Detropia (2012)

Directors:

Heidi Ewing
Rachel Grady

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A documentary on the city of Detroit and its woes, which are emblematic of the collapse of the U.S. manufacturing base.

Plot Keywords:

Detroit Michigan | Community | Home Sweet Home | Home

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Directed by
Heidi Ewing
Rachel Grady

Produced by
Craig Atkinson	....	producer
Heidi Ewing	....	producer
Rachel Grady	....	producer

Cinematography by
Craig Atkinson
Tony Hardmon

Film Editing by
Enat Sidi

Production Management
Christina Gonzalez	....	post-production manager
Christina Gonzalez	....	production manager

Sound Department
Paul Bercovitch	....	supervising sound editor
Steven Kowalski	....	sound recordist
John Moros	....	sound effects editor
Ryan M. Price	....	sound re-recording mixer
Daniel Timmons	....	assistant re-recording mixer
Tony Volante	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Drew Dawson	....	additional cinematography
Drew Dawson	....	assistant camera
Chris Hersey	....	additional camera
Eric Kmetz	....	additional camera

Editorial Department
Erin Casper	....	associate editor
Will Cox	....	colorist
Caitlin Tartaro	....	digital intermediate producer

Other crew
Daniel Hymanson	....	production intern
Justin Kremer	....	production intern
Michael Lapp	....	production assistant
Maria F. Leon	....	production coordinator: ITVS

Production Companies

• Loki Films

Distributors

• Roco Films (2012) (Non-USA) (all media)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company:

Loki Films

Beauty in the Wasteland

An opera singer calmly walks thru a large room inside a beautiful piece of architecture, a deserted and dilapidated building being devoured by nature. His beautiful song bounces off walls littered with graffiti. Broken windows, piles of rubble, lost jobs, a city in decay, nowhere to go but up, welcome to Detropia.

This movie briefly takes us around Detroit and into the hearts & minds of its sparse population. We see that the only thing surviving and thriving is the indomitable spirit of its citizens. Most documentaries take the approach of inundating us with information. Don't expect to talk to economic experts or politicians, we talk to the ordinary citizen. We watch them live with their difficult day to day existence as they watch the city decay around them, all the while trying to understand complex causes to a complex problem. Solutions seems so distant all they can hope for is a miracle.

Detropia shows the viewer a microcosm of the human condition through conversations with ordinary folks amidst a sea of ruins. The lovely cinematography continuously compares and contrasts beauty with ugliness, despair with hope. We see small flowers growing among the rubble, a bird rests upon a heap of garbage, people smiling and clinging to what little joy they have as they struggle to make ends meet.

This is a wonderful and calm film that will require the viewer to have patience and be in a sombre mood. Expect sadness tinged with brief glimpses of hope and the answer to the question of whether your cup is half full or empty. I'm left with the feeling that the spirit may be strong in Detroit's citizens, but the realities of the world are slowly crushing them. Let us hope the spirit conquers all.