June "Dark Harbor" Film series at Freebird

Dark Harbor film series at Freebird Books in June; Book launch on June 6
Port of New York (June 3) * Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (June 10) * Edge of the City (June 17) * Murder Inc. (June 24)

In conjunction with the release of Dark Harbor: The War for the New York Waterfront, author Nathan Ward curates a series of classic films about the crime that once defined our working waterfront.

Each Thursday throughout the month of June, Freebird will screen four movies that depicted the more sordid side of New York stevedoring in the wake of newspaper exposes and crime commissions in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Labor racketeering on the docks was an open secret in the city in the first half of the 20th century. But it wasn’t until the intrepid reporting of Malcolm Johnson in the late 1940s that federal and state authorities took serious notice of the murders, extortion, and intimidation that was rampant in waterfront communities like Red Hook.

Dark Harbor details the incidents that led to Johnson’s investigations for the New York Sun and his Pulitzer prize-winning articles on the subject. The articles would unleash new scrutiny of mob control of the longshoremen’s unions and inspire countless novels, plays, and films about the subject.

Though the Elia Kazan-Budd Schulberg production of On the Waterfront--originally based upon Johnson's articles--is the most famous on-screen example, the Dark Harbor series focuses on lesser known classics shot around the city in the aftermath of the New York Sun expose. Nathan Ward will introduce each film and place them in the context of the present day working waterfront outside Freebird’s door—before containerization and the BQE altered the landscape permanently.

Thursday, June 3, 7:30 pm

Port of New York

This early docu-drama from 1948 uses the real events around the case of the S.S. Florentine: A body thrown from a ship in New York Harbor leads to a double-cross and ultimately a master heroin-smuggler played by with cruel charisma (and hair!) by Yul Brynner. There's an undercover Treasury agent and a jilted mol in this dragnet picture.


Sunday, June 6, 2 to 6 pm

Book launch for Dark Harbor
Refreshments and bonus film to follow


Thursday, June 10, 7:30 pm

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

This 1957 movie comes from the memoir of Assistant D.A. Bill Keating, the man who sent racketeer "Cockeye" Dunn away for the murder of a West Village hiring boss, Andy Hintz. The movie does a pretty fair job reenacting the Hintz job and doesn't overplay Keating's own heroism until the movie's prosecutor joins a dockside brawl. Some excellent waterfront locations and a surprisingly malevolent young Walter Matthau as a racketeer.


Thursday, June 17, 7:30 pm

Edge of the City

Sidney Poitier and John Cassavetes play hipster-longshoremen working under a corrupt boss played by Jack Warner. The final duel with cargo hooks is inevitable but dramatic. Released in 1957.


Thursday, June 24, 7:30 pm

Murder Inc.

If you love Peter Falk, you'll want to see him at his creepy best, playing the all-time most influential mob turncoat, Abe "Kid Tist" Reles, the 1930s Brooklyn gangster who revealed the personalities, crimes, and very existence of the organization that came to be called 'Murder Inc.' You'll never look at Lieutenant Columbo quite the same. Released in 1960.

Freebird Books
123 Columbia Street (between Kane and Degraw streets)
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718-643-8484
http://www.freebirdbooks.com/directions.html
New hours: Sat-Sun 11 am-10 pm (def); Thurs-Fri 6 to 10 pm (mostly); the rest of the week (by chance)

Big Movies for Little Kids' 5th Anniversary

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

Celebrating Our Fifth Anniversary!

Monday, May 17^th at 4pm

REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM

Shirley Temple shines as Rebecca Winstead, the “very self-reliant” and gifted radio entertainer who moves to Sunnybrook Farm to live with her cranky old aunt. Aunt Miranda absolutely forbids her niece from entering show business, but, this being a Shirley Temple film, the show must go on. Over the course of some very funny slapstick scenes and secret shenanigans, Rebecca prevails. Don’t miss the finale, “The Parade if the Wooden Soldiers,” with renowned tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. (USA; 1938; not rated; black and white; live action; 80 minutes)

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

Time: 4pm (every other Monday, following the public school calendar)

Ages: 2 and up (all ages welcome)

Location: Cobble Hill Cinemas, 265 Court Street @ Butler

Subway: F train to Bergen Street

Cost: $6.50 per person (as per theater policy, all walkers need a ticket)

For more information: www.bigmoviesforlittlekids.blogspot.com

Torso/Broadcast 6 screening at Broolyn Collective - Tonight!!!

BROOKLYN COLLECTIVE
196 Columbia Street
Brooklyn NY 11231
April 16 2010 8:00 p.m.

