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Video: New Yawk Accents, The Documentary
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 13, 2011
Modified Apr 13, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 13, 2011
Modified Apr 13, 2011
Share
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There has been a lot of tawk about the death, or subjugation, of NY accents— from Brooklynites defiance, to Queens residents fretting, to Long Island's Lawn Guylandness. Now, documentarian Heather Quinlan is trying to bring all those disparate voices together into one sonorous film that explores the NY accent...but she needs some help finishing it. Here's the lovely trailer (some NSFW language):
Quinlan says that her film, If These Knishes Could Talk, is all about how the NY accent has changed as the city has changed: "what it is, how it's evolved and if it's disappearing as the city changes. I've been lucky enough to film low-level mobsters and highfaluttin' writers, actors and directors, including Pete Hamill, Amy Heckerling and James McBride." She trying to raise funds to complete the film, including doing editing and post-production work. She's already raised our attention to one unique, endangered, only-in-NY creature: the Stasian, an asian Guido from Staten Island.
Tagged
accents
documentary
identity
if these knishes can talk
new yawk
pronunciation
video
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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