On Friday, December 3, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Brooklyn Historical Society, Clinton and Pierrepont streets, there will be a program of documentary films made in and about Brooklyn, “Brooklyn Roots, Past and Present”. This event is co-sponsored by the Society and by the Brooklyn Film & Art Festival.
“To Brooklyn and Back: a Mohawk Journey” (2009), by Reaghan Tarbell, tells the story of the Mohawk ironworkers who have participated in the construction of many of New York City’s skyscrapers, and of Ms. Tarbell’s and her family’s journey from the Kahnawake reserve in Canada to North Gowanus, where a community of Mohawks settled. “Reaghan Tarbell interweaves family interviews, and archival footage to convey the long-standing roots of the Mohawk people in Brooklyn.”
“Incident on Wilson Street” (1964) documents the struggle of Pegi Gorelick, a special education teacher at P.S. 16 in Williamsburg, and her students, to deal with the consequences of an assault on another teacher by one of those students. “The film examines the complex social fabric and pressures that these Brooklyn children have to navigate as part of everyday life.” It will be shown in excerpted form.
“The Renovation”, by Lea Mathiesen, follows a Vietnam veteran, Jim, as he renovates the Williamsburg house in which he was born. “Jim’s internal struggle with the spirits and memories of the departed inhabiting the house and his mind are illuminated in this compelling film.”
There will be other short films shown, and filmmakers will be present for a discussion afterward. Admission is free. For more information, please call 718-222-4111.
Reminder: the Brooklyn Film & Art Festival is also co-sponsoring (with St. Francis College) “Brooklyn in Literature, 1855-2010” on Friday evening, December 10, at St. Francis. This program is also free and open to the public.
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