Bringing Indie Film to Staten Island
Staten Island Arts conceived and launched the Cinema Connex film series in 2018 to bring contemporary independent film and unique experiences to Staten Islanders, free of charge.
The multi-year program was curated by Staten Island Arts staff and a community-based advisory council with the goal of bringing together members of different neighborhoods, backgrounds, and interests to share and celebrate the craft of filmmaking. The inaugural year of Cinema Connex featured special events including the Cinema Connex Kickoff Party at the St. George Theatre, Sensory Screenings at the NYPL for children on the autism spectrum, presentations by the acclaimed African Film Festival, and Wheels, Wheels, Wheels, a day-long film festival dedicated to the Wheel – from skate culture to motorcycles to world-renowned DJ Bobbito Garcia’s Wheels of Steel.
The 2019-2020 Cinema Connex season kicked off with a Muppets celebration and Movie Under the Stars in Tappen Park and continued with a special screening of Monsters and Men. As the season came to a close during the COVID-19 crisis, Staten Island Arts created a virtual screening environment to screen the remaining three films and the Downtown Film Fest, as well as to host the Q&As with filmmakers and thought leaders.
Dinner & A Movie
Moviegoers were encouraged to make it “Dinner & A Movie” by dining at our Bay Street Corridor Restaurant Partners, offering 20% off on Cinema Connex screening days: Bay House Bistro, Chang Noi Thai, Craft House, Egger’s Ice Cream (URBY location), Everything Goes Book Cafe, Honor Wines, Seppe Pizza Bar, and Lakruwana.
Why Independent Film in the Bay Street Corridor?
Cinema Connex was created by Staten Island Arts as part of its placemaking activities for the Neighborhood 360 program focusing on the Bay Street corridor. The Neighborhood 360 program is an initiative of the NYC Department of Small Business Services that was created to identify, develop, and launch commercial revitalization projects in partnership with local stakeholders. Through proactive planning and targeted investments, Neighborhood 360 supports projects that strengthen and revitalize the streets, small businesses, and community-based organizations that anchor New York City neighborhoods. As a Neighborhood 360 grantee, Staten Island Arts is invested in partnerships with city agencies overseeing public spaces that need activation; creating relationships with business owners, real estate developers, and property owners; and advocating for the impact that culture can have on a community, particularly one undergoing significant change. The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, our fellow Neighborhood 360 grantee and collaborator, is reinforcing how beneficial creative placemaking can be for local businesses by implementing streetscape beautification, district marketing, and other quality of life improvements in Downtown Staten Island.
Cinema Connex furthered the work accomplished by Staten Island Arts and Design Trust for Public Space through Future Culture, an initiative to develop art and cultural activities that connect places and people, and which strengthen the relationship between the cultural sector and owners and stewards of property amidst the rapid changes (real estate development, rezoning, gentrification) on the North Shore. Staten Island Arts initiated two creative placemaking public art pilot projects (link to Future Culture page) in 2018 as a means to test the Future Culture Recommendations generated through community-based working groups and conversations with local stakeholders.
This program was made possible, in part, by support with public funds from the New York City Department of Small Business Services through its Neighborhood 360 program, created to identify, develop and launch commercial revitalization projects in partnership with local stakeholders; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.