NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — When the COVID-19 pandemic swept through New York City, Brooklyn-based filmmaker Eric Rivas was horrified by the spike in anti-Asian hate crimes that followed.
The spate of crimes, combined with a rise in anti-Asian rhetoric, inspired Rivas to start shooting "Duke of New York," a film he has entered into the New York Film Festival, with plans to submit to next year's Tribeca Festival.
It is set to premiere at the Kent Theater at 1170 Coney Island Ave. in Brooklyn at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Antonio Serrata, Eric Rivas, Jason Chaos and Chance Yeh.Martine Emile
The film centers around Asian American protagonist Brandon, an actor who gets cast in a film within Rivas' film.
After Brandon — played by actor Brian Lau — gets the part, he realizes he is being targeted by the film's producers, Rivas said in an interview with 1010 WINS.
"An Asian actor would be hired to be killed on film by rich, elite, crazy people that want to see somebody die because of the coronavirus," Rivas explained. Rivas himself plays a director who notices something is amiss and warns Brandon to run.
"Basically, [Brandon] has to fight his way out of the film, with me by his side, running through the streets of New York," he said.
Jenn Wang, Vincent Chan and Clash T. Vicente.Martine Emile
The film, which pays tribute to 1979 action thriller film "The Warriors," aims to turn the tables on the racism Brandon faces, Rivas said.
"I would like somebody to watch this and almost see this person, whom racism is being heaped on, and he takes it, and he uses it against the racist," he said. "It's exciting that he comes back and beats them."
Rivas and his crew managed to film the movie in New York during the pandemic, "shooting on locked-down streets," he said.
"We would shoot, and there would be nobody on the street, and it was so eerie and beautiful," he said. "And it was a way of showing our city's beauty."
Jeannine Carter.Martine Emile
"I also felt like me shooting during lockdown was me not allowing myself to fall apart during [the pandemic]," he added. "And… I thought if people saw me doing that, they saw it on Instagram, and they saw it everywhere, they would also be motivated."
For Rivas, who was born in Brooklyn and grew up watching action movies, filmmaking is a passion, he said.
"I love filmmaking," he said. "I enjoy it just like painting and drawing — it's something that I would do anyway, without a dime."
"We really don't get any funding. It's my time editing, it's my camerawoman, Martine Emile, she shoots with me, and you know, we all put our heart into it," he added. "There's no funds to this, so it's really a labor of love."
