V: Fire Through Dry Grass

A documentary by Andres “Jay” Molina & Alexis Neophytides

On a tiny island, a group of poets who use wheelchairs and once ran the streets, take on the city, the system, and the coronavirus to stay alive and protect 500 vulnerable nursing home residents.

“The Coler facility on Roosevelt Island—an [NYC Health + Hospitals] facility that was empty—is being immediately brought back online,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tells the press on March 16, 2020. But Coler is not empty. It is home to 500 disabled New Yorkers—poor, mostly Black and Brown, many undocumented. They all watch helplessly as the city moves 150 Covid-positive patients into this nursing home, turning Coler into a deathtrap. 

Co-directed by Coler resident Andres “Jay” Molina, Fire Through Dry Grass uncovers in real-time, and with singular access, the devastation experienced by nursing home residents at a time when no outsiders are allowed in. 

Molina is one of the Reality Poets, a group of Coler residents who use wheelchairs largely due to gun violence. Sporting snapback caps, Jordans, and gold chains, the Reality Poets don’t look like your typical nursing home residents. Until the pandemic, they traveled throughout the city sharing their art and hard-earned wisdom in schools and youth programs.

Now, using cellphones and GoPros clamped to their motorized wheelchairs, the Reality Poets tell the story that government officials don’t want you to see—the terrifying truth as it happens inside this city-run institution.

For The Collection Vol. 2 Launch, Jay will offer his insights on the process of animation and story telling and will share an excerpt of the film that tells his very personal story of journeying from the Dominican Republic to NYC and eventually Coler on Roosevelt Island. Jay collaborated with Argentinian artist Guillermo Mena to create images that are captivating, haunting and electric. Here’s a sneak peak:

Find out more and meet the team behind the film here.