banner
CONTACT US
***** NJ DISCOVER IS A FULL SERVICE HD PRODUCTION COMPANY - STRENGTH IS PRODUCING TV COMMERCIALS AND WEBMERCIALS SO YOU COULD ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS ON CABLE TELEVISION, SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE WORLDWIDE WEB - "GET DISCOVERED WITH NJ DISCOVER" - CONTACT US TODAY FOR DETAILS at 732-303-8844 *****

The Movie Documentary ‘Destiny’s Bridge.’ A Movie REVIEW and OCEAN COUNTY PREMIERE on November 7th. And Notes on my Personal Journey to Involvement. By Calvin Schwartz October 18, 2013

The Movie Documentary ‘Destiny’s Bridge.’  A Movie REVIEW and OCEAN COUNTY PREMIERE on November 7th.  And Notes on my Personal Journey to Involvement.   By Calvin Schwartz  October 18 2013

 

1375260_691172530892926_1072142017_n

 

I need to say firstly that this amazing documentary by filmmaker Jack Ballo, ‘Destiny’s Bridge,’ where he spent a year of his life recording the lives of the homeless in Lakewood, is having its Ocean County  premiere at AMC Loews Seacourt 10 Theater on November 7th 2013

More Info on November Ocean  County Premiere:

Thursday, November 7, 2013Movie @ 7pm,  Q&A to follow. AMC Loews Seacourt 10 Theater

 

635 Bay Avenue   Toms River, NJ 08753

ADVANCE TICKETS ONLINE:   www.brownpapertickets.com/event/483381

Tickets may be purchased at the door while tickets last.

(The last two screenings were sold out in advance.)

 

 

149954_573577709319076_1143157019_n

Filmmaker Jack Ballo(left) and Tent City resident (and in movie) Elwood

Filmmaker Jack Ballo(left) and Tent City resident (and in movie) Elwood  note: this is not a typical tent/residence.

 

 

CALVIN’S REVIEW:  DESTINY’S BRIDGE

I’m not a Siskel or Ebert. On the other hand, I have evolved over my tech noir years of ‘Casablanca,’ ‘From Here to Eternity,’ ‘On the Waterfront;’ where perhaps I’m now a contender to talk about movies. Part of the evolution side effect is a bit of snobbish attitude to viewing movies; can’t waste time watching ineptitude in film making and storytelling. Movie making is an art form and a great gift. The works of quintessential movie makers fascinate me. I’ll notice eye-brows moving and the wispy windy sounds of a tree next to a window as two characters are staring at the moon. I take it all in; pure cinematic absorption. I need to learn, emote and feel. Looking back, motion pictures have helped congeal my views of the world and changed my life. Watching ‘Casablanca’ for the 44th time some years ago formed the basis of my first novel.

So when I previewed the movie ‘Destiny’s Bridge’ a few  months ago, I found myself instantly riveted into the world of Tent City. My emotional ties developed quickly with the residents; sensitive caring humans looking for dignity and respect in a cold world. Jack Ballo seamlessly weaves their stories and interconnectivity of existence; how they depend on one another. I can say it was beautiful film making; vivid photography heightened the stark reality. You will learn about the harsh human condition of homelessness from this documentary.

Yes, it is an exquisite film which means sensitive, emotional, real and poignant.  Back to my being a snob about movies; I’ve since watched it again. You may need to do the same; the film delivers a powerful message about homelessness and Minister Steven Brigham’s vision for a future. Then Jack Ballo’s treatise on the lives of some of the people; you grow fond and bond with them, maybe wanting to reach out and help. You care about their lives. The film is beautiful because it makes you feel something inside. It evokes. I love when I’m evoked to emote by a film.

It was a painstaking meticulous project for Ballo; a year of his life for the desire to make a difference. I look at myself right now at this point in time somewhere in a universe. ‘Destiny’s Bridge’ has innervated and moved me; therefore a brilliant work. There’s sadness in the final scene looking down from high above; in some ways leaving that homeless world below but also heralding an awareness that much needs to be done.  All my above criteria for good movie making have been met; I call it a contender. Here’s thanking and looking at you Jack Ballo.

