A Neighborhood Divided
The documentary Battle for Brooklyn, co-directed by Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky, follows community activist Daniel Goldstein as he fights to preserve his community in the face of the massive Atlantic Yards development that threatens to carve up Prospect Heights. The proposed project would displace many lifelong residents as well as those new to the charming Brooklyn neighborhood. However, not all of Goldstei...
Make Room: Art from the Outside’s Coming In
Make is the brainchild of artists and filmmakers Scott Ogden and Malcolm Hearn. Produced by Asthmatic Kitty and released to DVD just this year, the documentary highlights the inspiring force behind the recording artist Sufjan Steven's 2010 album, The Age of Adz. The film received good reviews from many a substantial source, while outsider art has been welcomed further and further inside. Perhaps you ought to ...
I Am, the Movie
I couldn’t help it, with a film titled "I Am" it just seemed fitting to share it with the readers at The Curator, the web publication of IAM. Plus, the theme was applicable. It’s a film about one man’s journey to answer some of the most profound questions of life: what’s wrong with our world, and what can we do to make it better? The man on this journey is Tom Shadyac, a Hollywood film director whose com...
Our House: An Interview with Greg King
Greg King's new documentary, Our House, is about an experimental Christian community in Brooklyn. Led by several young, punk, vegan Christians, Our House is an abandoned warehouse-turned-homestead for the chronically homeless and recovering addicts. The handful of individuals who end up living there experience a new kind of community, one where prayer and love abound. Beautifully shot and delicately edited, the film ...
An Interview with Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler
After a busy run on the film festival circuit, a theatrical release, and the upcoming DVD release of their film William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe on April 27th, I’m grateful that Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler were able to take the time for this interview. The sisters (producers/directors) run Off Center Media, a production company that produces documentaries exposing injustice in the criminal justice...
Night In At The Movies
Early this year, some friends from church approached me about organizing a monthly film night. They had just finished remodeling their single-family home in Brooklyn, and they were feeling generous towards their neighbors, and maybe a little thankful to God for the good fortune of a beautiful new home. So, armed with a video projector, fresh popcorn, and an unpainted sheetrock wall, we set about creating a little l...
Recording Reality: An Interview with Brent Renaud
Filmmakers Craig (left) and Brent Renaud in Iraq during the filming of Off to War. Photo by Brent Stirton. Brent Renaud is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has shown at numerous festivals, and broadcast on HBO, PBS, CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Discovery Times Channel, and ESPN. Since 1995, he has been working alongside his brother, Craig, on films that have taken them both around the world, ...
Pre-School Mayhem in Nursery University
Nurturing, stimulating, enriching, challenging: these are the words used to describe nursery programs for children as young as two years old. It sounds wonderful until you realize that the culture surrounding pre-school programs in Manhattan is also riddled with competition, jealousy, and greed. Nursery University takes a typical approach to the documentary format, following several families of varying backgroun...
