I lived in the Detroit area for about two years between 2006 and 2008. I moved there with my wife, who was studying product design at the time. We lived in a fairly nice neighbourhood in Clawson, renting a two story apartment with wooden floors and a cozy fireplace.
Apart from there being limited amount of sidewalks around and way too long commutes I kinda fell in love with the place.
We often drove down into Detroit and to other areas surrounding the city, taking in all the sights and visiting odd places. There’s so much to see and experience. Not only urban decay and run down houses but also lots of creativity and interesting businesses. My favorite, of course, being all the small and independent breweries. I remember the galleries, the brilliant niche shops and the nice people.
In April this year I started a free-to-attend casual lecture, movie screening, art and design series called TAKK FYRIR. (Translates to Thank you) The first event, held in The Icelandic Academy of Art, featured talks by Colin Wright of Exile Lifestyle and Andrés Jónsson of Góð samskipti. The lectures were followed by the Iceland premiere of Lemonade, a documentary by Erik Proulx.
Lemonade is a wonderful documentary about people who get creative with their own lives after being laid off. The film follows 16 advertising professionals who have lost their jobs but found their calling.
Now Erik is making a sequel to Lemonade, focusing on Detroit and its creative community.
Lemonade: Detroit is a film about the disarming resilience of a city that can no longer rely on a single industry for its livelihood, and the entrepreneurial strengths of those who are reinventing themselves and their communities.
Instead of sensationalizing blight, Lemonade, Detroit will sensationalize hope, told through the intensely personal stories of those who are turning the city into what it will become.
You can become an IMDB-credited producer of Lemonade: Detroit by buying individual frames of the film. To do so visit: buyaframe.lemonadedetroit.com
