Based on a play by Jack Gelber, The Connection centres around a documentary crew filming a group of junkies and jazz players waiting to score in a downtown NY loft. In Clarke’s hands, the act of waiting becomes expressive, a situational springboard for a naturalistic, observational style of filmmaking that suggests a cinéma vérité documentary. Her direction is supported by Arthur Ornitz’s sparkling black-and-white cinematography and impeccable performances by Freddie Redd and saxophone legend Jackie McLean on the soundtrack. A hit at Cannes in 1961, the indecent language and raw and graphic depictions of drug addicts saw the film promptly banned by censors.