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This trio of powerhouse films grapples with, bemoans, and interrogates Seattle’s changing physical landscape. These filmmakers ask: How do we provide an antidote to “placelessness” via intentional, grassroots community spaces?
We begin with BEACON iLL, a kinetic, neon-hued ode to struggling to get by in Beacon Hill, featuring local South End rapper Rell Be Free.
Then we segue into The Beacon, a short from beloved local filmmaking crew Vanishing Seattle. The film profiles the break-dancing studio The Beacon, founded by the iconic hip-hop b-boy crew, Massive Monkees. A community hub for dancers, The Beacon shuttered in 2020 amidst the pandemic. But its triumphant return in 2022 reveals the power of a groove to unite us all. As one dance teacher puts it, “Dance is medicine.”
We close with Visions of Wallingford, a self-aware “community filmmaking project” that initially celebrates, and ultimately questions, Wallingford’s idyllic reputation. Tagging along for a series of walking tours, the viewer listens in on candid conversations with Native elders, urbanist advocates, and unhoused neighbors. What should growth look like in a changing city? Who gets to enjoy Wallingford’s many amenities, and who is left out?
Join us for a thought-provoking, urgent conversation about what Seattle we want for the future.
Watch this program in person at NWFF, Sep. 28 at 7pm. VIRTUAL, IN-PERSON, and HYBRID (virtual AND in-person) Festival Passes and Individual Tickets are available!
Wallingford is like a small town in a big city. Residents love their Craftsman houses, the quirky local businesses, and the rosemary bushes lining the sidewalk. But as home prices soar and beloved landmarks get bulldozed, they ponder the future of the neighborhood. This feature-length documentary follows these residents as they engage in a collaborative filmmaking project to make sense of their place within the housing crisis. They lead walking tours of their neighborhood, showcasing its beauty as well as its ugliness. Along the way, the residents come into dialogue with some unlikely characters, who call into question the meaning of gentrification and building community.
- Year2023
- Runtime47 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- Note(Ari Hock, US, 2023, 47 min, in English)
- DirectorAri Hock
This trio of powerhouse films grapples with, bemoans, and interrogates Seattle’s changing physical landscape. These filmmakers ask: How do we provide an antidote to “placelessness” via intentional, grassroots community spaces?
We begin with BEACON iLL, a kinetic, neon-hued ode to struggling to get by in Beacon Hill, featuring local South End rapper Rell Be Free.
Then we segue into The Beacon, a short from beloved local filmmaking crew Vanishing Seattle. The film profiles the break-dancing studio The Beacon, founded by the iconic hip-hop b-boy crew, Massive Monkees. A community hub for dancers, The Beacon shuttered in 2020 amidst the pandemic. But its triumphant return in 2022 reveals the power of a groove to unite us all. As one dance teacher puts it, “Dance is medicine.”
We close with Visions of Wallingford, a self-aware “community filmmaking project” that initially celebrates, and ultimately questions, Wallingford’s idyllic reputation. Tagging along for a series of walking tours, the viewer listens in on candid conversations with Native elders, urbanist advocates, and unhoused neighbors. What should growth look like in a changing city? Who gets to enjoy Wallingford’s many amenities, and who is left out?
Join us for a thought-provoking, urgent conversation about what Seattle we want for the future.
Watch this program in person at NWFF, Sep. 28 at 7pm. VIRTUAL, IN-PERSON, and HYBRID (virtual AND in-person) Festival Passes and Individual Tickets are available!
Wallingford is like a small town in a big city. Residents love their Craftsman houses, the quirky local businesses, and the rosemary bushes lining the sidewalk. But as home prices soar and beloved landmarks get bulldozed, they ponder the future of the neighborhood. This feature-length documentary follows these residents as they engage in a collaborative filmmaking project to make sense of their place within the housing crisis. They lead walking tours of their neighborhood, showcasing its beauty as well as its ugliness. Along the way, the residents come into dialogue with some unlikely characters, who call into question the meaning of gentrification and building community.
- Year2023
- Runtime47 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- Note(Ari Hock, US, 2023, 47 min, in English)
- DirectorAri Hock
