Doors 7:30p
Program 8:00p

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We’re delighted to welcome back CoLAb alums Mike Vass and Anthony Banua-Simon for a night of cinema and conversation as we tune into two films they made together, Third Shift and Cane Fire. We’re especially thrilled that this event will celebrate the five and ten year anniversaries of each film as well as the Cinema Guild’s Blu-ray release of Cane Fire!

Third Shift investigates the Domino Sugar Factory, an icon of industry in South Williamsburg that produced half of the nation’s sugar for several decades. The film follows two former workers who reminisce about their 30 years at Domino and revisit the now derelict space.

Cane Fire examines the past and present of the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi, interweaving four generations of family history, numerous Hollywood productions, and troves of found footage to create a kaleidoscopic portrait of the economic and cultural forces that have cast Indigenous and working-class residents as “extras” in their own story.

Vass and Banua-Simon will be in attendance to discuss what links these two films and how they have developed since their release. We’re also so happy to welcome filmmaker, Isabel Sandoval, who will also join us to explore the politics of representation and the routes of bold expression that can be weaved through narrative film.

Come through!

Program

Cane Fire by Anthony Banua-Simon and Mike Vass

90 mins, 2020

Cane Fire examines the past and present of the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi, interweaving four generations of family history, numerous Hollywood productions, and troves of found footage to create a kaleidoscopic portrait of the economic and cultural forces that have cast Indigenous and working-class residents as “extras” in their own story

Third Shift by Anthony Banua-Simon and Mike Vass

20 mins, 2014

Once producing half of the nation’s sugar, the Domino Sugar Refinery was an icon of the industrial work available in the Southside of Williamsburg. Within a year of making Third Shift, part of the building will be demolished for new housing and the rest renovated for commercial use.

Two former workers who live only blocks away return to their days at Domino and visit the now derelict space that was part of their lives for 30 years.

Program Duration: 110 mins

Bios

Anthony Banua-Simon is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor who’s a 2024 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Video/Film. He was also named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 2021 “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and DOC NYC’s 2022 “40 Under 40”. He’s featured in The New York Times, BOMB Magazine, Screen Slate, Pioneer Works Broadcast, and HuffPost. He’s currently teaching film editing at The State University of New York at Purchase and is a member of the volunteer-run Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn, NY. His current project, The Experiment Station, has received funding from both NYSCA and the Jerome Foundation.

Mike Vass is a filmmaker and writer based in Montreal. He is the co-writer/ producer of the award-winning feature documentary CANE FIRE, and the director of several short films. His work has screened at MoMA Doc Fortnight, TIFF, BAM, Prismatic Ground, Indie Memphis, HoMA, the Philadelphia ICA, and the Criterion Channel, among other venues. His critical writings have appeared in various publications including Cinema Scope, Cineaction, Canadian Art, C Magazine, Momus, MACHETE, and The Rusty Toque. He holds an MFA from York University and is an alumnus of the Canadian Film Centre’s Directors’ Residency as well as the UnionDocs Collaborative Studio Program.

US-based, Philippine-born Isabel Sandoval has emerged as “one of the most exciting and multi-talented filmmakers on the indie scene with a bold approach to cinematic style,” according to the Criterion Collection. Meanwhile, the Museum of Modern Art has recognized her as a “rarity among the young generation of Filipino filmmakers.” She has directed three feature films. Her debut, Señorita, premiered at Locarno. Her critically acclaimed third feature, Lingua Franca, premiered in Venice and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. She starred in the César Award-winning short film Maria Schneider, 1983, directed by Elisabeth Subrin.