The Lost Village looks at NYU’s expansion into real estate and other community ills
THE LOST VILLAGE (Roger Paradiso, 2018)
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St. between University Pl. & Fifth Ave.
Opens Friday, October 19
212-529-6799
www.bgpics.com
www.cinemavillage.com
Roger Paradiso’s The Lost Village takes on a subject near and dear to many a New Yorker’s heart: the gentrification and corporatization of the city, which is replacing affordable housing and mom-and-pop shops with luxury buildings and fancy boutiques. However, the film provides no new insight into the dilemma; in fact, Paradiso even hurts his cause by speaking with a fairly random assortment of people, including some fringe, less-than-objective, not very articulate figures, and demonstrating little skill with a camera. “People came to the Village because it was different,” he explains, stating the obvious. “They’re trying to change the character of the Village, trying to make it a hipster’s suburban mall version of what was once a great Village of artists and working-class families. It’s enough to make a Villager puke.” The film begins as a screed against NYU’s massive expansion into real estate, pointing out that many women students have become sex workers in order to afford their tuition. Mark Crispin Miller, NYU professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, shows a radical 1960s spirit in arguing against the university’s policies, but the rest of the film is scattershot and hackneyed as Paradiso, who previously wrote and directed the movie version of Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, marches in a handful of economists, brokers, journalists, and activists who give meandering lectures that sound like “Voice of the People” letters in the Daily News. And it doesn’t help that the film looks like a 1970s relic in dire need of restoration. There’s an important story buried somewhere here; perhaps the series of talks accompanying numerous screenings at Cinema Village will shed more light on this critical topic. [Full disclosure: I’m an NYU graduate with a degree in Cinema Studies.]
Friday October 19, 6:45
“St. Vincent’s Hospital and Other Places I Remember,” with George Capsis and Lincoln Anderson, moderated by Jim Fouratt
Saturday, October 20, 2:45
“The Inside Story of What Is Going on in the Village,” with Caroline Benveniste and Jim Fourrat, moderated by Roger Paradiso
Saturday, October 20, 6:45
“The Art of the Gouge: How NYU Squeezes Billions from Its Students and Where that Money Goes,” with Mark Crispin Miller and Andrew Ross, moderated by Jim Fouratt
Sunday, October 21, 2:45
“Where Have All the Artists Gone?,” with Heidi Russell and Sandy Hecker, moderated by Jim Fouratt
Sunday, October 21, 6:45
“Resistance from the Pulpit,” with Reverend Ed Chinery, moderated by Jim Fouratt
Monday, October 22, 6:45
“Where Have All the Activists and Artists Gone?,” with Doris Deither and Alison Greenberg, moderated by Jim Fouratt
Tuesday, October 23, 6:45
“Saving Mom & Pops,” with Marnie Halasa and Peter Cetera, moderated by Jim Fouratt
Wednesday, October 24, 6:45
“Taking Back the Village & Saving It,” with Anthony Gronowicz and Carol Yost, moderated by Jim Fouratt