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17 Blocks

2019 film directed by Davy Rothbart

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ105773103
Source-derived summary

17 Blocks is a 2019 American documentary film, directed by Davy Rothbart, written by Rothbart and Jennifer Tiexiera. The film revolves around the Sanford family, who spent 20 years filming themselves.

The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2019. It was released in virtual cinema on February 19, 2021, by MTV Documentary Films.

Synopsis

The film follows the Sanford family, who spent 20 years filming themselves, living just 20 minutes away from the White House.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2019. The film also screened at AFI Docs on June 20, 2019. In July 2019, MTV Documentary Films acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released in virtual cinema on February 19, 2021.

Reception

17 Blocks received positive reviews from film critics.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “17 Blocks” as 2019 film directed by Davy Rothbart. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2019, 2021—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Blocks, film and directed can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2019 film directed by Davy Rothbart. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q105773103. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2019 and 2021.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “17 Blocks”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 17 Blocks primary sources, 17 Blocks archive and Blocks research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “17 Blocks”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from 17 Blocks” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.