Working with a small crew for over a year, director/cinematographer Peter LiPera paints an intimate portrait of Coney Island’s first annual last season. His principal focus is Coney Island’s troubadour, Amos Wengler, creator of songs such as Coney Island Opens Up Today, We Love Coney Island and The Polar Bear President. Amos is an advocate for saving Coney Island from a group of developers known as Thor Equities, who wish to build Condominiums inside the parks core amusement area. As the politics play out and the developers attempt to change zoning regulations Amos fights back with his newest song, Save Coney Island. Dramatically interwoven into the personal voyage of Amos Wengler is the landscape of Coney Island’s colorful underbelly as it undergoes major change. Unfolding like a narrative drama, SAVE CONEY ISLAND shows a group of boardwalk friends’ journey over the course of a year as they try to preserve what they can within the ever-changing, ever-fading, atmosphere of Coney Island.
Synopsis
When Thor Equities, an infamous real-estate company, threatens to build condominiums on Coney Island’s core amusements one man, Amos Wengler the troubadour, must keep the spirit of Coney Island alive with a song before all the memories fade forever. The life, spirit and essence of Coney Island explode on the screen as the film explores the inner-dynamics of Coney Island’s social life. Clowns, queens, songwriters, mayors, contests, parades, protests, drinking, burlesque, freak shows, night life, games, food, beach, rituals, memories, Coney Island and the boardwalk all in twenty-six minutes.