''Dark Days'' is an American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed, produced, and photographed by the English documentarian Marc Singer that was completed and released in 2000. Shot during the mid-1990s, it follows a group of people who lived in the Freedom Tunnel section of the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

system at the time.

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sh ...

created new music for the documentary and also let Singer use some of his preexisting songs.

Background

When Marc Singer arrived in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, he was struck by the number of people he saw living on the streets. He befriended many in New York's homeless community and, after hearing about people who lived underground in abandoned tunnel systems, he met and became close to some members of the Freedom Tunnel community, which stretched north from Penn Station past

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

. After living in the tunnel on and off for a number of months, Singer decided to create a documentary, even though he had never made a film before, hoping that the project would make enough money for the residents of the tunnel to move into better housing.

Production

The filming took two-and-a-half years. The film's crew consisted of the subjects themselves, who rigged up makeshift lighting and dollies and learned to use a 16mm camera with black-and-white film. During filming,

announced it would be forcibly evicting the people living in the tunnels in order to reroute their trains through the tunnel. This announcement, plus the police presence backing the decision, prompted Singer and photographer Margaret Morton to go to the Coalition for the Homeless for help. Eventually, Singer and Morton managed to secure housing vouchers from the

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and U ...

for the film's subjects, which enabled them to move out of the tunnels and into their own apartments. The

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. Th ...

process for the film took years, with delays caused by financial difficulties and Singer's insistence on creative control to protect the tunnel residents. Melissa Neidich was the editor of the film.

Soundtrack

The film features music by

. Included in the score are excerpts from '' Endtroducing.....'' and his

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

with Unkle, as well as original music he composed for the main theme of the film, which was released on the single "Dark Days".

Release and reception

''Dark Days'' was released in 2000. It won three awards at the 2000

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

(Audience Award: Documentary, Excellence in Cinematography Award: Documentary, and Freedom of Expression Award), was chosen as the Senior Programmer's Pick at the 2000 SXSW Film Awards, and was nominated for awards at several other film festivals. The film also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Film.

Tenth anniversary re-release

Oscilloscope Laboratories re-released "Dark Days" theatrically at Cinema Village in New York City on July 1, 2011, as well as on DVD on July 19, 2011. The DVD contains several new features compiled especially for the special tenth anniversary release, including footage of Singer revisiting the Freedom Tunnel in 2011 and a "where are they now" video that details what happened to the tunnel residents after the documentary was filmed. The film was re-released by Dogwoof Pictures in the U.K., with the

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming m ...

release including the additional features and interviews.

References

External links

* * {{Squatting 2000 films 2000 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about New York City Documentary films about homelessness in the United States Films set on the New York City Subway Subterranea of the United States Sundance Film Festival award winners Tunnels in New York City Welfare in New York (state) Squatting in the United States Squatting in film Housing in New York City 2000s English-language films 2000s American films