Brooklyn is getting a new fall festival with a very Brooklyn-sized lineup of film, music, poetry, food and neighborhood energy. Spike Lee and the Brooklyn Academy of Music are teaming up for Playback: The Brooklyn Watch Party, a two-day event built around the borough’s storytellers, artists and cultural institutions. And yes, it ends with Crooklyn.
The inaugural festival is scheduled for November 6 and 7 at BAM, with Lee, Clara Wu Tsai and producer Nicholas Ma among the people behind the project. BAM’s announcement describes the event as a celebration of the artists, communities and stories that helped make Brooklyn a global cultural force.
Playback Will Mix Movies With A Full Brooklyn Block Party
Friday night will take over BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House with music, poetry, film and conversations featuring guest curators whose identities have not yet been announced. The evening is designed to feel broader than a standard repertory screening, bringing live performance and cultural discussion into the same room.
Saturday will feature films selected by those guest curators, along with special appearances and a free afternoon street fair. According to Time Out New York, the outdoor portion will include live music, local food vendors and community activations.
Crooklyn Will Close The Weekend
The festival will wrap with a special screening of Lee’s Crooklyn, the filmmaker’s warm, complicated portrait of Brooklyn family life. Lee and Alfre Woodard are expected to appear, along with additional guests, giving the closing night a distinctly personal connection to the film.
That choice makes the finale more than a familiar-movie victory lap. Crooklyn is the kind of film that turns a borough into a character, so ending a festival dedicated to Brooklyn’s creative identity with the movie is about as on-brand as BAM could get.
Tickets Are Expected In September
Additional speakers, curators and programming details are expected to be announced in the coming months. Tickets are slated to go on sale in September, while the Saturday afternoon street fair will be free to attend, Time Out reports.
The festival’s official site is currently collecting email signups ahead of the November weekend. Playback’s website lists the event as hosted by Spike Lee and Clara Wu Tsai and confirms the November 6–7 dates.
.jpg){kind=link}