NY Daily News: 'Bending Steel' about Chris Schoeck at Tribeca Film Festival

Film director Dave Carroll was doing laundry in the basement of his Long Island City apartment building a few years back when he heard unusual noises, what sounded like strained grunts and clanging metal. His dog, Gizmo, heard the noises, too, and when she dashed off to check it out, Carroll followed.

Carroll and Gizmo turned a corner and saw Chris Schoeck, a short, muscular man whose cropped strawberry blond hair and a gymnast’s build that make him look like a musclebound Opie, standing near a caged storage space, surrounded by piles of torn telephone books, twisted horseshoes and bent nails. Carroll recognized Schoeck as the uncomfortable neighbor who never made eye contact when they rode the elevator together.

Carroll picked up his dog, apologized for interrupting Schoeck, and backed away, but all that twisted metal made an impression — and sparked a friendship that resulted in “Bending Steel,” a deeply moving documentary that is one of the surprise hits of the Tribeca Film Festival[…]