Centre For Local Research into Public Space (CELOS)
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You are on the [cover page] of folder [Eric Schachter]Eric Schachter in New York
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My Friends of Colour Improvising Life -- a film by Eric Schachter and Cristina Henao Cifuentes, with Spanish narration. CELOS member Anna Bekerman translated the text, and sent a summary and some quotes, just enough to give a sense of this "lyrical and opinionated" film of life in Riverside Park in Harlem.
"It took me just one afternoon to realise that I was still alive, and that I hadn't forgotten that. Just one afternoon in Harlem, in Riverside Park." The narrator describes how one day she found herself in Riverside Park when a torrential downpour suddenly opened up. Instead of running for cover or hurrying home like most of the people in the park, she decided to stay where she was. She found that many people had stayed despite the rain, delighting in small pleasures and improvising ways of passing the time with what they had. She grabbed her video camera and began recording the scenes that we see in the movie: "Surprising images amidst a vast cement jungle. So close and yet so removed from the grey city landscape. Here, in place of heavy suitcases, there are light-spirited games. Instead of serious debates, jokes and anecdotes. Instead of the same routine, a map open to any destination."