 

 

 

calvin and tara-jean vitale (nj discover producer) Tent City

calvin and tara-jean vitale (nj discover producer) Tent City

welcome to tent city

welcome to tent city

 

 

MY PERSONAL NOTES ON TENT CITY:

Calvin Schwartz

Journeys to sensitivity and understanding sometimes begin innocently with little fanfare and symphonies. On Easter Sunday 2012, I attended a concert of awareness for the people of Tent City in Lakewood passionately put together by Rosemary Conte. With my son, we filmed the event for NJ Discover. I had no concept of what Tent City was and the fact that around 100 humans were living in tents for years without electricity, heat or basic amenities because Ocean County has no shelters for the homeless. Tent City was 24 minutes from where I’ve lived for 24 years but that didn’t register in my frontal lobe. While listening to the music close to the staging area, a bus of Tent City residents arrived at the far end of the plaza for food and clothing donations. Minister Stephen Brigham brought the tent residents in his yellow school bus; that scene was still far away from me in several ways. I stayed with my son but saw people holding empty plates waiting on a food line. An image of President Herbert Hoover’s Great Depression flashed across my unsympathetic retina. Close to the musicians I remained.  It seemed the thing to do. When I got home that night, I forgot about the hungry homeless and talked to my family about the special Jersey musicians I heard for the first time.

 

Angelo chopping wood to heat his home(tent)

Angelo chopping wood to heat his home(tent)

a walk down a bumpy road

a walk down a bumpy road

 

Cut to January. Hurricane Sandy relief concerts were happening all over the Garden State. My past written words of support and admiration for Rosemary Conte and her wondrous musical and life contributions caught up to her; we became friends. She invited me to cover a Sandy benefit concert at McCloone’s in Asbury Park for NJ Discover. I interviewed her and then came an introduction to Sherry Rubel, concert organizer, photographer extraordinaire and Tent City activist.

Now it’s February. I’m at a place for coffee and conversation on a busy highway in East Brunswick, N.J with Sherry Rubel. Two weeks later on a very cold sunny day, Tara-Jean Vitale (NJ Discover producer) and I met Sherry across the street from the entrance to Tent City in Lakewood. We were packing TV cameras and microphones for our day in a new world. Patches of pure white snow from the night before looked like special effects. The dirt road was frozen; so was I emotionally. A thin veil of disbelief at my surroundings settled subtly around me. It was numbing; humans in the second richest state in America existing like this. Then I met Angelo, an endearing eloquent resident who invited me into his tent, briefly excusing himself, while I stood immobile and incredulous on how cold it was in the tent.  He went outside to chop wood for the wood burning stove which was not warming the tent well.  His bed was made perfectly. At that moment, in such brutal cold, where humans sleep and exist in the Lakewood winter, I thought about never being quite the same again. And I’m not. Something inside me aches (a soul?) from being overwhelmed. An hour later we interviewed Minister Steven Brigham, a twelfth generation American. Illuminating and inspiring to us, he’s been devoting much of an adult lifetime to the cause of ‘Destiny’s Bridge;’ a journey to finding suitable and dignified housing in a self-sustainable community of homeless humans. I like using the term ‘humans.’

 

watching Michael play Beethoven and Procul Harum for me right outside his tent on a piano under tarp[.

watching Michael play Beethoven and Procul Harum for me right outside his tent on a piano under tarp.

 

 

It’s not within the scope of this article to do self-intestinal excavation and journalizing my time at Tent City.  But a few months later, I was back there with filmmaker Jack Ballo and had a chance to meet residents and talk and listen. Uncovering his wealth of character and poignancy, I met Michael, a long time Tent City resident with his wife Marilyn. He was able to bring a piano from his home before it was lost and kept it under a tarp like on a baseball field in a rainstorm. He played Beethoven and Procul Harum, ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ for me. Enamored and drawn to his depth and warmth, I drifted far away standing close to Michael; I was still numb from months earlier at Tent City. It was cloudy and mild this day; easier for Michael and all the residents to sleep at night. But it is all hard; a very hard rain. I need to yell; maybe it will help me understand how and why in 2013 here in New Jersey this exists. Everything I saw that day after listening to Michael play the piano was visually a whiter shade of pale; hard to explain.  It’s still hard months later.

