One October

ONE OCTOBER is a lyrical time capsule that offers a window into the shifting heart of New York City. Filmed entirely in October of 2008, a time when gentrification is rapidly displacing the working and middle classes, Wall Street is plummeting, and Senator Obama is making his first presidential bid, the story begins with Clay Pigeon, an intrepid radio host who takes to the streets of New York City to talk to everyday citizens who are facing the uncertainty of change.

During his neighborhood rambles, Clay Pigeon meets people like Kristin, an optimistic young woman who has just arrived from the Midwest; Mark, a union construction worker still dusty from his workday and deeply in debt; Nicole, a transgender woman looking for an accepting community; and Stacie, a single mother in Harlem worried about gentrification.

Pigeon’s encounters interweave with observational passages that poignantly reveal urbanist Jane Jacobs’s idea of the “ballet of the good city sidewalk”: rollerskaters wind their way through Central Park, city dwellers seek blessings for a motley group of pets on St. Francis Day, observant Jews toss breadcrumbs into the Hudson River on Rosh Hashanah, and Muslims mark the end of their Ramadan fast with Eid al-Fitr prayers and expressions of forgiveness. Amid these celebrations of daily life we see the shifting landscape of the city: big-box stores and mega-chains rapidly replace independent businesses, giant glass buildings are erected where flea markets once stood, and luxury condos loom over small brick tenements.

Nuanced, cinematic, and often humorous, ONE OCTOBER charts the chasm between one’s desires and one’s means, explores the urgent need to conserve the old amid the glorification of the new, and affirms the notion that a varied streetscape is essential to the health of a dynamic metropolis. Seen from our current vantage point, the film is also a remarkable time capsule that foreshadows the roiling political upheaval spreading across the country today.

FEATURING

For 12 years Clay Pigeon hosted “The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon,” a one-hour weekly program on WFMU, an independent freeform radio station in Jersey City, NJ. As of June 2017, Clay was promoted to host WFMU’s popular Morning Show, which airs M–F, 6–9AM on 91.1 in the New York tri-state area and online at wfmu.org. Clay was raised in Audubon, Iowa, where he first developed a conversational interview style that has informed his work over the years. After broadcasting school, he migrated to Clearwater, Florida, where he DJ’ed at WTAN and 96FEVER and played in the rock band Deloris Telescope. In 1998, Clay created a street interview–based program for WMNF in Tampa, which he continued to produce after moves to Los Angeles and Milwaukee. He relocated to New York in 2007, where he lives with his wife, illustrator Kirsten Ulve.

CREW

Rachel Shuman (Director, Editor, Producer) Rachel Shuman is a documentary filmmaker and editor who has worked in New York City for 20 years. Her directorial debut Negotiations premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. She co-directed Art, Architecture, and Innovation: Celebrating the Guggenheim Museum, which aired on PBS and is now on view at the museum. Her editing credits include Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf (DOC NYC 2017), Wallace (Class 5 Films), Peter Eisenman (Checkerboard Films), and After the Cup (Variance Films). Rachel has also worked as an editor on nonfiction programming for A&E, History, and MTV and she is proud to be a board member of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship. Originally from Boston, Rachel received a BFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Edward Norton (Executive Producer) Edward Norton is a celebrated actor, director, writer, and producer who has starred in over 35 films. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work in the films Primal Fear (1996), American History X (1998), and Birdman (2014). In addition to his work in feature films, he has produced award winning documentaries such as By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (HBO) and My Own Man (a Netflix Original).

Garret Savage (Producer) Garret is a producer and editor based in Brooklyn. His documentary editing credits include the Peabody Award-winning My Perestroika, HBO’s How Democracy Works Now series, Ready, Set, Bag! (LA Film Festival), and IFC’s 4-Cylinder 400. He was an associate producer of the Emmy-nominated feature documentary Pressure Cooker (Participant Films). He has enjoyed working for Paramount Pictures, ABC/ESPN, Discovery, IFC, AMC, MTV, and more. Garret was a 2009 Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab Fellow. He was the Program Director of the Nantucket Film Festival’s Teen View Film Lab and is a founder and Board President of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship.

