[Dessa int.]

Excerpt from Celeste Neuhaus's experimental student documentary, focusing on Al Kohn's life, involving an interview with the former resident, Dessa, of Al's old storefront.

00:00Copy video clip URL Dessa talks to Celeste Neuhaus about Al and Ben Kohn’s old storefront coffee shop. “When I saw Al’s things I felt really close to him,” she says, remarking that he reminded her of her grandfather.

06:12Copy video clip URL Dessa discusses the building being the perfect place for her to host AA and how she felt at home in the old storefront. “It was their own–it was a safe space…it wasn’t beautiful, it wasn’t happy,” she says of it.

11:30Copy video clip URL She remarks that the space was always filled by Al and Ben no matter what changes she made.

16:30Copy video clip URL She talks about the circumstances that lead her to rent Al and Ben’s place.

26:45Copy video clip URL She says “I was not alone there ever” when discussing living in the storefront, talking to Ben and Al, and feeling haunted by them in the space.

34:14Copy video clip URL Dessa talks about Al’s career as a bookie, his love of dancing, and other things she knew about him, especially his relationship with the cops.

39:55Copy video clip URL Celeste remarks that “Al and that space were so intertwined that him leaving that space is as good as him dying in everyone’s mind.”