Greenpoint Tavern (2012)

Greenpoint Tavern tells the story of seven men, all from different walks of life, who share their personal stories and connections to the events of September 11 over the course of one evening at a local bar in Brooklyn. But much more than that it is an intensely dynamic study of the nature and perpetuation human conflict and how we manage to coexist, or perhaps simply survive, in the face of that. The story is powerfully illustrative of the fact that the struggle between hostility and compassion may well be the fiercest battle in which we, as a violent but nurturing species, are engaged. So, while 9/11 serves as centerpiece for the conflict and dialog within the piece, it is ultimately a frame of reference for this particular microcosm of human existence. Friendships are tested, tears are shed and laughter erupts all at unexpected moments as the seven men, most of them strangers, reveal their angers, regrets and, perhaps most deeply, their feelings of loneliness and despair following the loss of their friends and loved ones.