Local filmmaker’s work has special showing at treasured Bay Ridge theater
BAY RIDGE — Brooklyn history and American history converged on Wednesday as Bay Ridge’s storied Alpine Cinema hosted a special showing of “Union,” a Civil War film which local resident Whitney Hamilton both directed and starred in.
The film, a 20-year labor of love for Hamilton, enjoyed a one-night screening at the Alpine – at 101 years old, the oldest continuously operating movie theater in New York City – thanks in large part to the efforts of Victoria Hofmo, the president of the Bay Ridge Arts & Cultural Alliance.
The theater’s restoration was also a labor of love for its owner, Nick Nicolaou, who bought the Alpine and restored it 16 years ago, at a time when area residents feared it would be demolished.