 

0 comments

Add your comment

Nickname:
E-mail:
Website:
Comment:

*

Other articlesgo to homepage

COMEDIAN MIKE MARINO: ‘Up Close and Personal’ Concert July 29th Paramount Asbury Park   by Calvin Schwartz

COMEDIAN MIKE MARINO: ‘Up Close and Personal’ Concert July 29th Paramount Asbury Park by Calvin Schwartz(0)

COMEDIAN MIKE MARINO: ‘Up Close and Personal’ Concert July 29th Paramount Asbury Park by Calvin Schwartz                   Mike Marino is coming back home to New Jersey and Asbury Park’s Paramount Theater on July 29th for ‘Up Close and Personal;’ a special backstage event with limited seating. But

SPECIAL COMING ATTRACTION: FAMILY FUN NIGHT at Academy of Music & Dance in Spotswood, NJ June 25  by Calvin Schwartz

SPECIAL COMING ATTRACTION: FAMILY FUN NIGHT at Academy of Music & Dance in Spotswood, NJ June 25 by Calvin Schwartz(0)

SPECIAL COMING ATTRACTION: FAMILY FUN NIGHT at Academy of Music & Dance in Spotswood, NJ June 25  by Calvin Schwartz                                         INTRODUCING YOUR HOSTS:  multi-media artist Mia (Maria) Savarese:    MiaArtOnline.com https://www.facebook.com/mariasavarese.miaart Maria Savarese is a

NJ DISCOVER SPECIAL COMING ATTRACTION: Artist Mia Savarese is “Finding the Music: Mixed Media Art & Multi-Sensory Experience” June 3rd 7-9PM  by Calvin Schwartz

NJ DISCOVER SPECIAL COMING ATTRACTION: Artist Mia Savarese is “Finding the Music: Mixed Media Art & Multi-Sensory Experience” June 3rd 7-9PM by Calvin Schwartz(0)

NJ DISCOVER SPECIAL COMING ATTRACTION: Artist Mia Savarese is “Finding the Music: Mixed Media Art & Multi-Sensory Experience” June 3rd 7-9PM  by Calvin Schwartz                       It’s not often these days of multitude event bombardment in central Jersey, that I take to basically urging folks to

Harry Filkin – EVENT:  Album Release Party!  5/20 Showtime at 8PM The Wonder Bar – by TaraJean

Harry Filkin – EVENT: Album Release Party! 5/20 Showtime at 8PM The Wonder Bar – by TaraJean(0)

Harry Filkin is a well known American singer and songwriter on the Jersey Shore. Harry Filkin has been writing songs for four decades. He will be releasing his first all – original album on May 20th. Harry is a founding member of several successful Jersey Shore bands, most notably Holme, a well-known rock band from

It Continues To Be a Brave New World: First Annual  IDT Hackathon  April 22nd -April 23rd Newark NJ   by Calvin Schwartz   May 8, 2017

It Continues To Be a Brave New World: First Annual IDT Hackathon April 22nd -April 23rd Newark NJ by Calvin Schwartz May 8, 2017(0)

It Continues To Be a Brave New World: First Annual IDT Hackathon April 22nd -April 23rd Newark NJ by Calvin Schwartz May 8, 2017                         IDT HACKATHON EVENT Thinking back over the past few years, I wonder how many times I’ve invoked references to

read more
banner

NJD NEW VIDEO

Artist Nation TV

banner

Find Us on Facebook

The Garden State Wine Growers Association

banner

NJ Discover Tweets

    Contacts and information

    MV Digital Productions is NJ Discover\'s very own full service Production Company. MV Digital will produce a professional quality HD commercial or infomercial for your business at an affordable price in a very short period of time.

    NJ Discover is Your One Stop Shopping for TV/Internet Production and Advertising.

    Social networks

    Most popular categories

    © 2011-2012 NJ Discover All rights reserved.