Gut Renovation
In 1989, together with a group of female friends, Su Friedrich rented and renovated an old loft in Williamsburg, an unassuming working-class district of Brooklyn. In 2005 this former industrial zone was designated a residential area and the factories, manufacturers and artists’lofts were priced out by property speculators lured by tax breaks. Friedrich spent five years documenting with her camera the changes in the area. She shows the demolition of industrial buildings and the construction of trendy new apartments for wealthy clients, watching old tenants leave and new inhabitants arrive. As she keeps meticulous record of developments, the extent and speed of the upheaval becomes clear. Her own tenancy agreement expires too and so her documentary images and trenchant commentary become the tools of her growing anger. A documentary of small changes evolves into an historical record of New York, a case study of the rapid gentrification of our cities.In 1989, together with a group of female friends, Su Friedrich rented and renovated an old loft in Williamsburg, an unassuming working-class district of Brooklyn. In 2005 this former industrial zone was designated a residentia... Read more
Starring
Watch "Gut Renovation" on Kanopy released in 2012. It's a documentary and history movie, and has a rating of 5 out of 10 from Imdb which is fairly low for this kind of movie.