Tony Buba

From implosions of steel mills after the decline of the industry to the demolition of the community hospital in Braddock, filmmaker Tony Buba stitches together footage from his extensive documentation of changes taking place across Pittsburgh and the surrounding region over the last few decades. In his multichannel video installation, the artist records Braddock citizens’ struggles against different industries to deconstruct and challenge popularized narratives of energy and economic transitions.

The third entry in Tony Buba's Mon Valley Trilogy

A global portrait documenting the year's events, Cinetracts '20 features the work of an international lineup of 20 filmmakers. Capturing the zeitgeist in their own backyard, the artists' short films are the culmination of a year-long residency project.

A visit with a barber in his autumn years.

A tour of the last remaining pawn shop in Braddock, PA.

A look into traditional sausage making.

A visit with family to learn how to make fresh pasta.

Braddock, PA reflected in mirrors.

A portrait of a now-shuttered barber shop in Braddock PA.

A snapshot of a pizzeria in Braddock, PA circa 1990.

Ghosts of Amistad by Tony Buba is based on Marcus Rediker's The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom (Penguin, 2012). It chronicles a journey to Sierra Leone in 2013 to visit the home villages of the rebels who captured the slave schooner Amistad, to interview elders about local memory of the incident, and to search for the long-lost ruins of Lomboko, the slave trading factory where their cruel transatlantic voyage began. The filmmakers rely on the knowledge of villagers, fishermen, and truck drivers to recover a lost history from below in the struggle against slavery, and to explore the African origins of the heroes of the Amistad incident.

A look back at Braddock's "Cot Club" and its patrons.

A tableau of a crucified man over Braddock PA.

A glimpse into the economic decline of Braddock PA.

A year goes by during the G.W. Bush administration.

Citizens of Braddock PA are asked about the poetry of their city.

Behind The Scenes with DAY OF THE DEAD featurette from the original Anchor Bay DVD.

A look at the passage of time, filmmaking, and Braddock PA.

This documentary focuses on the Civil Rights Movement in the heavily segregated steel industry and its equally segregated union, The United Steelworkers of America (USWA), at the time when this industry—devastated by mismanagement and global competition—began to crumble. It is a powerful picture of black working-class life in the latter part of the 20th century, told in a combination of interviews and documentary footage. Through live testimonials and revelatory archival materials, Struggles shows the contributions of African Americans to the steel industry and to the labor movement more generally. (via cinema.indiana.edu)

An honest exploration of one Pennsylvania factory worker's mundane existence, and his pursuit of a love long lost.

Tony Buba, a film maker from Braddock, Pennsylvania, tells the story of his hometown's decline (along with the rest of the steel mill towns along the Monongahela River) while he dreams of making higher budget films. The picture documents, in a lighthearted way, the community anxiety and activism that accompanied the failure of the steel industry around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In this film, Buba struggles over whether he should make a film about a food bank, or just use the money to donate food to the bank. In the end, he leaves it up to the viewer.

A film which uses the device of developing Polaroid camera shots to present the highlights of a family celebration during the birthday of filmmaker Tony Buba.

Filmmaker Tony Buba charts the history and present of his hometown, Braddock, Pennsylvania

The film follows a neighborhood guy who has never been quite the same since somersaulting out of the faulty sixth-story window of some shoddy subsidized housing.

A trip inside a Steel Valley workers’ magazine, which looks like raw material for a Bruce Springsteen song.

Tony Buba trains his documentary lens on the washing of his 87-year-old grandmother’s kitchen walls, an annual ritual. While the filmmaker works diligently and mostly out of sight of the camera, his grandmother anchors the piece, recounting stories of her immigration from Italy in the 1940s, her first impressions of the United States, and her endearing love of Braddock.

A compilation of Tony Buba's home movies

A short documentary about Braddock

A portrait of a wiry, engaging street hustler, Sal Carulli, whose cocky patter breaks down at the end of the film, when he visits his father’s grave.

This short tells the story of a cafe where steel workers come to eat.

An account of a 1975 independent truckers strike.

Buba introduces us to a Braddock entrepreneur who has failed at twelve businesses and is busy teaching would-be entrepreneurs self-confidence.

A short film featuring images of his grandfather’s just-demolished shoe-repair shop in 1972