BookWars
reviewed by Steve Fesenmaier
Winner of the best documentary award at the NY Underground
Film Festival, BookWars is one of the most poignant films
of the year. Filmmaker and street bookseller Jason Rosette
graduated from NYU, and unable to find a job, starting
selling his one possession - tons of books - on the streets
of NYC. For three years he stood outside in the weather,
along with Pete Whitney, Rick Sherman, Al Mappo, and other
people who truly love books.
I had been reading about this film for sometime- ever since
it first hit the festival circuit. I really had no idea
what "BookWars" meant - did it have something to do with
what happened at the SFPL? Or Hawaii? When I finally
previewed it, I was enthralled. The immediately of life on
the streets was overwhelming. It didnˆït surprise me that
the producer, Michel Negroponte, had directed one of the
most poignant films ever made about a homeless person,
Jupiterˆïs Wife. Only Michael Moore, famous for Roger and
Me, and my two favorite TV series ever, TV Nation and The
Awful Truth, has made films like this before ˆê humorous and
sad, musical and silent. Like Moore, Rosette takes on Mayor
Guilianiˆïs Quality of Life regime, losing in his case.
There is one public library in this film ˆê but it remains
unnamed since it gave Rosette some of their discarded
books. In our Amazon.com age, this film, more than anything
I have seen, returns one to the pre-web world where books
were more important than computers.
--Steve Fesenmaier