"80 Blocks From Tiffany's" Out Tuesday!

80 Blocks From Tiffany's will be officially out on DVD this Tuesday, November 23rd! The past couple of days have been good as far as press... I'm happy to see a variety of blogs, newspapers and magazines covering the DVD release. Anthony Boryga put together a wonderful article for the New York Times that went up today. Check it out here!

80 Blocks in New York Times

Here's a couple other articles:

80 Blocks in New York Amsterdam News

80 Blocks in New York Press

80 Blocks in Black Book Magazine

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"80 Blocks..." Coming November 23rd!

80 Blocks From Tiffany's will be released November 23rd! I'm excited to see that some blogs are already showing it love! I've seen samples of the finished product and it does not disappoint. The hard cover book the DVD is housed in is amazing (shouts to KARMA for the ill design as always)!

The reprint of the original Esquire magazine article by the late Jon Bradshaw, titled Savage Skulls, is quite a juxtaposition to the film. Although shocking in its own right, the film allows the viewer to witness the camaraderie of the youths featured in the film, as they crack jokes and sometimes even play things up for the camera. However, the article touches upon situations the film can not. I say "can not" because no gang members were foolish enough to do some of the awful things they indeed did in the presence of a film crew. The article, however, depicts some truly heart breaking and terrifying situations. If you cop the DVD when it's released, I urge you to not be intimidated by the length of the article. It is quite the article!

I don't know if I've already said this in a previous post, but shouts to David Hollander (Wax Poetics) for putting together a wonderful forward to the book and organizing the bonus features! You're the man!

Now that I'm (somewhat spontaneously) typing out some shout outs, I can't leave out Gary Weis, the Director of the film, and Joan Churchill, the Director of Photography. Aside from creating a work of art back in 1979, they were also essential in making this re-release possible! Victoria Allen and Carolyn Pfeiffer-Bradshaw are two wonderful people who helped us make the reprint of the Savage Skulls article possible. Everybody at Broadway Video, your willingness to facilitate the film's re-release gave me a great project to work on!

I haven't had an opportunity to ramble on about what went into making this release possible as much as I've been hoping to, but most likely I'll be able to post up some pictures of the finished product in the near future. In the meantime, here's some links to other sites discussing 80 Blocks...

HipHopDX

Peace Magazine

Brooklyn Ski Club

Digital Soul Experience

From SpineTV.net:

"A loose, unobtrusive, and, given the lawlessness of the organizations, rare glimpse into brutal South Bronx gang culture, 80 Blocks captures a struggling community driven on tension in which emotions run dangerously high, populated by what Churchill terms 'people about to burst into violence.'...'There’s no actual mention of hip-hop in the film, yet it’s one of the most hip-hop films ever made.'

[says ego trip’s Jeff Mao].”

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India From 80 Blocks

One of my favorite people to appear in 80 Blocks From Tiffany's is "India" of the Savage Skulls. Like most people who are intrigued with this documentary, I find myself aching to know where the people who appeared in this film are now. I am most curious about India's whereabouts, mostly because she is the centerpiece for some very candid moments that occur in front of the camera towards the film's conclusion.

I got goosebumps upon first viewing the moment she is on the microphone at the block party exclaiming "yes yes y'all, now freak it to the beat y'all." What occurs directly after this is perhaps my favorite moment of the film, when a set microphone and Joan Churchill's (Director of Photography) camera catch India declaring her true feelings for "Fly." You can see an expression of utter nervousness overcome her for a moment directly after sharing her love for him. I find this scene to be so compelling, perhaps even more powerful than any moments of fine acting I've viewed. To me, it's an amazing moment between two kids, in a time I could never visit, in a place that no longer exists.

Where is India now? Where did life take her? Is she alive? Like most individuals who appear in the film, a google search yields little to no results. With India, there are none, and of course it doesn't help when I have no real name.

Where are you India? Some twenty-something in the year 2010 is asking about you. It would be a great honor and pleasure to speak with you about your experiences during the making of the film, among other things. To all other readers, if you have any leads, hip me to them… and make sure to add 80 Blocks From Tiffany's to your collection when it drops!

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80 Blocks From Tiffany's

Now this is something I've been waiting a long time to talk about.

For the past couple years, I've been working on re-releasing one of my favorite documentaries, if not one of my all-time top films.

80 Blocks From Tiffany's.

You may be familiar with it. If not, that's completely understandable. It was only released commercially in a small run on VHS way back in 1985. It is essential viewing material and will fit snugly beside your copies of Style Wars, Wild Style, and any other old-New York City classic.

Here's the official trailer I've put together.

Coming Fall 2010



Five Day Weekend proudly presents a trailer for the upcoming re-release of "80 Blocks From Tiffany's." Available commercially for the first time in 25 years, "80 Blocks..." finally gets to see the light of day, and will, without doubt, take its rightful place among the best documentary films of the 1970s.


Only a film-maker like Gary Weis, with strong youth and counter-culture credentials (including his numerous productions for the original Saturday Night Live), could penetrate the mental and physical fortresses constructed by the young toughs who prowl the New York streets in gangs. Weis gets on the inside of these gangs and exposes their illegal activities, their techniques, their reasons, their girls, and the cops who interact with them.

The much anticipated DVD release will include the feature film as well as never before seen interviews, a 40 page hard cover book featuring brand new liner notes, artwork by Julian Allen, the original "Savage Skulls" article by the late Jon Bradshaw (Esquire Magazine, June 1977), and more.

Okay, so the word is out. Expect this one to be available by the end of the year, with an official street date being announced in the very near future. I'm letting out a sigh of relief… now I can drop some future posts about some of the characters from the film, share my personal thoughts / rants, and more. Check back soon for more!

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