BROOKLYN RECONSTRUCTED - a new film series about gentrification & redevelopment in the Brooklyn borough presented by Top Ten Social, FilmWax, and Broaklyn Film & Theater Co. 

Gentrification has been a hot-button-issue in Oakland for the last decade, as new development spurred by former Mayor Jerry Brown's "10K Initiative” brought new residents and new energy to the downtown district. The initiative helped to remake Oakland's image, but also resulted in allegations of displacement of longtime residents and exclusion of some of the city's diverse demographic. Yet Oakland isn't the only urban community struggling with these issues; parallels can be made to Brooklyn, New York, which experienced the wave of gentrification first-hand.

Broaklyn Film & Theater Co. and Top Ten Social are proud to present the BROOKLYN RECONSTRUCTED series; six feature films which highlight the social impact of a so-called renaissance. Gentrification, eminent domain, public subsidies for luxury developments, political corruption, rising rents and neighborhood revitalization are underlying themes in most Brooklynites day-to-day lives. With that in mind, the series taps into the borough’s zeitgeist, its wealth of local filmmakers and their recent output of documentaries that address these issues.

Each film in the series, to be screened for one night only at The New Parkway Theater at 474 24th Street in Oakland, will deal with the themes of gentrification & development in communities much like Brooklyn. Within those themes is a conversation about race & class in a city undergoing a startling transformation. In order to cultivate a rich conversation about the above issues, a discussion led by a panel of regional activists, scholars, and civic leaders will accompany the screenings.  

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*co-presenters:
Beats, Rhymes, & Life  //  KQED  //  Oakland Film Society  //  Red, Bike, & Green  //  Society.

*community partners:
Balance Edutainment  /  Ella Baker Center for Human Rights  /  Kinship  /  KPFA
Mayor's Office of the City of Oakland  /  Oakland In the Black  /  Oakland Local  /  Owl n Wood

*peace to Adam Schartoff & Michael Galinsky*


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DECEMBER 11, 7:00 PM
THE FILLMORE
*partial screening

The first film in the Brooklyn Reconstructed series, THE FILLMORE, tells the dramatic story of the rise and fall (and rise again?) of San Francisco's premier Black community, as it faced the nationwide juggernaut known as urban renewal. The Fillmore represents the story not only of a neighborhood, but also of a whole social history. In the streets of the Fillmore can be found the stories of the Japanese in San Francisco, from internment to integration; the jazz heyday created by the arrival of thousands of Black workers during World War II; and the dramatic battle to save the neighborhood from the bulldozers of urban renewal, a struggle faced by neighborhoods across the country during the 1950s and 1960s -- and even today.
Director: Rick Butler

THE VANISHING CITY

Told through the eyes of tenants, city planners, business owners, scholars, and politicians, THE VANISHING CITY (2010), by DeRosa and Senko, exposes the real politic behind the alarming disappearance of New York’s beloved neighborhoods, the truth about its finance-dominated economy, and the myth of “inevitable change.” Artfully documented through interviews, hearings, demonstrations, and archival footage, the film takes a sober look at the city’s "luxury" policies and high-end development, the power role of the elite, and accusations of corruption surrounding land use and rezoning.
Director: Fiore Derosa & Jen Senko
*guest speaker panel moderated by Davey D

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JANUARY 8
MY BROOKLYN

My Brooklyn, a recent Audience Award winner at the Brooklyn Film Festival, chronicles how city government and corporate interests joined forces to remake Downtown Brooklyn, displacing small businesses and long-time residents. The film focuses on the policies and politics reshaping the Fulton Mall, one of the most successful and most maligned shopping destinations in New York City. It also investigates the historical roots of this contemporary urban makeover, reaching as far back as far as the Great Depression, and expanding beyond Downtown to examine origins of change in neighborhoods like Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy.
Director: Kelly Anderson & Allison Lirish Dean

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FEBRUARY 12
ZIPPER

A film about greed, politics, land use and public policy, ZIPPER tells the story behind the battle over an American cultural icon. Small-time ride operator, Eddie Miranda, proudly runs a 38-year-old carnival contraption called the Zipper in the heart of Coney Island’s gritty amusement district. When his rented lot is snatched up by an opportunistic real estate mogul, Eddie and his ride become casualties of a power struggle between the developer and the City of New York over the future of the “People’s Playground.’’ Be it an affront to history or just the path of progress, the spirit of Coney Island is at stake. In a market-driven world where growth often trumps preservation, the Zipper may be only the beginning of what is lost.
Director: Amy Nicholson

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MARCH 12
FLAG WARS

Shot over a four-year period, Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras’ Flag Wars is a poignant and very personal look at a community in Columbus, Ohio, undergoing gentrification. What happens when gay white homebuyers move into a working-class black neighborhood? As the new residents restore the beautiful but run-down homes, black homeowners must fight to hold onto their community and heritage. The inevitable clashes expose prejudice and self-interest on both sides, as well as the common dream to have a home to call your own. Winner of the Jury Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival, Flag Wars is a candid, unvarnished portrait of privilege, poverty and local politics taking place across America.
Director: Linda Goode Bryant & Laura Poitras

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APRIL 9
BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN

Battle for Brooklyn (2012), by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, follows the story of reluctant activist Daniel Goldstein as he struggles to save his home and community from being demolished to make way for a professional basketball arena and the densest real estate development in U.S. history. Along the way, he falls in love, gets married and starts a family while living in a vacated building located at the heart of the project site. Over the course of seven years, Daniel spearheads the movement against the development plan as he and the community fight tenaciously in the courts, the streets, and the media to stop the abuse of eminent domain and reveal the corruption at the heart of the plan.
Director: Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley