Saturday, November 17, 2007

Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival Screening Documentaries




Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival
November 29th, 2007 Screening Announcement


The Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival is presenting a series of documentaries about people living in Brooklyn. These Brooklyn documentaries focus on the lives and concerns of Brooklynites and their communities. This event is part of the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival which hopes to help bring awareness about the people and different communities in Brooklyn by illuminating their social and cultural histories and current-day realities

The upcoming screening of Brooklyn-focused documentaries to be shown at the Brooklyn Historical Society titled 'Brooklyn on Film, 1899-2007'on November 29th, 2007 will include the following documentaries:

‘Brooklyn: Among the Ruins’ - Suzanne Wasserman

‘Vodou Brooklyn’ – Stephanie Keith

‘Brooklyn Matters’ – Isabel Hill

‘Greenpoint: Rezoned So You Can Own’ – Jan Van Damme

‘New Heights: How the Crown Gets Down’ - Indelible Arts / Noble Arts

‘Player Hating’ – Maggie Hadleigh-West







‘Player Hating’ – Maggie Hadleigh-West

Maggie Hadleigh-West's 'Player Hating' brings home the precarious existence of some talented young Brooklyn men living in the Albany Projects while trying to breakout of their difficult circumstances by creating a new life as rap musicians.







‘Vodou Brooklyn’ – Stephanie Keith

This remarkable photo-montage documentary with narrative by Stephanie Keith presents powerful images, insights and understanding of the Haitian vodou community and their rituals in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn.








‘Brooklyn: Among the Ruins’ - Suzanne Wasserman


The unique perspective of Brooklyn born and bred Paul Kronenberg, an urban visionary is brought to life in Suzanne Wasserman's compelling documentary about a Brooklyn subway buff who built a life-size replica of a 1930s motorman's subway cab in his tiny bedroom in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Paul takes the filmmaker on a journey around New York City to note down, as Franz Kafka once wrote, “what he sees among the ruins.”





‘Brooklyn Matters’ – Isabel Hill

Isabel Hill's documentary about the massive Atlantic Yards project examines the charged dynamics and long-term impact of the planned development on local neighborhoods and people.




‘Greenpoint: Rezoned So You Can Own’ – Jan Van Damme
This snarky infomercial-styled film delivers a sceptical visual appraisal of the glib technique behind gentrification in Greenpoint and Williamsburg.





'Brooklyn on Film, 1899-2007'

'New Heights: How The Crown Gets Down'- Indelible Arts - Noble Arts
This in-development feature documentary brings the viewer into the Hassidic community's life and spiritual practices in Crown Heights. The outdoor ritual of Kapparos held on the streets of Crown Heights provides a fascinating illumination of ancient beliefs in current-day Brooklyn.



Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 7:00 PM
At
The Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street at Clinton Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
Phone: 718-222-4111 Website: www.brooklynhistory.org

Admission is Free

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Brooklyn in Film Screening November 29th, 2007 at Brooklyn Historical Society







Ferry Entrance at Montague Street, Brooklyn, circa 1911. Photo: Brooklyn Historical Society archives.


Brooklyn in Film Screening November 29th, 2007 at Brooklyn Historical Society

The Brooklyn Historical Society and Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival are pleased to announce a screening of documentaries about Brooklyn and the people of Brooklyn on November 29th, 2007. This program of Brooklyn focused documentaries is titled, "Brooklyn on Film, 1899-2007" and will include some very early documentary footage including Edison Studios motion picture records of Brooklyn in the 1890s, and Sarah Bernhardt addressing a crowd in Prospect Park in 1917, will be shown.

The screening will also include short documentaries about Brooklyn’s diverse neighborhoods and people.

One of which, Brooklyn: Among the Ruins directed by Suzanne Wasserman, introduces audiences to Brooklyn born and bred Paul Kronenberg. Paul is a 60 year-old subway buff who built a life-size replica of a 1930s motorman's subway cab in his tiny bedroom in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

A documentary by Maggie Hadleigh-West titled "Player Hating" illuminates the lives of young Brooklyn aspiring rap artists striving to develop their musical careers while struggling with the constraints of every day life in the housing projects of Brooklyn.


"Brooklyn Matters" by Isabel Hill is a documentary that address the changes being planned for some of Brooklyn neighborhoods through planned development projects. Isabel Hill is historian and urban planner and her exploration of the timely issues of large-scale building in Brooklyn helps convey the challenges faced by many Brooklynites in a time of change.




The audience will get a rare glimpse of an ougan, or Vodou priest who is possessed by the spirit of Gede in a basement in Brooklyn in "Vodou Brooklyn" by Stephanie Keith. This extraordinary photo-essay with narrative is a compelling insight into the spiritual journey taken by these members of Brooklyn's Haitian community.

Several other short documentaries about Brooklyn and the people of Brooklyn will also be presented as part of this screening.


Location:The Brooklyn Historical Society,128 Pierrepont Street,Brooklyn, NY 11201

Date & Time: November 29th, 2007 at 7:00 pm.

Admission is Free to the public. For information please call:718-222-4111 or email: brooklynfa@yahoo.com.

Friday, July 27, 2007

The Brooklyn Film - John B. Manbeck and Robert Singer




The Brooklyn Film - John B. Manbeck and Robert Singer

One of the best books on the subject of Brooklyn, and its impact on Hollywood from the earliest day of film is, “The Brooklyn Film” edited by John B. Manbeck and Robert Singer. A series of essays in this well-researched work explore some of the many films that have been set in Brooklyn, including many recent Brooklyn character based films. Well illustrated and covering a broad range of sub-topics, “The Brooklyn Film” illuminates the many subtle and powerful elements that have comprised the jigsaw of Brooklyn-themed cinematic visions