"This is a beautiful film, a visual poem to that most intimate of ideas "home," where the totality of human experiences, like the imperceptibly added layers of a pearl, combine to create, in this wonderful instance, a gem." 
-Filmmaker, Ken Burns 

"Beautifully captures the Irish immigrant’s journey through the myth and mystery of New York"
-Filmmaker, Jim Sheridan
  
"There’s No Place Like "Home" Movies" (click to read article)
-New York Sun Article from February 28, 2007 by Nicolas Rapold
 
"Brooklyn Filmmaker's Tribute To NYC To Be Streamed From Web on 9/11
A Film that Started as a Conversation Finds a Home" (click to read article)
-Brooklyn Daily Eagle, article by Beth C. Aplin

Rush & Molloy
"New Yorkers packed Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater for a Thursday screening of Dawn Scibilia's "Home," a documentary look at our city with commentary from such famous residents as Woody Allen, Pete Hamill, Susan Sarandon, Fran Lebowitz and restaurant king Drew Nieporent (whose Franklin St. TriBakery is about to morph into Vietnamese eatery Mai House). The stars extol the virtues of city life: "In the countryside, night is like it was when you were a kid," says Lebowitz, "full of ax murderers. In New York, night's just a better day where you don't need your sunglasses"
-New York Daily News article from October 30, 2006
 
10.21.2005
Click here for an interview with the filmmakers by Sean McCarthy for Film Ireland.

"A Heartfelt and lyrical journey about the meaning of home."
-Actor, Gabriel Byrne

"A personal odyssey around the mystery of New York."
- Irish Novelist, Niall Williams

"'Home' is a poetic meditation on New York City as a magnet for a kaleidoscope of people. Alan Cooke's voice-over is engaging and personal, conveying the love of an Irishman for his adopted city. Dawn Scibilia's images are lustrous, giving the Big Apple a fresh and vivid look. It's a lovely film."
- Annette Insdorf, Film Scholar, Director of Undergraduate Film Studies, Columbia University


 
FEEDBACK FROM THE AUDIENCE 

[the following may have been slightly edited for spelling and content]

Alan: Our friend, Bernice called this morning elated over seeing HOME. She commented enthusiastically on many aspects of the film.

"Dawn, I am pleased that Annie suggested I attend your film. I was particularly impressed with HOME as the footage revealed a lovely kind a rhythm with those people being interviewed along with the way the photography weaved some beautifully composed images with the pensive piano soundtrack. Thank you. I hope your film does exceptionally well. Your understanding of New York was well articulated. The comment that has sat with me for a bit was about ' the synchronicity of the city and making one's dreams come true'. What a lovely and I think true statement. I wish you well. Thanks again." -Elizabeth

The film had a beautiful rhythm to it and I believe showed a true New York, the exciting and the rotten. The interviews were very compelling, the candor of the subjects was great. I LOVED Fran Leibowitz esp. Like I said at the screening, I really see a place for this film outside the city. I think it will be fascinating to outsiders and is almost a necessary document of the times in this place. It is a very poignant expression now, and will be an incredible memoir in the future. The fact that you were able to express not only your own thoughts and emotions but also those of many people in this city in such a direct and spiritual way is a great accomplishment and contribution to community/place/story of NY.

You have provoked thoughts and questions for me in the past few weeks, which occur to me at any random time and which I hope we can talk about in person some time.

Hi Alan from HOME, I was delighted that you invited me. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It is visually and thematically absorbing, and most interviews provide insightful material. Your words give it the poet's touch and the right mood. I like that melancholy strain woven throughout. It's a perennial theme in this country and, as you know, on the mark for today's climate regarding immigration issues. I just wish I could help you with distribution but surely you'll be able to get it to the right places.

I'm glad I got to see the film, its really beautiful, densely woven and lyrical. I can see all the hard work that went into it. Everyone is so passionate about New York. It becomes a meditation on place.

