coming soon
READY FOR HER CLOSEUP
This spring, writer-director Paul
Bastante interviewed Nancy
Fadynich, one of the found-
ers of Friends of Laurelwood
Arboretum, during the filming
of Hills & Valleys: A Journey
through Wayne, N.J.
Bastante is currently a Butler
resident and owns Bloomingdale-
based Silk City Films. He has pro-
duced two other documentaries that
give historical perspectives of area
towns. His first project in that genre,
Bloomingdale: An American Small
Town, was completed last August
to celebrate the borough’s 100th
anniversary. His second film, Before
a Nation: The Story of Pequannock,
premiered in March.
A native of Pequannock, Bastante
attended elementary school in
Wayne, and says his films are based
on towns with interesting histories,
and where local governments are
willing to support him. “We do the
best we can on a shoestring,” he
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FALL 2019 WAYNE MAGAZINE
says, adding that much of his work
is funded by corporate sponsors. The
Wayne film was backed by Farms
View Roadstand, Patriot Pickle and
Pizza One, among other businesses.
“We’re indie film guys,” says
Bastante. “It’s a passion thing. We’re
not Steven Spielberg. We’re not mak-
ing Star Wars. It’s nothing like that.”
Yet, he and the legendary director
have at least one thing in common:
Both men have filmed on the streets
of Paterson.
One of Bastante’s upcoming docu-
mentaries, titled Paterson: My City,
will be released in the summer of
2020. And Spielberg’s remake of the
1961 musical film West Side Story,
starring Ansel Elgort and Clifton’s
Rachel Zegler, is set to hit theaters
in December of next year.
Paterson has been experiencing a
considerable uptick in the number of
film projects within its borders. The
city saw 23 productions last year, and
it is expected to welcome as many, or
more, this year. The Many Saints of
Newark, a film written as the prequel
to the HBO crime drama series
The Sopranos, is just one of them.
“Paterson is where the American
dream came to life,” says Mayor
André Sayegh. “We have a story to
tell, and it hasn’t been told.” ■
Tickets to see Hills & Valleys are
free. For more information, go to
silkcityfilms.com or metroymcas.org.