Los Sures

Director Diego Echevarria will be appearing in-person for audience Q&As after the following screenings…
• Fri, June 24th @ 7pm
• Sat, June 25th @ 7pm
• Sun, June 26th @ 3:30pm

A look at the Los Sures section of Brooklyn in the late 1970s and early ’80s, one of the poorest areas in New York City at the time… In fact, it had been called the worst ghetto in America.

Thirty years ago, before the invasions of hipsters and overpriced latte’s, the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn was known as “Los Sures,” a place imbued with vibrant life, a community of close-knit Puerto Rican and Dominican families living amidst everyday economic struggle. Today, with the neighborhood fully gentrified, it feels vital to remember this lost world, and Diego Echeverria’s essential documentary, shot in the early eighties on 16mm, brings it all back to life, through the eyes of five different residents.

Diego Echeverria’s film skillfully represents the challenges residents of the Southside faced: poverty, drugs, gang violence, crime, abandoned real estate, racial tension, single-parent homes, and inadequate local resources. The complex portrait also celebrates the vitality of this latino community, showing the strength of their culture, their creativity, and their determination to overcome a desperate situation. Beautifully restored for in stunning 4k, this documentary is an invaluable piece of New York City history but one that resonates in all communities that have changed and particularly so in Wynwood.

Preceded by:
OF MEMORY & LOS SURES (2011) is a hybrid animated short documentary film directed and produced by Andrew Parsons & Laurie Sumiye featuring oral histories of longtime residents of Los Sures. Voices of longtime residents are juxtaposed with images suggesting a recently disappearing past. The film weaves their stories, reflecting unique glimpses into collective memory of a place undergoing rapid changes. Through explorations of urban space, the film unearths fragments of history and culture, and recreates those memories through video, photography, archival documents, and animation.