Directed by Zachary Finkelstein

Logline: This short experimental documentary is a portrait of a Brooklyn beach that sits on top of a century-old garbage dump.

Synopsis: This short experimental documentary is a portrait of a South Brooklyn beach that sits on top of a century-old garbage dump. Dead Horse Bay follows the mudlarkers and artists who come to dig through the debris, unearthing treasures from New York City's past. Images recorded with antique and damaged camera lenses evoke a fractured landscape in constant ebb and flow between past and present. The immersive sound design combines the distinctive clinking of glass tumbling in the waves and interviews with the community of people who have spent years getting to know the rhythms of the bay.

Distribution Contact: WFG

More Details

RUNTIME: 12 Minutes
GENRE: Documentary, Experimental
PRODUCTION FORMAT: 4K
LANGUAGE: English
LOCATION: Manitoba
TECHNIQUES: Live Action, Special Effects
KEYWORDS: Beach, Horse, Art, Video, Experimental, Mudlarking, Nyc, Brooklyn

Director's Statement: Dead Horse Bay is a short experimental documentary film. The project combines observational images recorded using damaged camera equipment and a location specific sound design to create a complex and layered portrait of the shoreline of Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn's Marine Park neighborhood on the traditional land and fishing outpost of the Canarsee (Lenape) Native Americans. This project is motivated by the physical remnants of the displaced communities that once inhabited this area of Brooklyn (Lenapehoking) "“ Lenape people, who were forcibly driven to the west and to the north, and later Black families and European immigrants who lived and worked on Barren Island, where the city's horse processing plants were located until the early 20th century. Barren Island was connected to mainland Brooklyn in the 1930's, and the left-behind household belongings of the former inhabitants were dumped and later buried under sand to create the beach that now borders Dead Horse Bay (Glass Bottle Beach). For decades the tide has eroded the shoreline, uncovering and washing up household objects (shoes, toys, glass, dishes) as well as pieces of horse bones. These objects are part of a history that was literally buried and was meant to be forgotten as Marine Park evolved into the biggest park in Brooklyn. Walking along the beach today, the sound of tinkling glass can be heard in the waves just off shore and mudlarkers and metal-detectorists dig for antique rings, coins, and medals. The future of Dead Horse Bay is uncertain as federal authorities are considering closing the beach due to unsafe conditions created by the garbage washing up on shore. This film documents a pivotal time for this beach and the people who frequent this area before the remnants of the former communities are removed completely.