin and Dustin Hoffman. Peter laughs his head off when Bruce’s wife Demi has three limousines packed with mineral water delivered, but also tells us he once was just in time to save a woman he found with a plastic bag over her head. She could no longer deal with her loneliness and he still wonders if it might have been better if he had not found her in time.

We also encounter a doorwoman. A bunch of residents, amongst whom ex-major Koch, actor Burt Young, a typical New York single woman called Eve and the little boy Adam, give their opinion on having the doorman luxury. On the one hand this appears to offer some warmth in an otherwise cold big city. On the other hand one gives up a large part of one’s privacy when living in a doorman building. A good doorman knows: speech is silver, but silence remains golden. An experienced resident knows how to tip and how to tip well, in order to survive. You don’t get something for nothing, especially in New York.
–Dree Andrea

DirectorDree AndreaProd. CoDree Andrea produktiesYear1996AwardsWinner Silver Spire Award, San Francisco International Film Festival 1997Servicesediting, direct sound recording, sound mixing (16mm)