Dear Alan, Simon from W. Palm Beach here. Sorry I have taken so long to reply but I have been off away from my office, doing research, and, being a technophobe I don't have a computer at home! Anyway, to the film. The production values were very high. In fact quite amazing if, as you say. there were only the two of you working on it. Also the music was well scored and fitted the film extraordinarily well. That is far more difficult to do than it appears. Even more specifically while it is certainly true that picking the topic you did you could do a lot in natural light, nevertheless the tones etc. were good...and the camera work, the angles and shot lengths etc. were excellent. I remember especially one scene with you walking through it which had a newspaper blowing on the pavement (cobblestones I think) and you walking up a slope and spiraling round, almost in proportion to a golden section. I am fairly sure the last element I mention was not intentional, but nevertheless attests to an aesthetic sensibility of high order. And to the content, the question of what New York is and means is an interesting theme, coherently pursued throughout....and made all the more interesting by your narrative flourishes....something to do with the Irish and the Blarney Stone I believe? Anyway very lyrical and well presented. I say all this with absolutely no axe to grind, but simply from the perspective of a philosophy teacher who is interested in many things, including urban culture, cultural/psychological interactions, and of course art and aesthetics.

"Home" a documentary about New York city in the 21st century. This film is going to touch millions, and it has just begun. Doesn't anyone wonder what is going on with New York City. Does anyone want to remember what New York City is really about, the spirit, its people, the wonder of it all, and of course the magic. 

Home is a film that will touch on every part of New York City from the visible to the invisible. SEE THIS FILM - In these times when the people at the top decide what we see, this is a time for the people to decide what they want to see. This is a new era, and the artist can change the rules, actually new rules need to be created. 

This film is the perfect example of a film that is being ignored because of its true "independent" nature. New York City needs to be seen beyond its tragedies, people still get up here everyday, still bring their spirits to the streets, the tourists still come to look up at the wonders of skyscrapers and the spirits that reside on cobblestone streets. Immigrants still come here with the dream and they give something to this place, that found in so many places here. Make this film be seen by everyone, get it in the movie theatres, email the director the writer.

I have seen this film and it will change the way you think about New York City. It is a poem to the city, it is a postcard and a labor of love by the creators who put it together, Alan Cooke and Dawn Scibilia. The cast is a true cast, one that really represents this city. There has not been a film like this in long, long time. The Cast includes: Woody Allen Liam Neeson Alfred Molina Susan Saradon Rosie Perez Frank Mcourt Malachy Mcourt Woody Allen David Amram Alan Cooke Armand DiMele Pete Hamill Elaine Kaufman Fran Lebowitz Mike Myers Drew Nieporent Collin Quinn Vinny Vella. The Most Amazing cast member of all.... The People of New York City, people from the street, from the heart of the city telling you about all of it, about how New York City has changed, how it keeps you hoping, how it changes you, how the magic that exists here never goes away. 

All original music by musicians all living in New York City, from saxophone, to piano, to mambo kings, to "Sean Nos" singing, to the cello, its all there like the fabric of the city, we see and feel the city as though it was pulsing right inside of us. 

"Home" The Journey Never Ends Please pass this on to anyone and everyone you know, the film is seeking distributor, so pass the word on. Let this film be seen in theatres, everyone needs to see this. Don't forget how seeing certain films in the theatre are with you for the rest of your life, its like seeing Monet's "Water lilies" or the "Mona Lisa,"  you may only see it once in your life but you never forget it. The impact that this film has is tremendous, it gets to the heart of what many people know about New York, from New Yorkers, to those who have moved away, to those who have never been and those who dream of coming here. 

It is also an immigrants story, one that we should all remember, because everyone in this country is an immigrant, we all came here on boats, even if now we are generations away we still should remember our roots. Home shows you the Roots again, puts you back to a time when this city had grace, attititude, and all the things that make artists come here too. Everyone that is anyone has come here, seek the magic. 

"Home" is a sponsored project of the IFP (www.ifp.org). Please contact the IFP or the filmmakers if you are interested in making a tax deductible donation to "Home"