Ursula Liang (Co-Producer) Ursula is a journalist who has told stories in a wide range of media. She has worked for The New York Times Op-Docs, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, ESPN The Magazine, Asia Pacific Forum on WBAI, StirTV, the 2050 Group, the Jax Show, Hyphen magazine and currently freelances as a film and television producer and story consultant. Her credits include: Tough Love (POV), Wo Ai Ni Mommy (POV), NBC Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge, UFC Primetime. Ursula’s directorial debut, 9-Man (America ReFramed) was called “an absorbing documentary” by The New York Times. She grew up in Newton, Mass. and lives in the Bronx, New York.

David Sampliner (Cinematographer) David’s most recent documentary feature, My Own Man, premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. His first documentary feature, Dirty Work (co-directed with Tim Nackashi), screened at the Sundance Film Festival, won Best Documentary Feature at the Atlanta Film Festival, and aired on the Sundance Channel. He co-directed Art, Architecture, and Innovation, a documentary about the history of the Guggenheim Museum broadcast on WNET Channel 13 and now on permanent exhibition at the Museum. His recent short films include Bread Power for Etsy’s website, and the DVD featurette on the making of By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (Sony Pictures).

Paul Brill (Composer) Paul Brill has received three Emmy Award nominations for his film scores and recently won the first-ever Best Music Award from the International Documentary Association. He collaborated with Rock legends U2 on the HBO film, Burma Soldier, composing a new string arrangement for an acoustic version of their classic song, “Walk On.” His recent work includes the hit documentaries, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (IFC), the Emmy Award-winning Page One: Inside the NY Times (Magnolia), the Sundance Festival winning films, Trapped, and Love Free or Die, and the Emmy, DuPont and Peabody Award-winning, 6-hour PBS documentary, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.

Consulting Producers:
Cathryne Czubeck
Jessica Wolfson

Associate Producers:
Aimee Arvan
Jessica Luoma
Sarah Rachael Wainio

Writers/Story Advisors:
Annie Bruno
Whitney Henry-Lester

Consulting Editors:
Linda Hattendorf
Kristen Nutile

Sponsors:

Contact us to request a screening for your group or venue.

UPCOMING SCREENINGS:

Maysles Documentary Center, NYC

May 11- May 17, nightly @7:30PM
Shown nightly with “The Monolith” (10 min.) by Angelo J. Guglielmo
May 11: Q&A with Director Rachel Shuman and “Monolith” artist Gwyneth Leech
May 12: Q&A with Director Rachel Shuman and “One October” featured character Clay Pigeon
May 13: Cinematography Panel with DP’s David Sampliner and Andy Bowley
May 15: Editing Panel with Editors Rachel Shuman and Rosie Walunas
May 16: Gentrification in Harlem Panel with Michael Henry Adams and Nellie Hester Bailey
May 17: Q&A with Director Rachel Shuman and “Monolith” artist Gwyneth Leech

FilmScene, Iowa City, IA

Tuesday, May 15 @6PM

Maiden Alley Cinema, Paducah, KY

Wednesday, May 16 @7PM

WFMU Monty Hall, Jersey City, NJ

Friday, May 18 @7PM

Laemmle Ahrya Fine Arts Theater, Los Angeles, CA

Tuesday, May 22 @7:30PM

Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL

Wednesday, May 23 @7:30PM

Pickford Film Center, Bellingham, WA

Thursday, May 24 @6:30PM

Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

Thursday, May 24

Parkway Theatre, Baltimore, MD

Friday, June 8

PAST SCREENINGS:

Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI

Tuesday, May 8 @ 7PM

Gateway Film Center, Columbus, OH

Columbus Documentary Week, April 26- May 6
Saturday, April 28 @ 10:30PM
Wednesday, May 2 @ 3:00PM
Thursday, May 3 @ 9:00AM
Friday, May 4 @ 9:00PM
Saturday, May 5 @ 1:00PM

Depot Docs, Garrison, NY

Friday, April 27 @ 7PM (Accompanied by a live chamber orchestra performance of the score)

