Film shows tough times on West End Alameda Journal February 22, 2008 By Alan Lopez About 30 minutes into the new documentary: "Civic Unity: Five Years in the West End of Alameda" the focus turns to the new Bayport Housing development, where homes now sell for upwards of $800,000. It's 2004, the homes are being constructed and Laurie Fry, principal at Chipman Middle School, explains that the area is seeing new forces of gentrification. From there, the 73-minute film documents the mass eviction of more than 400 residents at the nearby Harbor Island Apartments, a process that began July 22 of that year. When filmmaker Gary Weimberg and his wife Catherine Ryan began the film project, it wasn't exactly what they had expected. They were hired to produce a film in 2002 about the Koshland Civic Unity Program of the San Francisco Foundation. The filmmakers document the results of the five-year, $300,000 grant overseen by a hand-picked resident-based committee. The committee in...
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