Credits: Director, Producer

In 2013, Crown Heights, Brooklyn’s two predominant populations were respectively Hasidic Jews and black communities, many of whom were Caribbean immigrants. These communities give the neighborhood its vibrant cultural expression, yet these residents are deeply divided. The rare interactions between them are filled with an unspoken tension that emerge from the neighborhood's rapid gentrification and the traumatic memory of its historic race riots. Responding to this divide, we created Project 2x1, a community-storytelling project and event series to help turn strangers into neighbors in Crown Heights. 

As the world’s first Google Glass documentary, we subverted and leveraged the hype of this new technology and harnessed its first-person-point of view camera to film from 100 people’s perspectives. Weaving together these perspectives, the film allows viewers to literally see through the eyes of the neighborhood’s residents while highlighting the similarities and unique differences between these neighboring communities.

Impact: The film was activated in 10 community events, engaging 500 residents between December 2013-December 2014. Residents watched the film and participated in facilitated inter-community dialogue. The film is now part of the curriculum at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights.  Internationally, Project 2x1 was shown at the TED conference in Vancouver (2014) and India’s INK conference (2014).

Watch the 30 minute film and learn more here: http://project2x1.com/