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DIRTY OLD TOWN: a new gonzo narrative by young trio Jenner Furst, Daniel B Levin and Julia Willoughby Nason. Abel Ferrara presents this indie-feature ...
DIRTY OLD TOWN swirls around Billy's Antiques and Props as owner Billy Leroy faces eviction from his ramshackle tent off Bowery. With 72 hours to pay the rent, his urban Big Top draws in a troop of freaks, renegades and misfits. These strange characters form a colorful tableaux full of carnival pageantry, white lies and victimless crime, in a downtown slice of life that playfully blurs the line between reality and fiction.
The filmmakers spun this strange tale from their previous documentary, CAPTURED, which chronicled the transformation of the Lower East Side through the renegade lens of documentarian, artist and activist Clayton Patterson.
DIRTY OLD TOWN also showcases longtime actor Nicholas De Cegli, AKA Nicky D, a famous fixture in the New York City nightlife scene. Close friend Abel Ferrara refers to Nicky as "John Wayne" within this twisted going out of business story. There are also first time acting debuts from Paul Sevigny the restauranter and Club Guru, Ashley Graham the young full-bodied supermodel and Janell Shirtcliff, aspiring actress, model and wife of MGMT drummer Will Berman.
The filmmakers have used vibrant characters and locations, both real and fictional, to form an eclectic collage, working with available materials and turning film into found art. Executive Producer Marc Levin calls this project "An Absurdist Valentine to a disappearing City".
In more ways than one, DIRTY OLD TOWN reverberates the loss of many bohemian institutions Downtown and an on going change in the culture of New York City.
Leroy's actual landlord, the real estate visionary Tony Goldman, screened the film and despite being depicted as a frill-less curmudgeon, found the tale to be interesting and the irony to be laughable. For years Goldman has been a conscientious force in revitalizing neighborhoods, most famously Soho and South Beach Miami.
DIRTY OLD TOWN from Blowback Productions on Vimeo.
The Bowler from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.
