BARON SATURDAY OF CONEY ISLAND

vagabond – artist, writer, producer and director

Brooklyn born and borough raised, Vagabond graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts and dropped out of The School of Visual Arts. He began his career in film early on, working on independent black films such as Spikes Lees "Do The Right Thing", where he quickly learned all aspects of filmmaking and forged his own artistic and ideological aesthetic.

The first film that Vagabond produced was the documentary "RICANSTRUCTING VIEQUES”, that told the story of the US military’s occupational abuse of Vieques, Puerto Rico as a training site, through the use of interviews and live musical performance footage of Nuyorican punk rock band Ricanstruction. It opened to an emotional sold out screening at the first annual NY International Latino Film Festival and opened the Lost Film Festival 4.0 in Philadelphia. The film has gone on to screen across Europe, Australia, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and throughout the US.

vagabond would continue to work with Ricanstruction and help found what would become the Ricanstruction Netwerk, a politically radical artist collective in the vein of the Situationist International. vagabond would go on to create murals, posters, pamphlets, and videos and organize political marches, rallies, vigils, art shows, screenings and protests with the Ricanstruction Netwerk.

His first feature film, “MACHETERO” which he wrote, produced and directed stars Isaach de Bankolé (The Keeper, Ghost Dog, Coffee and Cigarettes, Manderlay) who plays a French journalist who comes to New York to interview a Puerto Rican "terrorist" in prison about his decision to use violence as a means to free his people. Screened in neighborhood/barrio community centers and squats while still in mid-production, the controversial film engendered political discussion and debate within (and outside of) the Puerto Rican Diaspora and has been called one of the most important and insightful underground political films ever made. In June of 2008 “MACHETERO” was a finalist for Best Film at the Hollywood Black Film Festival and in October of 2008 took home the prize for Best First Film at the International Film Festival South Africa. In 2009 “MACHETERO” is on a world tour participating in eight festivals in seven different countries on four different continents. The film has won six awards around the world.

Recently vagabond has been producing and directing a series of short films that have been screening at film festivals. His short film NO WAY HOME, CONEY ISLAND DREAMING and SACRED AND PROFANE FACELESS JACKS have all taken home multiple awards at festivals around the world. He's also just finished a feature length documentary, ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE FIRE ESCAPE on original Nuyorican poet Jesus Papoleto Melendez. He's also currently in production on HARLEM'S LAST POET a feature length documentary on Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets.