May 17 event to help fund filming and production
Newburgh, the documentary, will be a continuation of photographer Dmitri Kasterine’s work in the troubled downtown district, which was illustrated in his exhibition and book, Newburgh: Portrait of a City (2012, Quantuck Lane Press).
Dmitri Kasterine
The filmmakers are having a fundraiser at the Fullerton Cultural Center, 297 Grand St. in Newburgh, on Sunday, May 17, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Newburgh, just across the river from Beacon, is an embattled city that has been called the “murder capital” of New York state and is on the federal list of America’s 10 most violent cities.
Kasterine, who has photographed cultural figures from Roy Lichtenstein to Johnny Cash, Roald Dahl to Mick Jagger, will begin filming this June. He has a professional team behind the scenes assembled: producers Caroline Kasterine, his wife, and Emily Lansbury; editor Dick Gordon of Spot Welders; and assistant camera, Dan Guillaro.
In addition, Kasterine has some students from Newburgh who will apprentice him. The film is a collaborative, community documentary and will bring much needed attention to this city under siege from generations of poverty, drugs, gangs and violence.
Dmitri Kasterine’s work was recently displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London and is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. He lives in Garrison.
An excellent and tragic documentary. I hope it can be shown here in our community for all to see.