From the email announcement:
TORSO // Broadcast 6 has been in production since 2005, but on April 16th 2010, it will finally premiere. What started as a science fiction short has expanded into an extensive mythology. From Brooklyn to San Francisco - from Dover to Portland - from Philadelphia to Reno - TORSO has been all across America collecting footage. Our adventures took us through mountains, deserts and cities, all of which have been captured on 8mm film. From bedazzled masks to hand-crafted televisions, we're sure you haven't seen anything quite like this.

On Friday, April 16th at 8:00 PM, the Brooklyn Collective will premiere TORSO // Broadcast 6. Come join TORSO for a night of drinks and revelry as we celebrate the culmination of five years' work!

Please feel free to contact us with any questions. RSVP requested.
mail@torsotorso.com
www.torsotorso.com
+1.516.695.4693

View the trailer here:

TORSO // Broadcast 6: Trailer from Jesse Corinella on Vimeo.

Third Wheel documentary screening and party @ B61 on 3/31

There will be a DVD screening and release party for the documentary "The Third Wheel" at B61 this Wednesday, 3/31 at 7pm. Check out the trailer for the movie above and a description below.

A portion of the movie description from the website:

In an age of green transportation, and massive gridlock on New York City streets, few ideas make as much obvious good sense as pedicabs. These modern versions of the classic Asian rickshaw offer a fast and environmentally clean way to get around the clogged streets of Manhattan. In recent years, these human-powered vehicles have gone from being an oddity to an increasingly common sight. However, nothing is even as simple as it seems in a modern metropolis like New York.

The Third Wheel, is a documentary about the regulation of the pedicab industry in New York, is an exciting tale of entrepreneurship that develops into a fascinating expose of the real inner workings of city government.

Brooklyn Teens Tackle Tolerance Through Film

Student-Driven Movie Takes on Issues Facing Local Youth

Press Release from Dance Theater Etc.:

“I already draw attention to myself when I walk down the street – I’m black.” A couple students laughed; others followed up with questions, animated. Five teens sat around a table, debating whether or not it was baggy jeans and hoodies that garnered the unwanted attention the speaker sometimes sensed from policemen and purse-clutchers, and sharing their own experiences growing up in Brooklyn.

This youth writer’s group- with students originally hailing from East New York, Red Hook, Bed-Stuy, & even Haiti- laid the foundation for a new film from independent filmmaker Trac Minh Vu (Letters to Thien) being created now in a series of Saturday morning workshops by over thirty Brooklyn teenagers.

Fresh off an Oscar season that saw the powerful melodrama Precious shedding light onto a young woman’s life in Harlem’s Section 8 housing and Sandra Bullock’s starring turn as the near-savior to an “at-risk youth,” these students felt they could say something- perhaps not as sensational, they acknowledged, but potentially more authentic- about what it means to grow up in the kind of places not featured on MTV’s (unreal) reality teen shows.

With students traveling from all corners of Brooklyn- some braving almost two hours of Saturday morning buses and subways to make it down to Red Hook- it’s clear there’s more to these young people than the “inner-city grit” and street culture so often latched onto by mainstream media, eager to categorize.

If there is one constant, in fact, in how these teens ask to be viewed, it is their rejection of labels. Their portrayal of characters is nothing if not nuanced- the film they envision anything but didactic.

Enabled in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the “Scene to Screen Project” is part of Dance Theatre Etcetera’s “Tolerance through the Arts Initiative.” Alongside the production of the film, which will employ a professional crew, the producers will create a study guide intended to incite conversation in schools about teen-to-teen interactions and the role each individual can play in creating a more just, tolerant world.

Students will continue to develop the film in the recently-begun acting workshops, with production scheduled for mid-May. To get a feel for where this project is headed, check out the movie that came out of the 2008 program it's based on.

Produced by Dance Theater Etcetera.

Dec 5th - "Eat Pie and Shop" at PS 29

CATCH THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT AT PS 29

Pie! Shopping! Movies! Crafts!

On December 5, PS 29 will host the first annual “Eat Pie and Shop” Holiday Gift Fair and Pie Social. Proceeds from this family-friendly Holiday event will support the PTAs of the school and neighboring PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights.

The Gift Fair will highlight local artisans, craftspeople and merchants, and promises to provide a wide array of handmade, local and sustainable gift-giving choices, from jewelry by Virginia Galvan, to handmade wool hats by Nadege Brunacci, to toys and books by Fork + Pencil and Half Pint Citizens. In all, nearly two dozen vendors will be displaying and selling their wares.

