Young Forever Soundfactory The Legend

Born to the underbelly of New York City, Soundfactory lay deep in the industrial section of Manhattan which, for the uninitiated, is located on the Westside of that most famous of islands. From this inauspicious and austere location came fame and legend, faithfully nurtured and freely disseminated throughout the world. This cathedral of kindness blessed the nightlife scene of New York from 1989 to 2004, but sadly, one day, was brutally destroyed by the heavy hand of the United States government.
Its audience was select, underground and cutting edge and its legendary theme parties, music and overwhelming influence on the youth culture of our time are copiously portrayed throughout this story. Although this film generously explores the many intricacies of this celebrated nightclub, it is, more importantly, a tapestry of the people and events that preceded and propagated its almost mythological status. In essence, it is a trilogy that encompasses the history and spectacle of The Legend, the arrest, persecution and trial of its owner and creator, Richard Grant, and the poignant and emotional chronicle of the life of this man; an unassuming, genuine and decent man who led an incredibly complicated existence.
We share in his terrifying incarceration and spellbinding prosecution. We witness key portions of his trial, become jurors in our own right and determine for ourselves the certainty of his guilt or innocence. Camille Abate, a fiercely dedicated woman of the sixties, foul of mouth and inherently anti-establishment, mounts a heroic and resolute defense of this man. Together, our two main characters wage a determined but seemingly futile battle for vindication against a bureaucracy despairingly out of control.
Who was this man? Why and how did he create this fabled nightclub? We explore, in detail, the answer to these question but Camille, in her irascible fashion, may have summed it up best when she exclaimed, ‘Complicated guy…..Complicated life!’ We journey through the intricacies of that life in scenes that are, at times, heartwarming but, more often than not, heart rending.
This film is neither a club film nor a courtroom drama but rather a trilogy that spans fifty years of a man’s life and the exceptional events that influenced that life, a drama of great proportions, a commentary on our times, a revival of spirit, an opulent musical and a visual and emotional experience. It will entertain, inspire, evoke deep emotion, inform and, above all, encourage us to reflect on the better angels of our nature.
It is a poignantly personal story, a story with common denominators. It is a saga of one man and what his life brought to our world; a narrative that will appeal to people of all ages, gender, ethnicity and sexual persuasion. It is also a warning regarding the abuse of power and a reminder to all that government, even a government in a free society, a society that owes its very existence to the rule of law can, with unlimited resources, destroy at will.