The PBS series, POV, hosted an Open House and Season 24 launch party at their new DUMBO digs yesterday. And what a party it was. It seemed as though every documentary filmmaker in New York was present. In terms of filmmaker sightings, it was practically like walking to the store in Park Slope; you just kept running into them. I lost count after twenty or so. For a documentary geek like me, one of the highlights was cornering poor D. A. Pennebaker who was simply trying to enjoy his bottle of Brooklyn Pilsner (see photo). Many POV alumni were there as well including Marshall Curry (“If a Tree Falls…” & “Racing Dreams”), Robin Hessman (“My Perestroika”), Robert Behar and Almudena Carracedo (“Made in L.A.”), Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath (“The Betrayal” and of course the previously mentioned D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus (“Kings of Pastry”).
The new space was perfect for the big turn-out with plenty of places to loiter or to mill about if one preferred. A well stocked bar at the reception desk and a delicious spread in the conference room, Whether one was hungry for chat or chow, everyone’s appetite seemed to be well sated. The highlight of the affair was Marty Markowitz’s drive-by officially welcoming POV to Brooklyn. (He was gone before I had an opportunity to hand him one of my filmwax postcards, damn it.) He was warmly received along with various members of his staff, despite the fact that there were a number of filmmakers in the room who had projects that might not have been considered particularly Marty-friendly. One of those projects, the terrific “Battle for Brooklyn”, an unabashed critique of the Atlantic Yards development project and which also happens to be opening the Brooklyn Film Festival tonight.
The POV party was not about controversy though; the focus was clearly about looking forward as POV continues to air the best & most relevant documentaries today.