To keep your energy up during your shopping trip, fortify yourself with homemade pie. Local bakers – amateurs and professionals – will supply pies for the Pie Social. For a $5 tasting ticket, the public can sample two pieces of pie of their choosing. Bakers are also invited to bring pies, and a friendly competition will begin at 9:30 a.m.

And while you shop, Rooftop Films will show a selection of independent short films for kids at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. Tickets to the movies are $2.
In addition, children can make free holiday crafts – perhaps an ornament or a frame as a present for Mom and Dad.

We are thrilled to host the first annual Eat Pie and Shop event. It’s nice to have this wonderful alternative to all the holiday craze, one where children and adults can spend some time together, and the fantastic arts programs at our public schools benefit.

Melanie Raneri Woods, Principal of PS 29

Eat Pie and Shop will be held on Saturday, December 5, from 10 am to 4 pm, at PS 29, 425 Henry Street, between Baltic and Kane Street. For more information on the event, including a list of all vendors and information on how to enter a pie, click here.

Stumblebum Brass / When Clouds Clear @ Space 414 tomorrow

Lucky Gallery will be hosting an event tomorrow evening (10/16) in the garden of Space 414, featuring a film screening of the documentary "When Clouds Clear" and a musical performance by the Stumblebum Brass Band.

Check at more details at Lucky Gallery's site here and here

A trailer for the movie is here:



And a sample live performance by Stumblebum is here:

"It Don't Pay..." Film Screening recap

On Sunday evening, a larger than expected crowd gathered in the empty lot next to Freebird Books to watch the movie "It Don't Pay to be an Honest Citizen." The movie was filmed in and around the neighborhood 25 years ago, and serves as a rare moving image account of what the neighborhood looked like in those days. Despite what turned out to be one of the coldest Autumn evenings this year so far, the crowd stuck it out until the end, laughing and clapping throughout.

After the film, Director Jacob Burckhardt spoke about the film, the neighborhood back then, and answered questions posed by audience members. Several local residents who appeared in the film and still live in the area also came out to the event and reunited.

Some audience members were unfortunately left standing, but stuck it out nonetheless. On the screen in the image above, the main character Warren yells down to the street below from his Woodhull st. apartment.


Some audience members brought their own dinners or drinks (including candle lighting and a tablecloth in one case)


After the film, Director Jacob Burckhardt and Freebird propietor Peter Miller discuss where some of the film locations were, and what remains or has replaced the buildings in each.

Burckhardt reunites with local residents who appeared in the film 25 years later.
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The NYTimes also wrote a piece on this event, and their camera and writing are admittedly much better than ours. Check out the post here.

Tonight: Free film screening at Freebird!!

Come to Freebird Books tonight (Sunday) at 7 pm to watch It Don't Pay To Be an Honest Citizen, a special 25th anniversary screening of a film set on the Columbia Street waterfront. Director Jacob Burckhardt and a few cast members will be on hand to answer questions

Co-Sponsored by The Word on Columbia Street and Freebird Books

Freebird Books
123 Columbia Street (between Kane and Degraw streets)
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718-643-8484
http://www.freebirdbooks.com/directions.html

It Don't Pay an Honest Citizen screenshots

Freebird Books, in anticipation of our co-sponsored film event on Sunday, posted some screenshots from the film "It Don't Pay to be an Honest Citizen," which was shot around the neighborhood 25 years ago.

Its interesting to see how some blocks have changed drastically and others have hardly changed at all. A few of the pictures are below, but head over to the Freebird site to see even more pictures as well as shots of the current locations and some detailed descriptions.

Van Brunt, looking North from President towards Union

Columbia between Union and President (East Side)

President St. near corner of Van Brunt (at the Church that
formerly stood there)

Red Hook Int'l Film and Video Festival - 10/3 and 10/4

The 3rd Annual Red Hook International Film and Video Festival is taking place this weekend at BWAC's space (499 Van Brunt St.)

This year's festival includes a wide variety of films and videos, many with Brooklyn or NYC themes. Of particular local interest is the first film on 10/3 about Bob Guskind, blogger of Gowanus Lounge fame who passed away last Spring. That film is followed by a Gowanus documentary called "Lavendar Lake."

Another exciting part of the festival is a party at Sunny's at 6pm on 10/3, which features food from local favorites Defonte's, Anselmos, and Steve's Key Lime Pie.

Check out the full schedule of films and activities here. There are definitely plenty of selections that look worthwhile.

Also, check out a New York Post article here about this and another Brooklyn film festival.