The secret life of a street known from movies, television shows and commercials...
Lower Grand depicts the uneven recovery from the Great Recession through the aspect of this familiar setting - depending which side you're on, its portals are a window on the upper crust of American society or its lower depths.
This short subject documentary captures the redevelopment of Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles between 2015-2020.
Its rebound reflects the slow return to growth after the 2008 financial crisis in which millions of Americans permanently joined the ranks of the poor and the indigent. As business returned to a revitalized Grand Avenue, nothing changed for the unhoused who live below on Lower Grand; in fact, their numbers increased.
Meanwhile, Hollywood offered a warped reflection of American society in the movies and commercials it filmed on Lower Grand, even as its productions displaced homeless residents.
And the next big economic shock - the COVID-19 pandemic - was just around the corner...
Featuring music by Mario Grigorov and Desolation Radio.
A film by Jeff Dorer.
|