Ashland Independent Film Festival, OR

Thursday, April 12 @12:40PM

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

Sunday, March 25 @ 3:45PM

School of Visual Arts, NYC

Tuesday, February 13 @ 6:30PM

Hunter College: Urban Policy and Planning, NYC

Friday, December 1 @6:30PM

The Rubin Museum of Art, NYC

Wednesday, November 8 @7PM (Accompanied by a live chamber orchestra performance of the score)

Fairhope Film Festival, AL

Saturday, November 11 @3PM

Beacon Independent Film Festival, NY

Friday, September 15 @7PM

Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, VT

Friday, August 25 @ 10:30AM

Woods Hole Film Festival, MA

Saturday, July 29 @7PM

Lighthouse International Film Festival, Long Beach, NJ

Saturday, June 10 @ 11:00AM

Stranger Than Fiction, NYC

Wednesday, May 17 @ 7PM

IFFBoston

Sunday, April 30 @12:45PM

Full Frame (World Premiere)

Saturday, April 8, 2017 @ 1:30PM

For press inquires, email oneoctoberfilm@gmail.com

Review: One October
John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter, May 11, 2018

“A time capsule with easy, humanistic charm.”

Review: One October
This Week in New York, May 11, 2018

“3.5 subway tokens out of 4.” “Director, editor, and producer Shuman (Negotiations) has created a loving warning about the future of a city that has been undergoing major changes since October 2008.”

Review: One October
Avi Offer, The NYC Movie Guru, May 11, 2018

“…a warm, lively and provocative documentary that’s a must-see for all New Yorkers, young and old.”

U.S. Theatrical Premiere Run of “One October” Starts Today at Maysles Cinema
Harlem One Stop, May 11, 2018

“Nuanced, cinematic and often humorous, ONE OCTOBER charts the chasm between one’s desires and one’s means, explores the urgent need to conserve the old amid the glorification of the new.”

Guest Post: How I Learned to Listen to My Film as a Director and Editor
Rachel Shuman, Women and Hollywood, May 11, 2018

“Because the footage is impressionistic and poetic in form, I knew I had to cut it myself to truly realize my vision. And this time it came together quickly. All the time I had put into writing the narration had helped me shape the film. The editor in me was being led by her ‘director.’”

Interview: Rachel Shuman on Marking Time and the City in “One October”
Stephen Saito, The Moveable Fest, May 10, 2018

“That charm is infectious in ‘One October,’ which Shuman placed on a shelf for a decade to age like fine wine and emerge as a testament to both a city that’s constantly in flux and yet resolutely one of a kind as the pace of change only seems to embolden residents in what they stand for.”

Review: One October
Bobby LePrie, Film Threat, May 8, 2018

“…filmed with such exuberance that the hope that permeated the run-up to Obama’s first term explodes off the screen.”

Rachel Shuman’s Time-Capsule Doc “One October” Reveals New York of 2008 as Already History
Alan Scherstuhl, The Village Voice, May 8, 2018

“The election, the 2008 financial crash, the sense that the city is becoming less habitable for the non-wealthy: This is One October’s bracing context. Shuman, meanwhile, packs the short runtime with well-observed city life, capturing birders and joggers, musicians and demonstrators, a host of animals both tame and wild.”

Review: One October
Steve Kopian, Unseen Films, May 7, 2018

“Wonderful look at people, New York and America before the circus of truly deep partisan politics set the country on the road to madness.”

Edward Norton–produced documentary “One October” captures a world on the brink of change
Ruth Kinan, Entertainment Weekly, May 4, 2018

“Watching this movie in 2018, that hopelessness foreshadows the grossly unsettling political times to come.”

New York’s tapestry explored amidst hope of Obama election
Interview with Rachel Shuman
Terry Mikesell, The Columbus Dispatch, May 3, 2018

“It’s a clear-eyed love letter, one that covers the faults and sees some of the problems,” Shuman said. “It’s almost a warning cry: ‘What’s happening here? Don’t you love this part of the city, and can’t you see it’s disappearing?’”

N.J. morning radio host Clay Pigeon shines in long-unseen documentary “One October”
Jim Testa, The Jersey Journal, April 25, 2018

“The film provides a fascinating snapshot of a unique moment in history, one that comes alive thanks to the genuine curiosity, persistence, and humanity of its focal point, Pigeon.”

