RICHARD JOHNSON: Eric Garner documentary seeks justice and an Oscar
New Yorker Brad Bailey's short doc is called “Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner.” It tells the story of Gwen Carr's undying effort to keep her son's case alive. It had a Manhattan screening earlier this week.
Ten years after the Staten Island chokehold death of Eric Garner a new film is looking for justice and maybe even an Oscar.
New Yorker Brad Bailey’s short doc is called “Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner.” It tells the story of Gwen Carr’s undying effort to keep her son’s case alive. It had a Manhattan screening earlier this week.
“I shut down for a long time after his death. To this day I have never watched that video,” Carr says.
Garner, stopped by police on suspicion of selling “loosie” cigarettes, was captured on a bystander’s video as he was put in a chokehold by Staten Island cops. He died after saying “I can’t breathe” 11 times.
A series of protests followed and then-mayor Bill de Blasio promised action. One of the cops involved was eventually fired.
“The film is about a tragedy that shaped our national discourse through the lens of motherhood and resilience,” said director Bailey.
Carr added, “There’s no sense in someone else telling it and you being an extra in your own story.”
And for other victims, Carr says, “As long as they’ve got a mother, they’ve got a voice.”
Whether Academy Award voters hear that voice we’ll know on Dec. 17 when the shortlists for nominees are announced. One mother surely has her fingers crossed.
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Baseball fans who remember David Justice helping the Yankees win the World Series in 2000 will get to see his daughter, Raquel Justice, in “Dexter: Original Sin.”
Raquel, 20, a senior at LMU (Loyola Marymount University) in LA, plays Sofia, who catches the eye of young Dexter (Patrick Gibson) with her looks and quick wit.
It’s not the biggest role, but she’s in eight of the Paramount+ 10 episodes premiering Dec. 13. “My face will be shown a good amount,” she laughed. The new series, set in Miami 15 years before the original show, finds young Dexter learning to control bloodthirsty urges.
With the guidance of his father, Harry (played by Christian Slater), he adopts a Code to help him find and kill people who deserve to be eliminated.
Raquel, who began acting when she was 12, is set to spend her final semester in Spain. Then maybe there will be a second season.
“I hope so, and I hope I’m in it,” she said.
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If Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie could stop fighting, they could co-star in a movie together about the Hotel Martinez in Cannes.
Producer Danny Rosner optioned the recently published book by Phillip M. Kenny about the hotel. “I have all the rights,” he told me.
He’s have Pitt play the hotel’s Italian owner, Emmanuel Martinez, a courageous activist in the French Resistance movement, who helped Jews, refugees and spies escape Nazi terror during World War II, as the Germans commandeered his hotel.
“If we can help Pitt and Jolie put their differences aside, they are world class talents, and they fit like a glove for this story,” Rosner said.
The former couple fell in love 20 years ago filming “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” They had six kids before divorcing five years ago. But they are still litigating over their vineyard in France.
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A dramedy about dementia seems like a tough sell. But “Here’s Yianni!” — starring Joe Cortese and Julia Ormond — is winning over audiences at festivals around the world.
It closes the Dances With Films Fest in Manhattan Sunday night, and Cortese, who plays the title role, is thrilled. “Everyone is raving about it. It won Best Film at the Arpa festival in L.A. We got Best Actor and Best Actress at the Fort Lauderdale festival. We got rave reviews in the Torino Festival in Italy,” the veteran actor said.
“We’re headed to St. Augustine,” he adds.
The film was shot in Asbury Park over 23 days and costars Eric Roberts and Kevin Pollack. Pal Diane Warren helped produce and also contributed the theme, “Remember to Remember.”
The story is about an aging Greek diner owner who thinks he’s a talk show host. The film also candidly deals with the family fallout.
The story walks a fine line but Cortese says almost everyone walks out with “a smile on their face and a tear in their eye.” So if you go tonight, bring Kleenex.
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Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin — a seventh generation descendant of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt — is having a busy December.
The entrepreneur and recording artist just threw an event in Miami with ARTEdeFashion, a platform for Latin creatives to connect with the global luxury market. The power gathering took place at the New World Center in Miami Beach.
After hopping a jet to New York, she will be throwing an event at the Mark Hotel on Wednesday for her new line of handbags, a collaboration with designer Ximena Kavalekas.
“Being an entrepreneur isn’t just about building a business,” she said. “It’s about turning uncertainty into opportunity.”
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The Children’s Oncology Support Fund Dinner hosted by founder Thomas Pierce and Monica Elias at Coco’s at Colette drew a stellar crowd.
At the 32-person dinner were Ivy Getty, the great-granddaughter of J. Paul Getty; Kayla, Kimberly and Steven Rockefeller, grandson of Nelson Rockefeller; “Sex and the City” author Candace Bushnell; and skincare mogul Peter Thomas Roth.
Young ballerinas courtesy of Youth America Grand Prix did the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy,” and Michael James Scott, who plays the genie in “Aladdin,” sang Christmas anthems.
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Annette Tapert Allen, Alex Hitz, George Gurley, Grace and Chris Meigher, and Carolyne Roehm hosted a book party at Doubles for socialite Katherine Bryan’s new decorating coffee table tome, “Great Inspiration.”
Guests included Mai Hallingby, Sharon Bush, Cece Cord, Susan Gutfreund, Joan Jedell, Muffie Potter Aston, Grace Hightower, Mark Gilbertson, Debbie Bancroft, and Wilbur Ross.
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