On Saturday August 27th, join Spectacle, Cine-Movil and the Crown Heights Tenants Union for an emergency outdoor double feature at Lincoln Terrace Park starting at 7PM. This program juxtaposes two martial arts classics: David Warmflash’s grindhouse epic DEATH PROMISE (1977) and French filmmaker Pierre Morel’s BANLIEUE 13 (or DISTRICT B13), released in 2004.

DEATH PROMISE
dir. Robert Warmflash, 1976
95 mins. United States.
In English.

DEATH PROMISE stars martial artists Charles Bonnet (also nicknamed “La Pantera”) and Speedy Leacock as two young fighters who unite to take down a cabal of corrupt and exploitative landlords after Charley’s father is murdered. Albeit a late-night exploitation thriller from the last moment of human history when “Trump” was an obscure name, DEATH PROMISE eerily invokes the 1973 suit brought against Trump Management in Brooklyn, wherein Trump was accused of discriminating against nonwhite tenants to drive up his property value. The infamous theatrical trailer climaxed with a filthy rich landlord having his head tied in a burlap sack, besieged by feral rats. The voice-over intones, “A warning to the rich: get off our backs.”

DEATH PROMISE, acclaimed by critics as a chilling and exciting motion picture in the tradition of DEATH WISH… A film of poor against the rich…..

DISTRICT B13
(aka BANLIEUE 13)
dir. Pierre Morel, 2004
81 mins. France.
In French with English subtitles.

BANLIEUE 13 explores a different set of issues, as an elite undercover cop infiltrates a notorious 21st century ghetto housing project after a nuclear weapon falls into the hands of a powerful drug lord. A violent bromance takes place as one of the building’s residents joins his struggle after his sister is kidnapped by the same kingpin. Produced by Luc Besson at the peak of his Europacorp phase, BANLIEUE 13 is a nonstop martial arts thrill ride, but also endeavors to be a scabrous critique of the failures of social democracy for residents of slums like the suburb B13, almost as if LA HAINE were remade as a parkour movie. It was followed by DISTRICT B13: ULTIMATUM a few years later and, in 2014, remade by RZA and the late Paul Walker as BRICK MANSIONS (with DISTRICT B13’s original star David Belle bringing his irreplaceable stuntwork.)

Special thanks to Magnolia Pictures, Crown Heights Tenants Union, American Genre Film Archive and Cine-Movil.

Cine Móvil is a pop-up cinema collective spreading revolutionary culture across the five boroughs. Founded in the wake of the 2020 uprisings, the collective endeavors to bring together audiences to view and discuss radical cinema. Cine Móvil recognizes the role that culture plays in movements, and aims to uplift the revolutionary consciousness of people, connecting the films they screen with the real material conditions which people and organizations face in the present. Cinema is for the people!

Crown Heights Tenant Union was founded in 2013, and is a union of tenant associations. We are a mix of both long-term and new tenants who collectively fight against gentrification, harassment, displacement, and illegal rent overcharges in the neighborhood. We provide education, advice, and support for all of our neighbors. We also demand and fight for stronger tenant protections and rights throughout the state of New York. As of today, we have over 40 member buildings, and have recently been involved in campaigns to #CancelRent, establish an eviction moratorium, and fight the Adams’ administrations attempts to raise rent on rent stabilized units. We believe that when we fight, we win!