Conversation: An interview with ‘The Last Race’ filmmaker Michael Dweck

More than a decade ago, visual artist Michael Dweck began photographing cars at Riverhead Raceway. 

The 61-year-old New York City photographer grew up a racing fan in Bellmore and had seen tracks disappear from the Long Island landscape over the past several decades.

As an artist focusing on “endangered societal enclaves,” he grew particularly interested in the future of the raceway, the last of its kind on an island that once boasted 40 tracks. As he got more heavily involved with his photography project and noticed how ongoing development along Route 58 began to more seriously threaten the future of the track, he began filming as well.

The result of his work on the subject is “The Last Race,” a feature-length documentary that premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and has received positive reviews from its early screenings.

The film will open to a limited theatrical release next Friday, Nov. 16, and will also be available for streaming on Amazon, iTunes and cable on-demand services that day.

We interviewed Mr. Dweck recently by telephone from Italy, where he is working on his next project, to talk about his film and Riverhead Raceway. Listen to the complete interview above.

Conversation is a new podcast from Times Review Media Group. This week’s episode was sponsored by Beth Hanlon Agency.