Foreign Parts Trailer 2 from Foreign Parts on Vimeo.
Slated for demolition or the possibility of being handed over to Mayor Bloomberg’s corporate pals, the neighborhood of Willets Point (industrial zone) is a a hidden enclave in the Queens – New York Mets home stadium – Citi Field. The area with its lack of sewage line or sidewalks, auto salvage shops and scrapyards seems to be ripe for urban development. However, Foreign Parts uncovers a weird community where the recycling, refuse and wrecks form a booming commerce. This junkyard forms a small universe of contradictions and hence, filmmakers Véréna Paravel and J.P. Sniadecki let the dynamic of the place take control and shape the filming of the documentary.
Willets Point offers a peek into one of the most peculiar and strange parts of the city where the promiscuity of the intertwining or intermingling of the machines and humans commands to treat them each as a character and offers insight into the area’s trade as well as the lives.
The documentary revolves around a few specific character of the area. Joe Ardizzone who continuously tries to contest his eviction, Julia the speech-impaired homeless queen of the junkyard who is supported by handouts, Luis and Sara whose home is an abandoned van in the junkyard and struggle for food. The documentary captures the struggles of these characters and the imminent neighborhood before it falls prey to the capitalization of New York and disappears, only to be replaced by the condos and office buildings.