Suburban sprawl sucks. Ever drive down Colerain Avenue? It looks like something out of an apocalyptic movie where foliage is nearly extinct and electrical, phone and other ugly-ass wires dominate one’s view of the sky. Worse, sprawl encourages single car drivers whose exhaust emissions and copious consumption of gas is becoming a greater concern by the minute. Not to be a dick, but we ignore sprawl’s environmental and infrastructure issues at our peril. With this in mind, the Southern Ohio Filmmakers Association (SOFA) and Cincinnati World Cinema (CWC) have teamed up to present a pair of documentaries that deal with this timely, ever-vital topic.
Oscar-nominated documentarian Jim Klein’s Taken for a Ride looks at the role General Motors and oil companies played in dismantling streetcar systems nationwide and how this led to the U.S. having the worst public transit system in the industrialized world (among other troubling results). Taken for a Ride will be preceded by acclaimed local filmmaker Andrea Torrice’s A Crack in the Pavement, which looks at the aforementioned issues through the stories of two public officials from Madiera and Elmwood Place, both of whom are trying to save their aging suburbs from losing residents and businesses to newer suburban communities (West Chester, anyone?).
In addition to the screenings, which take place 7 p.m. July 14 and 15 at The Carnegie in Covington SOFA and CWC will be offering catered receptions, post-screening Q&As, cash bars and a panel workshop (4 p.m. July 14) on documentary filmmaking that includes Klein and Torrice. Besides being informative, the events also double as fundrasiers for SOFA. Get tickets, details and find nearby bars and restaurants here.
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2009.