Cityscape

'No Place Like Detroit' Documentary Premieres Tonight At Midtown Gallery

May 01, 2015, 5:55 AM by  Alan Stamm

Interviews with 10 diverse Detroiters are compiled into a documentary by French photographer Nastasia Peteuil, 26, who moved here last year.

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"Detroit is changing every day," notes Nastasia Peteuil, whose multimedia project introduces 10 residents.

Her black-and-white film, "No Place Like Detroit," has a free premiere 7 p.m. Friday at the Baltimore Gallery on the east end of Midtown. It's also the opening of an exhibition of portraits and city photos by Peteuil and four others on view through May 8.

At her multimedia project's website, Peteuil says it's intended to show how "every Detroiter has a special story -- either about their neighborhood, their business or their experience in the city."

Her documentary (trailer below) presents 10 people. They include:

  • Fiber artist Leslie “Najma” Wilson of Detroit Fiber Works on Livernois Avenue
  • Entrepreneur and performer Satori Shakoor
  • Valaurian Waller, a co-owner of Fresh Corner Cafe on Second Avenue in Midtown
  • Deonte Osayande, 26, a northwest-side poet
  • A parent who grew up near Detroit and now raises three children in the city with her husband

 

 

The one-week gallery show, "Photographers Take on Detroit," also has images by Julian Bibb, Bradford Ciecko, Jon Deboer and Amy Sacka.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at 314 E. Baltimore St., south of East Grand Boulevard near John R.  

The French visitor describes her film and related portfolio of  images this way:

Detroit is changing every day and every Detroiter is a witness to its change.

They were here when people gave up on the city.

They were here when the corrupt politicians took over the city.

They were here when the auto industry collapsed.

They were here when people started to move back to the city.

They are still here to tell you what it means to be a Detroiter.

Her project also has a Tumblr page with portraits of three women and text about them.



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