Prince of Broadway with Sean Baker, Darren Dean, Prince Adu and Karren Karragulian
Thursday, 7:00 pm, Regal Downtown #4
Director: Sean Baker
Writers: Sean Baker, Darren Dean
Cinematographer: Sean Baker
Cast: Prince Adu, Karren Karragulian, Aiden Noesi
Running Time: 102 min
Director Sean Baker drew critical raves forTake Out, his portrait of a recent Chinese immigrant’s struggle to survive in New York City (also showing in the Festival). Prince Of Broadway, his latest neo-neo-realist film which again features non-professional actors and a densely rendered documentary setting, extends his fascinating exploration of contemporary New York immigrant life. Lucky and Levon are two men whose lives converge in the underbelly of New York’s wholesale fashion district. Lucky, an illegal immigrant from Ghana, makes ends meet by soliciting shoppers on the street with knockoff brand-name merchandise. Levon, an Armenian Lebanese immigrant, operates an illegal storefront with a concealed back room where counterfeit goods are showcased to deal-hunting shoppers.
Lucky’s world is suddenly turned upside down when a child is thrust into his life by a woman who insists the toddler is his son. While Lucky copes with the unwanted child, Levon struggles to save a marriage that is falling apart.
Set in the shadow of the Flatiron Building and soaked in the colorful bustle of Broadway, the film is as much a brutal drama as it is a tender comedy. New York’s wholesale district is explored with great documentary realism, and provides the perfect background for a journey that continually confronts the interplay between what is fake and what is real. Shot in a fast-paced guerilla style that is akin to the hustler lifestyle, the film reveals the lives of immigrants in America seeking ideals of family and love, while creating their own knockoff of the American Dream.
