Saturday, April 19, 2008

Seminole Heights Documentary Sold Out!

From the Times:

Seminole Heights: An Intimate Look at the Early Years sold out. More than 100 people lingered on the sidewalk, without tickets.

Suzanne Prieur, who spearheaded the project, came outside to tell the crowd there would be no second showing that night. No way she or resident filmmakers Gene and Krissy Howes could've anticipated the interest in Seminole Heights history.

"Stunned is how I'm feeling," she said. "Completely stunned."

and

"Among those who didn't get in was 84-year-old Anne Ramsey, who lived in the neighborhood in the 1930s."
That's my grandma! So how was it? Any reviews? Opinions? Thoughtful critiques?
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6 comments:

  1. kombatrock4/24/2008 4:26 PM

    Well, I finally watched the documentary on dvd and was struck by the images evoked in the memories and glad to see them preserved: Riding water hyacinths down river, gypsies dancing around what is now the Save A Lot parking lot, A zoo at the gas station on the corner of Nebraska and Hills...

    Although change is inevitable and memories tend to wash out the worst, it really seems like those early years were a great time to grow up around here. In the 80s, it was bars on the windows, the crack epidemic and the adults telling me I couldnt eat the fish I caught in the river. Riverview Terrace at Central and Broad was a drug infested war zone and the ladies of the night were at their peak on Nebraska.

    I'll me interested, when I'm old and gray, to see if someone produces a film documenting these years: Seminole Heights...from urban decline to gentrification and back again...

    One thing I pulled from of the documentary is the idea of the the "streetcar suburb" and the relatively short lived existence of the actual rail lines that served the hood. They were ripped up in 1946 as part of the "Great American Streetcar Scandal," a true American tragedy if there ever was one.

    The Great American Streetcar Scandal

    A head shaker for sure, especially when today cities leaders and urban planners struggle with how to recreate what General Motors destroyed to get us addicted to driving cars. Bastards!

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  2. Mal Carne4/24/2008 8:47 PM

    Truly sucks that your grandmother couldn't get in. I figured there would be quite a few people, but sold out?

    Thanks for the info on the streetcars, I've lived in several neighborhoods that still had tracks, but the commercial and residential districts had gone to hell. Always wondered why they'd been dismantled.

    As for the documentary, the only thing that I was very interested in, but didn't get to see (damn the passage of time) was seeing what the commercial corridors looked like back in the day. It would have been nice to see more of what FL and Neb. looked like pre-car lot. Not a shortcoming of the producers, you work with what you have.

    As for the future documentary, everything's cyclical. White flight will turn around and folks will head back for the burbs. Just the nature of things.

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  3. kombatrock4/26/2008 1:50 PM

    With the increase in fuel prices and the general trend toward density, I don't think people will be running back to the suburbs anytime soon. The coming meltdown will highlight how unsustainable and ridiculous all that sprawl development has been all along.

    Check out the movie End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream.

    I was encouraged (slightly) by the code change models (mixed use, pedestrian friendly) at the Garden Center the other night, but it's gonna take decades to enact and by the that time the city will probably be broke (now if we still had those streetcars it might be a different story)...

    So, ultimately, the documntary was cool but it kinda depressed me...

    But Grandma did finally get to see it.

    I would've liked to have seen more of the commercial corridors too. If you ever have the time, check out the Burgert Brothers collection at the downtown public library (I think you can access online now too)...

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  4. Tony4/30/2008 2:54 PM

    Oh no, please don't tell me that Sherry has sold out of the DVDs!

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  5. Jay McGee5/01/2008 7:47 AM

    Hi Jay, Under the story about the Seminole Heights Movie Selling out, someone asked if we were sold out at the shop of the DVD's. Could you post this for me under the comments?


    "We still have plenty of DVD's of this movie at the shop. Hours: Tues-Sat 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. Noon - 6 p.m. Sherry"

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  6. Anonymous5/01/2008 8:49 AM

    "We still have plenty of DVD's of this movie at the shop. Hours: Tues-Sat 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun. Noon - 6 p.m." Sherry

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