Things that makes me happy... Detropia the Movie

Things that make me happy... Detropia a documentary film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.

A "collage of Detroit" is what best describes Detropia, a insightful film about the current reality facing the once thriving city of Detroit.  This film is for anyone that is from, visited, or cared about Detroit and the many other cities like it that have experience the effects of lost (good paying) jobs in a ever changing business landscape.

Detropia won at Sundance Film festival for best editing in a US Documentary and will be featured on PBS in the near future. The directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady spend over a year in the city meeting its people and capturing the ever present decay of the city.  They show the city council debates around redistricting, impact on the lower income residents, and the drought of middle class jobs. The movie addresses the racial overtones of the cities demise by tiptoeing around the exit of the white middle class over the past 50 years to the suburbs. The lack of investment and the lost of the automobile jobs help to accelerate the urban collapse.

What the film does not do is following a typical path of this type of story where the there is a clear path of hope in the end. It ends with a question for the audience... If this can happen to Motown, can it happen to any main street city?

Movie Trailer...

Interview with director

Interview with Directors...

Pros
1. Great editing and cinematography and handles the dire subject with respect for the people and and the city.
2. Tommy Stephens the owner of Raven Lounge. As charismatic as he is wise is the heart and soul of the film.
3. This is a suspense movie... Will Detroit survive? If so how?
4. A great intellectual vitamin for those that aren't aware of what is happening in many towns across across America.

Cons
1. No solutions... don't expect a Cinderella Story... This city still got problems.
2. Tough stuff to watch... a not so pleasant side of modern "main street".


SF Guru