Join MCNY for a screening of Gowanus Current (Jamie Courville, Chris Reynolds, 2025), a film about people, pollution, planning, and real estate on the most toxic 1.8 miles of water in America. Decades of industrial waste and raw sewage have turned Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal into one of the nation’s most toxic bodies of water. The arrival of a billion dollar EPA cleanup and a massive city-led rezoning herald a new era, but what’s of value in a neighborhood and who gets to decide?

Shot over the course of ten years, Gowanus Current employs a strictly observational direct-cinema approach to examine the convictions of this diverse community and the textures of its landscape. A documentary portrait of activism and its limits, this is urgent civic cinema exploring the conflict engendered by a housing crisis, income inequality and a changing climate.

Event Timeline:
1:45 PM - Doors Open
2:00 PM - Film Begins
3:30 PM - Post-Film Discussion (Speakers TBA)
4:00 PM - Event Ends

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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