7th STREET (Josh Pais, 2002)
6th & B Community Garden
Ave. B & Sixth St.
Thursday, August 8, strongly suggested donation $5, 7:30
Festival runs August 3-10, all access pass $20
973-818-8495
www.7thstreetmovie.com
www.morusnyc.org
Actor Josh Pais, who was in the Raphael suit in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, turns the camera on the neighborhood he grew up in, Seventh Street between Avenues C & D, in this fascinating documentary that examines class struggle, racism, anti-Semitism, poverty and homelessness, the drug trade, gentrification, but, above all, family and friendship. Along the way, Pais, who is almost too reminiscent of Ben Stiller, introduces viewers to a fabulous and frightening cast of characters, including Manny the millionaire, Mickey the con man, Rex the draft dodger, Merlin the homeless sage, and many more. This is a special little documentary that will surprise you, delight you, and scare you while making you think back about the place where you grew up. Of course, it is also about a part of Alphabet City that has continued to undergo significant change since the film was made more than ten years ago. Pais will be on hand on August 8 when 7th Street is screened in the 6th & B Community Garden as part of the inaugural MoRUS Film Fest, sponsored by the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, whose mission “is to preserve history and promote scholarship of grassroots urban space activism by researching and archiving efforts to create community spaces.” The festival continues through August 10 with such other events as a compilation of Loisaida films in La Plaza Cultural and Jacob Burckhardt’s Landlord Blues and Phil Hartman’s No Picnic in Orchard Alley.