The Forgotten City, by local filmmakers Addison Henderson and Korey Green—a.k.a. Knuckle City Films—is a compelling and sometimes brutal portrait of racial and economic strife in Buffalo. Green and Henderson were drawn together by a 2004 murder: A close friend of Green shot and killed one of Henderson’s best friends on Buffalo’s East Side. Stung by the tragedy, the filmmakers—who had been passing acquaintances before the murder—decided to work together to tell the story of the killing and the sort of environmental hopelessness that turns young people into criminals.

Filmed over eight months, the 83-minute documentary was released on June 10, with two sold-out screenings at the Market Arcade. It has since been screened to appreciative audiences at other venues in Buffalo, as well as nation-wide. A soundtrack is set to be released with a party at the Town Ballroom on March 31. Green and Henderson spoke with Artvoice about the film after a standing-room-only screening at Gallery 164 on Allen Street.

Artvoice: What is Knuckle City Films?

Addison Henderson: Knuckle City Films is a production company that I started in LA. I was actually sleeping in my car. I’m an actor, and I was out there going to auditions, cattle calls, and seeing a bunch of guys that looked like me going out for the same parts. And I was wondering how I could create something with longevity…at that point I decided I was going to make my own films. I produced four films before I came back to Buffalo to do The Forgotten City.

AV: What were the other films?

AH: The first were theatrical films. One was about a high school football star who was paralyzed from the waist down. The other one was about a cop who, as he’s dying, he imagines himself as someone else…he’s actually the robber who shot the cop, but he thinks he’s the cop. Then I went to Africa with my father, Bishop Henderson who has the Michigan Street Baptist Church, and filmed a documentary about slavery in Ghana.

AV: What was the budget?

AH: We started out pretty grassroots…we started off with our own money, about $2,500, to get our basic camera equipment to start the project. Then we had an editing system donated to us…so we made a trailer and then the city started getting behind us. The total budget had to be maybe $15,000 to $20,000.

AV: What have you been doing with the film since its release?

AH: We’ve been touring film festivals and also screening it…showing it where we can…and searching for a distribution deal, which, you know, for a film that’s so political, people are shaky. But I’m in talks with a couple people now. But we’ve been showing it everywhere. We’re actually going on tour, the Urban Issues Revealed Tour…we’re going to Atlanta, Harlem, Yonkers, Detroit, Washington, DC.

Artvoice: How do people in other cities react to the film?

Korey Green: Miami and Denver were probably my favorite cities…you would think people being so far away from Buffalo, maybe they wouldn’t care or be concerned about it, but when you wind up selling out in a different city like that—when people are actually coming in and then after the film everyone is staying for the Q&A—it shows that people really are interested.

To learn more about The Forgotten City and Knuckle City Films, visit knucklecityfilms.com.