Brighton Beach captures the beloved Brooklyn neighbourhood known as the “poor man’s paradise” – the sun, the sand, the speedos and the bikinis. This long-lost cinematic gem lovingly evokes the spirit of the seaside’s legendary boardwalk where the directors’ vérité-style lens catches the cast of quirky characters, pulsating with the energy of 1970s Brooklyn and interspersed with footage of their counterparts from the 1930s. Beautifully shot over four years, Brighton Beach unfolds through spontaneous, unscripted moments, offering a deeply human portrait of life’s simple pleasures and the quiet resilience of a diverse, ever- evolving community where there is an unspoken bond of displacement. As the filmmakers, Carol Stein and Susan Wittenberg, unpeel the layers of the neighbourhood’s organised anarchy, we see what Jonas Mekas described as “its exquisite ugliness and its funny sadness.” Brighton Beach immerses viewers in the immigrant communities – primarily Soviet Jews and Puerto Ricans – who mingle with longtime residents, flirting, sharing furtive glances, telling stories. We get to watch the incomparable Barry Sisters perform – a must for connoisseurs of Yiddish kitsch – and marvel at the Polar Bear Club swimmers who brave the wintry waters. This timeless film is also the story of immigrants trying to make it in America – the age-old struggle to maintain your dignity when you’re forced to live on nickels and dimes. Fun, funny and poignant, it’s a portrait of a melting pot that won’t melt.