Press


Booklist Online Video Review

By Donald Liebenson, Booklist Online

*Starred Review* “What price progress? That question and others are raised in this film-festival-winning documentary…Plenty of thought-provoking material for general-interest audiences as well as urban studies, sociology, and history students.”

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On the Road to Change in Los Angeles

By Peter Keough, Boston Globe

“Like Frederick Wiseman’s “In Jackson Heights,” Betsy Kalin’s documentary “East LA Interchange,” which won the best of festival jury award this year at the Arlington International Film Festival, takes an urban neighborhood and sees it as a microcosm of social and economic change in the United States.”

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This Film Is a Fascinating History of Boyle Heights’ Cultural Mix

By Amy Nicholson – Film Review, LA Weekly

“The history of Boyle Heights is an example of the promise — and peril — of American progress. In her great new documentary East LA Interchange filmmaker Betsy Kalin whisks us through this fascinating past.”

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“East LA Interchange”: Film Review

By Ira Israel, The Huffington Post

Not just a story about one neighborhood, “East LA Interchange” is a funny, insightful and poignant documentary that will transform how you think about living in the United States today.

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‘Ellis Island of the West Coast’: Documentary Delves Into Boyle Heights’ Rich History

By Kim Baldonado, NBC4 Los Angeles - KNBC

Before it was sliced up by freeways and became the home of working-class immigrant Latinos, Boyle Heights, had a rich convergence of cultures.

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East L.A. Interchange (2015) Film Review

By Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★—It’s [East LA Interchange] full of hope and joy…Boyle Heights is a fascinating place because it highlights so much of America’s potential and so many of the reasons why it has fallen short…it’s a place full of secret history.

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Review of East LA Interchange

By Nia Blessitt, Urban Democracy Lab

East LA Interchange offered me new perspectives about how I can process gentrification throughout America and within my own community…It taught me that multiculturalism should be valued, activism is important and effective, and community building means respecting people for their differences. Boyle Heights pushed me to redefine what an ‘all-American,’ neighborhood is.

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East LA Interchange: Diversity of Boyle Heights is a History Lesson for the Nation

By Tom Nguyen, EnclaveLA

In a time of increasing inequality, tension and divisiveness, and a political climate that once again relies on xenophobia and fear mongering of immigrants, the film and the lesson that Boyle Heights history teaches could not come at a better time.

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AIFF Q&A: Betsy Kalin, director of “East LA Interchange”

By Bram Berkowitz, The Arlington Advocate

“Director Betsy Kalin’s documentary “East LA Interchange” explores the literal, symbolic and figurative impact of the interchange on the nearby working class, immigrant Boyle Heights neighborhood, and what the neighborhood’s past and future mean for the rest of America.”

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LA Documentary “East LA Interchange” in 2 LA Film Festivals

By Austin Winter-Chase, The Art of Monteque

East LA Interchange is a wonderful documentary that honors the past and its rich history while showing a bright future for a place that was written off as nothing more than a slum. Betsy Kalin’s storytelling shines masterfully throughout this thoughtful and introspective documentary.

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Danny Trejo Narrates This Doc on How Boyle Heights Was the Ellis Island of the West Coast

By Andrew S. Vargas, REMEZCLA

East L.A. Interchange…tell(s) the story of a neighborhood that somehow embodies all the contradictions and struggles of America’s urban communities over the last fifty years. We only hope that in 10 years this documentary is viewed as a victorious battle cry and not an elegy for a lost community.

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Check Out East LA Interchange at NUFF 2015

By Adriane Hoff, Hoff the Beaten Path

East LA Interchange is an engaging film that ought to be viewed by not just LA residents, but by everyone, to help understand the sociological impact made on certain communities by developers and freeway construction.

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East L.A. Interchange—Great New Film About Jewish History in Los Angeles

By Rabbi Robin Podolsky, Jewish Journal

East L.A. Interchange teaches the possibility of an American dream far removed from suburban homogeneity. It tells of a place and time in which Latinos, Jews, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and self-described “rednecks” found a way to live with one another such that their own cultures thrived even as they evolved into a common American experience.

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A Film About Boyle Heights is One of the Downtown Film Festival’s Most Hyped Premieres

By Marielle Wakim, Los Angeles Magazine

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East LA Interchange Doc Highlights History of Boyle Heights

By Daniel Barron, Yay! LA Magazine

East LA Interchange…is both a celebration of Boyle Heights’ rich multiethnic legacy and a call for reform.

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Review: An Essential Documentary for Angelenos, East LA Interchange

By Jeremy Ross, Living Out Loud – LA

East LA Interchange is a critical documentary for those who wish to know about how Los Angeles developed, not just for those wishing to know about Boyle Heights in particular…

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PBIFF 2016 Delights Audiences

By Hope Wilkos, Pure Fame Media

“[East LA Interchange’s] theme could easily be applied to any large metropolitan area within the nation which falls victim to the rapid development of their region. It is a topic that deserves greater attention and investigation and Betsy drives the point home.

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EAST LA INTERCHANGE: “If This Film Could Vote” With Director Betsy Kalin

By Quendrith Johnson, Awards Intelligencer

No matter how you cast your ballot, cast your gaze toward East LA Interchange because it hints at a peaceful solution to the Gordian knot of fairness with regard to marginalized communities in terms of race, poverty, housing.

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East LA Interchange: Talking about Community in the U.S.

By Kris Kington-Barker, KCBX FM – Central Coast Public Radio

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East LA Interchange documentary about Boyle Heights history premieres Sunday July 26 at Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles

By Tom Nguyen, EnClave Los Angeles

It is often said that one cannot understand the present without knowing the past. East LA Interchange is premiering during a very apt time…The film reminds us community solidarity and political activism in the face of many challenges has always been a part of Boyle Heights history.

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Teachers see diversity lesson in new documentary of old Boyle Heights

By Mike Szymanski, LA School Report

A new documentary…is drawing the attention of educators as a way show how the East
LA neighborhood once stood as a monument to diversity and community strength.

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Comedy Film Nerds Episode 330 – Ghostbusters – Betsy Kalin

By Graham Elwood and Chris Mancini, Comedy Film Nerds

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I Left My Heart in Boyle Heights ~ Betsy Kalin, director “East LA Interchange”

By Betsy Kalin, L.A. TACO

I think that Boyle Heights’ story is the same story that many communities across the country are currently facing…Imagine what would happen in this country if everyone went back to their own communities with the same respect and pride that the people in Boyle Heights have for their neighborhood.

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Neighborhood Storyline

By Christine Coyle, Loomis Chaffee Magazine

It’s a cautionary, but hopeful, tale about how migration and displacement can affect a community.

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Boyle Heights activism explored in ‘East LA Interchange’ documentary

By Antonio Mejías-Rentas, Boyle Heights Beat

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New Movie Tells the Story of the Long Boyle Heights Struggle

By Bianca Barragan, Curbed LA

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Boyle Heights Doc Explores The Past And Future Of L.A.’s Ellis Island

By Danny Jensen, LAist

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Boyle Heights, the Land of Freeways

By Avishay Artsy, Jewish Journal

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Red Carpet Interview with East LA Interchange Team – Hollywood Social Lounge

By Aaron Sanchez and Kelly Dolan, KMET 1490 AM

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Beloit prepares for 11th annual international film festival Feb. 19-28

By Elliot Hughes, GazetteXtra

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Featured Alumni: Interview with Betsy Kalin ’91CC

By Patty Tsai, CAA Arts Access

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