By Joe Salas
As Greenwich House nears its 115th anniversary in 2017, an award-winning documentary filmmaker will be capturing stories from members who make up this century-old dynamic and inclusive community.
Greenwich House was founded on Thanksgiving Day in 1902 in the settlement house tradition. Its early programs largely helped recent immigrants adapt to life in a new city and a new country. However, over time, as the neighborhood changed, so did Greenwich House. Today, Greenwich House serves 15,000 New Yorkers a year through its arts education, senior service, and behavioral health programs.
Emmy award-winning editor Peter Odabashian will focus his documentary On the Square specifically around Greenwich House members at their Center on the Square Senior Center. There, for up to six months, he will be capturing the daily interactions of Center members, as they learn, share meals, make friends, and engage in visual and performing arts with each other.
Odabashian is an accomplished filmmaker, having helped craft close to 40 different movies including Reds, Carlito’s Way, and People Like Us. His film Getting Back to Normal was an official selection of SXSW and featured on the PBS series POV.
Odabashian considers himself an “old-fashioned documentary filmmaker”. He approaches his work without a preconceived notion of what each film will say, its message, or takeaway. He strives to shoot his work in an intimate and personal manner to connect with his subjects and accurately capture their stories and emotions. He typically operates as a single-person crew, with no lights, and minimal sound equipment, to be as unobtrusive as possible.
At Center on the Square, Odabashian said he expects that “the film will address the aging, friendship, love, loneliness, self-expression, depression, and happiness that circulate through the senior center’s members’ lives.” He is also interested in how the staff and volunteers of Greenwich House help hundreds of seniors who come through its doors each day have a better, more fulfilling life.
“I have the sense that everyone here, from the seniors to the staff, feels a part of something bigger than themselves. I want to capture the small, everyday interactions of everyone at Center on the Square—how they look out for each other and care about each other,” he continued.
On the Square is set to be released in the second half of 2017.
