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Winner of last year's Made In NY Award for The Sandwich Thief), Adam Abada returns to the [NYC Food Film Festival] (http://nycfoodfilmfestival.com/ "Optional Title") with his and Reed Adler's Down the Block, a short documenting all the places to eat on a single block. I spoke with Abada about the film and his plans to expand the film into a series.

Down the Block began as an idea with friend Reed Adler a couple years ago. They noticed that the many guidebooks and television shows about places to eat in New York usually focus on famous upscale restaurants. Abada "thought it would be cool to showcase the unsung heroes, sketchy places, neighborhood joints” that not always included in conversations about NY food yet are an integral component of neighborhoods. "People go to where they know and that's it," says Abada. So, he and Adler took a camera, chose a block and set off to sample everything. The good and the gross.

As a child growing up in Montclair, NJ, Abada mimicked movie scenes with toy soldiers. His interest began to take serious shape in middle school when he started filming his friends skateboarding. "I realized you could do a lot more with a camera. I opened up to more opportunities." Because his father owned bodegas throughout the city, Abada saw at an early age how the local store stood as a microcosm for the city.

Last year's successful entry, The Sandwich Thief reflects the intimate community of small eateries. On the inspiration for the film Abada says, "I remember being in the stores all the time...loving the kind of people who came in." Made about three years ago, Thief reveals the relationship between workers, customers, the store itself and of course a sandwich.

Abada plans to expand Down the Block into a web series that features blocks not just in NY but cities across the states. "What keeps neighborhoods going are these little spots who been there for a while."

Catch Adam Abada and Reed Adler's film at the NYC Food Film Festival and visit [Abada's website] (http://www.gnarcotics.com/gnar/ "Optional Title") for updates.

The Sandwich Thief from Adam Abada on Vimeo.