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May 3, 2011
'Battle for Brooklyn,' Newest Atlantic Yards Documentary, Opens
Film by Clinton Hill residents had world premiere Saturday.
Prospect Heights Patch
by McCarton Ackerman
A pair of Clinton Hill filmmakers have released a documentary that makes a controversial Brooklyn issue relatable to audiences across the globe.
Directors Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky have recently released Battle for Brooklyn, which highlights the controversy surrounding Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards Project. The world premiere took place at the Toronto HotDocs festival last Saturday, and the national premiere will be at the 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival on June 3. The film will also be shown at Fort Greene Park on June 9.
“We initially had read about the Atlantic Yards project in the New York Times and it seemed like a press release,” said Hawley. “There were more questions than answers.”
...“We didn’t want this to be an activist film, which is tough because you do become involved to a certain extent,” said Galinsky. “Our approach as directors is to follow characters and not facts. We want to show people under pressure and how they react to that pressure.”
Perhaps the biggest sign that the film did its job is the response from audiences outside of the New York area. At the world premiere in Toronto last Saturday, Galinsky says they were given a five minute standing ovation after the screening.
Related coverage...
Battle for Brooklyn via Kickstarter, Update #72: Amazing screening- amazing reviews
We had a sold out - amazing screening for our world premier tonite. The audience totally got the film- and gave Dan a long long standing ovation.
we have gotten a bunch of amazing reviews already- and twitter is abuzz with positive energy.
...2nd screening tomorrow at 1:30 was sold out- and it played even better today- Dan got a 5 minute standing ovation after it was over.
Posted by eric at May 3, 2011 11:30 AM