Clinton Hill Filmmakers Do Battle for Brooklyn

Locally, the controversy surrounding the Atlantic Yards construction site is old news. But a pair of Clinton Hill filmmakers hope to take the issue global, with a new documentary that makes the controversial Brooklyn issue relatable to audiences around the world.

Directors Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky premiered "Battle for Brooklyn," on Saturday  at the Toronto HotDocs festival. The documentary .

“We initially had read about the Atlantic Yards project in The New York Times and it seemed like a press release,” said Hawley. “There were more questions than answers.”

The film focuses primarily on Prospect Heights homeowner Dan Goldstein, who organized a group of community activists under the banner Develop, Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, to protest against mega-developer Bruce Ratner’s plans for a New Jersey Nets basketball arena and high-rise commercial towers in the heart of Brownstone Brooklyn. 

Goldstein becomes a reluctant activist when he discovers the arena is set to be built right where his condo stands, and observes government officials using eminent domain to force locals out.

“We called [neighborhood activist] Patti Hagan and followed her around for 10 days, and she told us that Dan was a fighter who isn’t going to roll over,” said Galinsky.

Ten days turned into nearly eight years of filming. The documentary chronicles the progressively galvanized response of the community, including DDDB's over $1 million in donations from over 4,000 donors bring the battle to the courts.

“The response was initially shock in the beginning, but the anger from the community slowly built,” said Hawley. “People looked at the exclusive photos from The New York Times and saw just how massive this project was going to be.”

Although documentaries such as Isabel Hill’s "Brooklyn Matters" have already tackled the Atlantic Yards project, Galinski said "Battle for Brooklyn" offers a fresh take.

“We didn’t want this to be an activist film, which is tough because you do become involved to a certain extent,” said Galinsky. “Our approach as directors is to follow characters and not facts. We want to show people under pressure and how they react to that pressure.”

Perhaps the biggest sign that the film did its job is the response from audiences outside of the New York area. At the world premiere in Toronto last Saturday, Galinsky said they were given a five minute standing ovation after the screening.

Hawley said a main goal of the film was to take an issue related to Brooklyn and make it relatable to audiences worldwide.

"What was great for us is when audience members would tell us about overriding political forces for similar projects that related to them, whether it was the construction of Texas Stadium in Dallas or development in Toronto," said Hawley. "It’s a universal story because politics is local.”

The film will make its national debut at the 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival on June 3. The film will also be shown at Fort Greene Park on June 9.