(718) 260–2500 Brooklyn Paper’s essential guide to the Borough of Kings January 3–9, 2020
Ones to watch
It’s a big day for the small screen!
Filmmakers and aspiring video storytellers
will stream to Prospect Heights next weekend
for a day of screenings, panel discussions, and
parties. The Vimeo Festival and Awards, at Murmrr
on Jan. 11, will also honor 10 videos as the
best of 2019 with an award ceremony that one
online video platform honcho said is different
from other festivals.
“The VFAs is an awards show unlike any other,”
said Courtney Horwitz. “We’re celebrating the
best and most original videos on the internet, and
bringing people from all corners of the world together
to have fun, learn, and be inspired.”
Out of the millions of videos uploaded to
Vimeo, staff members selected 100 nominees,
spread evenly across 10 different genres. The
categories include Comedy, Drama, Animation,
Action Sports Video, Documentary, Experimental,
and Travel, along with three new categories:
Branded Contest, Brand Story: Large Business,
and Brand Story: Small Business, which Horwitz
said results from a recent increase in businesses
using the platform to share their stories.
“More and more we’re seeing businesses and
brands using our platform to share their stories
with the world, and it was important for us to
include these segments in the VFAs and our curatorial
process,” Horwitz said.
In each category, a panel of three judges chose
a single winner, which will be announced at 7:30
pm, followed by a screening of all 10 winners,
and an after-party for the honored filmmakers
(and those who spring for a deluxe ticket.)
The short film “Albatross Soup” (pictured),
from Brooklyn animator Winnie Cheung is a
nominee in the Best Animation division.
During the day, the festival will feature a series
of panel discussions aimed at upcoming filmmakers,
discussing the creative process, working
with brands, and the difference between working
on short films and feature-length products.
In another room, many of the nominated films
will screen, while the creators offer live commentary
about their projects, which Horwitz
said she is most excited for.
“I’m most excited to see the live directors
commentary; those behind-the-scenes takes on
how shots came together adds both personal and
educational elements that I find truly wonderful,”
she said.
Vimeo Festival and Awards at Murmrr 17
Eastern Pkwy between Grand Army Plaza and
Underhill Avenue in Prospect Heights, (516)
510–1477, ww murmrr.com. Jan. 11; 1–9 pm (after
party 9–11 pm). $20 ($40 for deluxe pass).
— Jessica Parks
AWARDS
Heaven’s sake
Classic Japanese cocktail spot opens outpost in Industry City
By Bill Roundy
Brooklyn Paper
It’s an Oldie but a goodie!
A new Japanese cocktail bar from the
operators of famous Manhattan speakeasy
Angel’s Share opened in Industry City
last week. Oldies, a 12-seat bar just off the
complex’s Japan Village food hall, is trying
to conjure classic liquor spots of Japan’s
past, said its owner.
“Many of the great cocktail bars in Japan
have an old-school vibe, so we wanted to
do that here, albeit with updated interiors,”
said Erina Yoshida. “We hope people can
reminisce on something nostalgic of the
past when they come into our bar.”
The bar is less formal than its Manhattan
predecessor, which forbids standing,
loud talking, or groups larger than four. In
contrast, the light and airy Oldies interior
has a dedicated standing area, and it plays
pop hits from the 1970s.
Before the cocktail renaissance of the early
2000s, Angel’s Share was one of the few
spots in New York to get a properly made
Manhattan, and Oldies retains a bit of that
flavor, with a short list of classic cocktails,
including the Martini, Negroni, and Sidecar.
But its focus is on simple fruit cocktails —
made with seasonal fruits, honey, and whiskey,
and highballs made with Japanese whiskey.
These seemingly simple concoctions are
difficult to pull off well, said Yoshida.
“What we are doing is unique — our cocktails
DRINKING
are very simple with many only having
a few ingredients while highlighting the
produce itself,” she said. “When a cocktail
is that simple, it adds more pressure to make
sure each cocktail is well-balanced.”
The bar also serves sake, beer, and a selection
of Japanese bar snacks. Most of the
options are Japanese, but a few beer options
come from Kings County, she noted.
“We decided to not carry exclusively
carry Japanese ingredients to honor our
Brooklyn location,” said Yoshida. “The
options that are not sourced from Japan
are more often than not produced here in
Brooklyn, including King’s County Distillery,
Threes Brewery, and even Brooklyn
Kura Sake, which is made right on the
Industry City campus.”
BOOKS
Reading picks
Community Bookstore’s pick: “How
Not to Make a Human,” by Karl Steel
Sifting through esoteric
medieval manuscripts
for forgotten
gems, Steel furnishes
the reader with entangled
stories of human
beings and how we are
shaped by nature. Chock
full of stranger-than-fiction
anecdotes about feral
children, adventures in
cannibalism, sky burial
rituals, and more, Steel
provides compelling documentation that thinking
critically about the ecology has a much longer
history than we may imagine.
— Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore 43
Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield
Place in Park Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.
commu nityb ookst ore.net .
Word’s picks:
“White Girls,” by
Hilton Als
This book is worth
picking up for the first
essay alone, a long-form
dissection of a relationship
that plays with the
fluidity of gender, race,
and sexuality, and that
calls the entire notions
of memory, identity, and
longing into question. Als
is a razor-sharp cultural critic, and several of the
essays in this book changed the way I watch,
read, and listen to media. This is a first-rate collection
of criticism.
— Ryan Evans, Word 126 Franklin St. at Milton
Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.
wordbookstores.com .
Greenlight Bookstore’s pick: “Topics of
Conversation,” by Miranda Popkey
This great debut novel
is structured around a series
of conversations and
monologues about female
sexuality, power,
and misogyny that occur
over the course of 20
years in the narrator’s life.
The outstanding centerpiece
is an angry recounting
of the night Norman
Mailer stabbed his wife,
told through a Youtube
video of a documentary
outtake. — Matt Stowe, Greenlight Bookstore
686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S.
Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200,
www.greenlightbookstore.com .
By Ben Verde
Brooklyn Paper
They put the fun in fund-raising!
This is an election year, and
upstart campaigns are bringing
their message to the people — and
to the comedy club! Three comedy
shows in Brooklyn this month will
raise cash for political campaigns. The
power of laughter can help unite voters
from all walks of life, according
to one event organizer.
“Comedy is a great equalizer,” said
Heidi Vanderlee, who helped put together
“How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love Fundraising,” a comedy
show at Bushwick’s Elsewhere on
Jan. 8 that will benefit upstart State
Assembly candidate Emily Gallagher,
an activist who is attempting to topple
46-year-incumbent Joe Lentol in
District 50.
Events in hip neighborhoods might
attract young liberal voters, but comedy
can draw in a wide array of people,
noted Vanderlee.
“I think it does a good job at appealing
to young progressives, but
it appeals to everyone,” she said. “I
think it appeals to folks who just want
to sit down.”
COMEDY
And the light-hearted fund-raising
method can help take some of the
weight out of the grueling process of
running for office, while providing
an alternative to corporate fundraising,
according to Gallagher.
“Grassroots funding is an absolutely
crucial part of running a race
that challenges the status quo in Albany,”
she said.
For the show, organizers have assembled
a group of comics, some of
whom hail from the same neighborhoods
that Gallagher hopes to represent
— Greenpoint, Williamsburg,
and Clinton Hill — including
Kelly Bachman, Josh Gondelman,
and Shalewa Sharpe, among several
others.
Another show happening the same
night at Gallagher’s event, has a larger
target. “No Turning Back: A Storytelling
Show to Flip The Senate” at
the Bell House in Gowanus on Jan.
8, will feature a lineup of comedians,
storytellers, and musicians, telling
stories about turning points in
their lives. All funds from the event
will go to Swing Left, an organization
focused on swing states in the
2020 election.
And another show a week later will
focus on a fairly distant race, but it
has a personal component. “An Evening
of Comedy in Support of Ohio
State Representative Phil Robinson,”
at the Bell House on Jan. 16, will feature
comedian Phoebe Robinson, best
known as one half of the podcast “Two
Dope Queens,” and the sister of the
Ohio State Representative.
Running joke
Some political campaigns
using humor to raise cash
Emily Gallagher for State Assembly
Working blue: Emily Gallagher,
who is running for the Democratic
nomination for the State
Assembly’s District 50, will host
a fund-raiser featuring north
Brooklyn comedians on Jan. 8 at
Elsewhere.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love Fundraising at
Elsewhere 599 Johnson Ave. at
Scott Avenue in Bushwick, www.
elsewherebrooklyn.com. Jan. 8
at 7 pm. $25.
No turning back: A Storytelling
Show to Flip The Senate at the
Bell House 149 Seventh St. between
Third and Fourth avenues
in Gowanus, (718) 643–6510,
www.thebellhouseny.com. Jan. 8
at 7 pm. $35 ($60 VIP).
Phoebe Robinson and Special
Guests at the Bell House (see
above). Jan. 16 at 7 pm. $25–$40
($250 VIP).
Natalie Sarpi
Old-fashioned: New bar Oldies will serve Japanese whiskey highballs and
classic cocktails.
Oldies 269 36th St. between Second
and Third avenues in Sunset Park,www.
instagram.com/oldiesny) Open Wed–
Fri at 5 pm; Sat–Sun at 2 pm; closed
Mon–Tue.
Winnie Cheung
/oldiesny
/www.commu
/www.wordbookstores.com
/www.wordbookstores.com
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/www.elsewherebrooklyn.com
/www.elsewherebrooklyn.com
/www.thebellhouseny.com
/www.commu
/oldiesny
/murmrr.com
/ore.net
/wordbookstores.com
/www.greenlightbookstore.com
/elsewherebrooklyn.com
/www.thebellhouseny.com
/oldiesny)