Downtown Dream

Filmmaker Aaron Matthews' Downtown Dream offers a disturbing yet also inspiring documentary portrait of a dying city and a struggle over its salvation—speaking to the larger plight of urban centers that have lost their vitality with the vanishing of traditional manufacturing jobs. The city under the microscope here is Lewiston, PA, once the home of Standard Steel and other large factories. With the migration of those jobs overseas during the last 30 years, Lewiston now looks like a ghost town: images capture shuttered businesses, homeowners auctioning possessions and property, buildings in decay and disrepair, and dispirited people drooped on benches and stairs. The search for an answer preoccupies council meetings, church gatherings, and town hall discussions, but the visions for a future rebound are in competition. On one hand, a longtime developer advocates redesigning downtown to look more appealing to business owners and shoppers; on the other, a strong-willed minister believes that nostalgia for the days when Lewiston looked better is irrelevant, given the desperate need for jobs. In the end, the answer turns out to be a blend of both approaches, but it's the journey toward that shared truth that proves to be compelling here. Many details will linger in the memory of viewers, ranging from a haunting collection of postcards illustrating Lewiston's changing exterior over the decades, to a Walmart opening that resembles an ecstatic church service. A thought-provoking look at urban struggles in a depressed global economy, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)