Follow six unique subway performers as they struggle to earn a living and defend their right to perform in New York City's underground.
What people are saying...
"Locals presents the complex, disarmingly human humdrum of a very different kind of daily grind, commendably skirting comfortable outsider-artist romanticism on its way to delivering a richly entertaining ethnography." -Bret McCabe, Baltimore City Paper
"Never condescending, yet never falsely glamorizing, the film is an honest, tenderly executed ode to the unexpected, everyday heroes that surround us." -Micheal Tully, Indiewire
"Anyone at turns curious, enlivened and annoyed by the ubiquitous performers who populate New York City's subway stations would benefit from checking out Downtown Locals, a painstaking collection of the most passionate members from that assemblage... Seeing it is practically a civic duty for the commuting New Yorker." -Eric Kohn, NY Press
"Rory and Robin Muir's profoundly touching film, Downtown Locals, gave me a very personal glimpse into the lives of street musicians. Some of the moments in the film are hilariously funny and some are very sad. These are people that I see all the time on New York streets. After seeing this film, I will never pass a street musician again without stopping to listen..." -Mary Ellen Mark
"Downtown Locals is a surprisingly entertaining and wonderful piece of humanity, it's the portrait of the starving artist using the public as a form of their expression, while celebrating what makes New York so damn fun to be in, around, and a part of." -Felix Vasquez Jr., Film Threat
"... the film thoughtfully humanizes those often seen only as transient visual and audible furniture for New Yorkers' daily commutes... In the tradition of other great documentaries about the New York City subway, Style Wars, the Muirs have captured an important feature about life underground." -Justin Schell, The Twin Cities Daily Planet
"Downtown Locals is a documentary following the strange lives of six performers who utilize the subways as their grand arena. As the film rides alongside each person's profound joys and agonizing troubles, the viewer sees how truly connected the characters are to their own respective art forms. Expression doesn't get any more pure than that." -Ben Brown, Cape Fear Encore
"Downtown Locals brings up a whole lot of old memories. Anyone who has traversed the subways will recognize these eclectic and eccentric performers that range from singers to dancers to what-the-hell-is-that-person-doing. What makes the film really work is how the Muirs profile these performers, following them in their lives off the various subway platforms that they use as their stages, giving glimpse of their quixotic aspirations." -David Walker, Willamette Week
"One of five films to see at this year's Sound Unseen. What's good about it: While some of the documentary focuses on the personal stories of the performers and why they choose to play on the street, the film steps out...and gets political. Downtown Locals questions the laws against public art which turn into free speech and expression issues.." -Keri Carlson, The Minnesota Daily
"Downtown Locals succeeds in giving its audience a look inside something they have usually passed over." -Glen Heinrich-Wallace, The Park Record