Rachel Shuman: Love Letter to New York
Interview with Rachel Shuman
Barbara Ann O’Leary, #DirectedbyWomen, April 19, 2018

“The hyper pace of development I was witnessing then only seems to have accelerated, so much so that it is now on the forefront of nearly every conversation about the city. And politically, it feels like we are in a different universe. But it is interesting to see how much the film foreshadows where we are today.”

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival searches for truth
Michael Shapiro, The Press Democrat, March 15, 2018

“The film is also a “love letter” to New York and an elegy for what’s being lost there.”

One October
Jeremiah Moss, Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, October 26, 2017

Jeremiah Moss interviews director Rachel Shuman.

In Beacon, film festival strives to give audience a cinematic experience
John W. Barry, Poughkeepsie Journal, September 11, 2017

“The film, said Shuman, ‘has a universal message. It’s about human resiliency and how change affects us on an individual level. It’s a portrait of people, really, but it’s also a portrait of a place that’s undergoing change and it hopefully can stand in for where you live.’”

Shot in 2008, New Film Tackles Urban Change
Alison Rooney, The Highlands Current, September 10, 2017

“A celluloid time capsule of the period just before President Barack Obama’s first election victory and a particularly active period in New York City’s ever-changing landscape.”

Two Festivals Focus on Independent Films
Beth Kalet, Times Herald-Record, August 31, 2017

“Beacon Independent Film Festival, now in its fifth year, will show features, shorts and documentaries, including ‘One October’ directed by Beacon resident Rachel Shuman.”

Framingham native’s ‘One October’ to be screened at Woods Hole Film Festival
R. Scott Reedy, Wicked Local Maynard, July 26, 2017

“Filmmaker Rachel Shuman grew up in Framingham but it is New York, another city she has called home, that is the setting of her documentary “One October,” which will be screened at the 26th Annual Woods Hole Film Festival on July 29.”

Every-Thing and No-Thing in New York City
Megan Scanlon ICYMI: Stranger Than Fiction, June 22, 2017

“New York City is the embodiment of every-thing and no-thing. It defines, cultivates, creates, resists, defies, and flows with change. This push and pull, this ebb and flow, this contraction and expansion is fluidly expressed in the time capsule that is ‘One October.’”

WFMU’s Clay Pigeon • Big Sonia
Adam Schartoff Filmwax Radio, June 01, 2017

Interview with the team behind the new documentary One October, Clay Pigeon and director Rachel Shuman.

These are the Good Old Days: “One October” looks at a moment in New York
Interview with Rachel Shuman
Samantha Sanders Audiences Everywhere, May 16, 2017

“Take yourself back to 2008 for a moment. I initially remembered it as a relatively calm time—especially compared to what the country is currently experiencing. But my memory was poor (and our collective one can be just as flawed). That’s part of what makes One October so compelling… One October is a narrative time capsule, offering up the gift of hindsight that in turns feels both tellingly ominous and gleefully hopeful.”

Film Review: Round-up of the 15th IFFBoston — A Banner Year
Gerald Peary The Arts Fuse, May 6, 2017

“The probing interviews are juxtaposed with Sampliner’s breathtaking vistas of Manhattan, and all the rich material is edited by director Shuman in the most stirring, extraordinary way. It’s very rare to see a documentary so perfectly made, a jewel of formal beauty. At 56 packed minutes, One October is a small masterpiece of cinema.”

A Love Letter to New York on Film
Allan Maurer NC Flix

“It filled me with nostalgia for my years walking New York City’s endlessly fascinating streets.”

Full Frame: Review of “One October” doc film
Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan Durham Herald-Sun, April 4, 2017

“Clay Pigeon asks the right questions to get people talking, and Shuman — who is director, editor and producer — captures the city from aspects busy and slow, quiet and loud… There is wisdom and variety in every answer. …If you have an opportunity to see “One October” at Full Frame, or wherever it goes next, you should.”

UPCOMING SCREENINGS:

PAST SCREENINGS:

Educational DVD from Passion River Films

Video on Demand

Home Use DVD

Poster