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Local debut of Mancini’s film is set
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
AUSTINTOWN
The first local public screenings of “Youngstown: Still Standing,” the documentary produced by Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, will be this weekend. Showings are set for 7 p.m. Friday and 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Club Gossip in the Wedgewood Shopping Center, Mancini said.
Admission is $5.
The film, directed by Austintown native John Chechitelli, made its debut March 24 at the Cleveland International Film Festival. A private screening was March 23 at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown.
“Youngstown: Still Standing” features interviews with local leaders and narration by two favorite sons: actor Ed O’Neill (“Modern Family,” “Married With Children”) and cartoon-voice specialist Jim Cummings, who most recently voiced Ray the Cajun Firefly in Disney’s animated hit “The Princess and the Frog.”
The film was shot in Youngstown in 2008 and 2009 and largely consists of interviews of city leaders, authorities and longtime residents, as well as file footage.
The 89-minute film takes a fond look at Youngstown’s past and present but does not gloss over its shortcomings. “Still Standing” exposes the elements that contributed to Youngstown’s decline, including organized crime and the collapse of the steel industry.
Experts from Youngstown State University, political leaders and others describe the city’s history, offer insight and give first-person remembrances.