Doors 7:00p
Program 7:30p
Tickets $12

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We’re thrilled to present a special screening of New Kingston, the filmmaking debut of artist Kevin Bewersdorf, followed by a conversation between Bewersdorf and filmmaker James N. Kienitz Wilkins. As UNDO continues to exist in a state of construction — building, rebuilding, and reimagining our space — we’re especially excited to share a film that dwells so thoughtfully within the rhythms and meaning of that process. We’re grateful to James for introducing us to this quietly resonant work.

The film premiered at Rockaway Film Festival, where it was described as:

“Handmade with appreciation for little details, artist and polymath Kevin Bewersdorf’s filmmaking debut patiently documents the rhythms of his work building and repairing houses in upstate New York. Filmed entirely on his iPhone with music he composed himself, New Kingston moves through the seasons with deep affection for the people in his community in a refreshingly understated portrait of craftsmanship and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.”
— Rockaway Film Festival

James N. Kienitz Wilkins first encountered New Kingston at Rockaway. At his suggestion, we’re delighted to share the following reflection he wrote about the film:

“I caught Kevin Bewersdorf’s New Kingston at last year’s Rockaway Film Festival, where it screened before my own feature, which was then still under construction. While our movies couldn’t be more different in execution and worldly expectation, it was instantly apparent why they’d been paired back-to-back: Aside from their interest in artists turned laborers, they share a feeling of having been made despite themselves, simultaneously ‘virtual’ (in a few senses of the word, including almost or nearly but not completely, and invoking its root, virtus, in their nearly religious approach to work) yet defined by physical limits. New Kingston, in particular, offers a vision (a documentary? an essay? an ode?) of the artist pausing during his day job, not to imagine the movie he could be making under more ideal conditions, but rather to continue making the movie already in the making, which is to say life.”
— James N. Kienitz Wilkins

Filmed entirely on an iPhone and scored with Bewersdorf’s own music, New Kingston unfolds across seasons in upstate New York, tracing the quiet rhythms of building, repairing, and living.

Come through!

Program

2025, US, 84 min.

Bios

Kevin “Kev” Bewersdorf is an artist living in New Kingston, NY.  Presently focused on home repair and cooperative farming, his past endeavors include the early internet websites Maximum Sorrow and Spirit Surfers.  He has acted in and contributed the musical score to films of the “mumblecore” movement including Hannah Takes The Stairs and Computer Chess.  His 2020 album Faded Glory is available on all music streaming services.

James N. Kienitz Wilkins is a filmmaker and writer based in NYC. He is a long-time contributor to UnionDocs programs, notably as an UNDO Fellow from 2019-20. His newest feature, The Misconceived (2026), has its U.S premiere as the opening night selection of the Museum of Moving Images’ First Look festival on April 23. It opens for a theatrical run (on 35mm) at Anthology Film Archives this May.