Eminent domain documentary “Battle for Brooklyn” world debut April 30 at Hot Docs Film Festival

“Battle for Brooklyn,” the documentary film about the Atlantic Yards Project (our previous AY posts are available here) in Brooklyn, NY, will make its world premier at the prestigious Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in the World Showcase program on April 30, 2011 at 7:00 PM in Toronto. A sneak peak screening of the film premiered at the ALI-ABA Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation course in Coral Gables, FL February 16 and 18, 2011. (See our previous post about the screening here. See also Robert Thomas’s interview with RUMUR’s Michael Gallinsky after the Feb. 18 ALI-ABA screening here.)

“Battle for Brooklyn” (formerly “Battle of Brooklyn”) captures a community’s seven-year fight to stop the use of eminent domain to take their homes and businesses for the construction of a mixed-use development including a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets and commercial towers. The film is a compelling story about the abuse of eminent domain and how this awesome power intended for the public good can destroy a community.

About the film: BATTLE for BROOKLYN

The film is a close-range look at the fight to stop condemnation waged by property owners and residents living in the footprint of the Atlantic Yards Project, a massive real estate development proposal to build 16 skyscrapers and a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets in the heart of Brooklyn.

Daniel Goldstein’s apartment sits at what would be center court of the new arena. He is dragged into the fight because he simply can’t believe that the government should use the power of Eminent Domain to take his property and hand it off to a private developer. He and others form a community activist group to develop alternative plans to the proposal and to expose misconceptions about the project in the media. Going up against the largest publicly traded real estate developer in the U.S., a mayor, and Russian oligarch (all billionaires), he wages an all out battle to stop the project and takes his case to the State’s highest court of law.

Along the way, Daniel falls in love, gets married and starts a family. Compiled from almost 500 hours of footage, Battle for Brooklyn is an epic tale of how far people will go to fight for what they believe in.

You can view the trailer at rumur.com/battle

About The Filmmakers

As an award-winning multimedia production studio, RUMUR Inc, has collaborated with such high profile clients as HBO, A&E, IFC, PBS, AOL, The New York Times, The New York Public Library and the NYC Department of Education to produce feature films, mini-series, industrial commercials, and web applications. Previous films have been short-listed for Academy Award consideration.

RUMUR has a reputation for producing and distributing provocative documentaries that both garner critical acclaim and have the power to move people to action. Battle of Brooklyn will be the centerpiece of a campaign to re-examine state laws regarding eminent domain and property rights.

For more information visit rumur.com/about

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