BROOKLYN IS BURNING

IN PRODUCTION FEATURE DOCUMENTARY FILM.

While America is divided by left and right vitriol, local bands and their loyal audiences remain united through their unwavering acceptance of their own differences.

SYNOPSIS

In a divided America, independent music is creating a subculture that is uniting a multitude of movements in the most diverse city in the world. The purpose of this project is to document the power of this scene and its global impact as it merges black, white, gay, straight, metal, hip-hop, electronic, indie, noise, goth and punk, all in one place: Brooklyn. Music acts like Surfbort, Uniform, A Place to Bury Strangers, Deli Girls, Dreamcrusher, Stuyedeyed, Bodega and Sloppy Jane exemplify what is happening. These bands are shaping the new music language for generations to come.

We want to capture the struggle of bands that are having an impact on and reshaping conversations on things such as female representation, gender identity, race and immigration through their music. Some of the musicians identify as non-binary, some grew up on welfare, some are established painters, some baristas, some are fashion designers, some escaped violence, some are touring seemingly forever and trying to make ends meet. What they all have in common are their strong stories and a strive that is universal. Some bands will succeed, others will dissolve, but to document their music at this crucial time will help us understand something important about our culture.

The places where this is happening are also important to the story. Venues such as Market Hotel, Alphaville, Our Wicked Lady, Secret Project Robot, The Glove, Baby’s All Right and Saint Vitus –just to name a few – are a testament to the story, places that unfortunately are been gentrified in real time. Yet these dance floorsand mosh pits represent a melting pot of cultures and happiness, where a new breath of music and art is emerging. If Manhattan is becoming a place of old museums and high-rise buildings, BROOKLYN IS BURNING WITH NEW MUSIC.

SOME OF THE BANDS:

Director’s statement:

Sometimes, you are searching for a story, not realizing that you are part of the narrative. With this project, this is my case. My work as a photographer changed as I spent more time covering the underground subculture. My nights were in secret locations, dive bars or DIY venues. New and eclectic bands gave a more interesting voice to my work. It wasn’t about the photo; rather, it was about the discovery. It was about listening to a new generation of musicians who were changing the local scene. This project is an extension of that work, and a point of view of the local scene through the eyes of an immigrant in the city. I moved to New York 20 years ago with no money, no connections and without speaking the language, yet music helped me to build the bridges that support my career. My story will be impossible with the current climate of building walls, racism and xenophobia.

This is a very personal film to me. From a political and emotional perspectives. In my teens I played guitar in a metal band, my first freelance gig as a designer was an album cover. I spent 15 years in the advertising multiverse as a creative director. After that brief detour now my work in photography and filmmaking are all connected to music. Every part of the documentary will be shot in a visual language that represents each band with the music being the element that glues their stories together. It is important that we elevate the reality, while keeping a sense of true grit and immediacy.

The selection of bands and characters is very important to the success of the project; especially since this is a documentary centered around inclusion. While each band is very different from the others, their stories will come together to form a complete narrative arc because we will explore all the facets of their lives. The thesis of this project is to understand how cultural movements emerge and why Brooklyn is at the intersection of such an eclectic scene. This piece will serve as a political statement, a music film and a character study.

Among the themes explored in the series are diversity, immigration, gender, feminism, underground cultures, and nonconformism. All the characters in the story will represent each of (or many of) those values. As we document the lives of the musicians, and their audience, the overarching theme will be how music connects fringe subcultures and gives a new generation of artists their voice. This is a documentary that shows the power music has to reshape and connect diverging points of view. Music connects people and purges the soul. It is both the antidote and the drug. Music is a pathway to love.

To focus on the many influences of the current scene, the conversation will expand beyond the band members. We will talk with photographers, artists, magazine editors, journalists, mainstream musicians and others who play a role in what is happening today. As with everything in New York, this movement will mutate with the city: It will reflect gentrification, as happened with the Chelsea Hotel; at No Wave, a little dive bar at 365 Bowery (a.k.a., CBGB’s); Williamsburg, and even with Bushwick itself. This is an ephemeral moment and the current scene will come to its demise at some point and become a punch line for the generation that was part of it. It will evolve into another creature, because that’s life and that’s New York in a nutshell, and there is no time to dwell on it. This is why we feel an urgency to document this story right now, before it’s too late and the next wave of artists and innovators sets Brooklyn on fire and burns it to the ground.

Brooklyn is burning now.

Dreamcrusher

Writer + Director : A.F. CORTÉS

Music Supervisor: Maxwell Cann

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Teaser Credits:

Producers: Dre Libreros, Helio Bodini, A.F. Cortés

Editor: Adam Bazadona - Cut+Run

Post producer: Hope Duhaime - Cut+Run

Sound: Boris Krichevsky

Front house recording (Surfbort + Crickets): Jeremy Rychard Snyder