There’s been a rash of Detroit documentaries lately, from locals with well fed Kickstarter accounts to seasoned vets submitting their takes on the city to the Sundance Film Festival. As the city’s buzz has intensified over the past several years, it seems everyone’s been trying to best document Detroit and what it all means. In this multiple part series, the Urbane Life will be taking a look at a number of the more notable and notorious Detroit documentaries. This week’s entry takes a look at three upcoming docs that take the path less traveled.
Followers of our Detroit documentary series have no doubt noticed a bit of a theme: young entrepreneurs, abandoned buildings, desolation and promise. We’ve been desperate for someone to tell a different story and have recently learned of three filmmakers who are poking around some corners of the city that haven’t been exhaustively documented . . . yet.
The Legendary Cobo
Cobo Arena, while not the prettiest of downtown Detroit’s buildings, has held some of the city’s biggest events, especially in the 1960s and 70s. Detroiters have heard everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to KISS here and filmmaker Douglas Akers has been working on a documentary to give the building its propers. The film, which features interviews from Mitch Ryder, Alice Cooper, Edgar Winter, Mayor Dave Bing, and many, many more, is currently raising funds for post-production. Contribute HERE.
Corrado Parducci
Even the most casual of Detroit architecture fans undoubtedly know about Albert Kahn, the man who designed an astounding number of the city’s early 20th century gems. But how many have ever heard of Corrado Parducci? Odds are that even some of the more proud architecture nerds know little about him. College for Creative Studies and Wayne State University students Jennifer Baross and Jack Johnson have set out to change that. Parducci was invited to Detroit by Kahn himself, eventually working on over 600 jobs in the city. He designed many of the details on the city’s signature buildings, including the Penobscot and Guardian. The filmmakers are currently kickstarting funds, which you can help out with HERE.
Michigan at War: The Struggles of the Old Northwest, 1812 – 1815
The War of 1812 is often called the Forgotten War. This doesn’t have so much to do with the fact that Americans have never heard of ‘The War of 1812′ but more that they have no clue what the war was actually about. Set to debut at the Henry Ford Museum’s Anderson Theater on August 18th, Michigan at War examines Michigan’s substantial role in the war. The scheduled opening is free.
This article brought to you by the good folks at Urbane Apartments Royal Oak Michigan, Urbane Apartments Ferndale Michigan,Urbane Apartments Birmingham Michigan, and Urbane Apartments Dearborn Michigan
