Rooftop Films hasn't announced its summer schedule just yet, but we're pleased to provide a preview today. Yesterday we taped a really interesting interview with "Rooftop" founder Mark Elijah Rosenberg and the organization's program director, Daniel Nuxoll. We'll post that video next week. Meanwhile, they were nice enough to let us provide a sneak peak of their innovative summer series, which has a strong presence on the Lower East Side.
The series is about to begin its 13th year. From May 15-September 20, Rooftop Films will show dozens of independent films at venues all over the city, including the spectacular Open Road Rooftop at the New Design High School on Essex Street. Each evening begins with live music and, usually, a question and answer session with the filmmaker.
The series is, quite literally, a breath of fresh air. They showcase the undistributed works of local and emerging artists — and embrace stories about overlooked communities. The 2009 series will debut next Friday night on the Open Road Rooftop, with a series of short films. They'll be back in the neighborhood the following week with a series of romantic shorts – and five more times during May and June. Take a look at the May/June schedule by clicking on the "continue reading" link. The schedule for July-September will be released soon.
Rooftop Films 2009 Summer Series is presented in
partnership with Cinereach and New York magazine. After parties with
complimentary drinks are provided by Radeberger Pilsner and Carlo
Rossi.
Tickets: $9 at the door or online at www.rooftopfilms.com <http://www.rooftopfilms.com>
Rooftop
Films is a non-profit organization which relies on the support of our
audience. Please consider making an additional donation with the
purchase of your General Admission ticket.
Unless otherwise noted, all screenings follow this schedule:
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Live music presented by Sound Fix Records
9:00PM: Film(s)
11:30PM-1:00AM: After-party
Unless otherwise noted, in the event of rain shows take place indoors at the same location, same time.
Friday, May 15
This Is What We Mean By Short Films
Opening
Night of Rooftop Films 2009 Summer Series, our 13th year of Underground
Movies Outdoors. A program of dramas, comedies, animations and
documentaries that could only be shorts, in an array of tales about
people, polar bears and pixel-based adventurers coming together for
companionship.
Venue: On the Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Address: 350 Grand St. @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan
Friday, May 22
Romantic Short Films: Endless Forgiveness
Peter Ustinov once said, “Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.” Love isn’t easy, and the films included in Romance Shorts: Endless Forgiveness display the many varied sacrifices we make to be with the people we love and lust after.
Venue: On the Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Address: 350 Grand St. @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Saturday, May 23
Dangerous Docs
You can’t make this stuff up.
Venue: On the Roof of Brooklyn Technical High School
Address: 29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
Friday, May 29
Dark ‘Toons: Optical Illusions
Animated short films that bring the still to life.
Venue: On the Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Address: 350 Grand St. @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Saturday, May 30
Strongman
(Zachary Levy | New York, NY | www.strongmanfilm.com | 113 min.)
A humorous but heart-wrenching verité documentary about Stanless Steel,
the only man in the world who can bend a penny with his fingers, a
working class strongman struggling to succeed and survive. Stanless
will be in attendance to perform a stunning feat of strength.
Venue: On the Roof of Brooklyn Technical High School
Address: 29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
Friday, June 5
Trapped Inside The Machine
A fun, frantic, fantastical program of films about losing your grip on reality, and reality losing its grip on the world.
Venue: On the Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Address: 350 Grand St. @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Saturday, June 6
Stingray Sam
(Cory McAbee | Brooklyn, NY | www.stingraysam.com | 70 min.)
New York Premiere!
A
dazzling six-episode musical-western comedy that takes place in outer
space, written, directed by and starring Cory McAbee, the creator of The American Astronaut. The filmmakers will be in attendance.
Venue: On the Roof of Brooklyn Technical High School
Address: 29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
ROOFTOP PANORAMA, June 10-13:
Four screenings in four days highlighting the diversity of Rooftop Films work.
Wednesday, June 10
PANORAMA: Tales of Mere Existence
Funny
films about anxiety, awkwardness and existential emotions, featuring
the animations of internet sensation Lev. Plus a live reading from
Lev's new book.
Venue: On the Roof of Brooklyn Technical High School
Address: 29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
Thursday, June 11
PANORAMA: Rooftop Films & The Fledgling Fund present . . .
A sneak preview of a New York documentary. Details announced soon.
Venue: On the lawn of Automotive High School
Address: 50 Bedford Ave. @ North 13th St. (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Friday, June 12
PANORAMA: New York Non-Fiction
Short
films that explore New York’s diverse landscape and culture from the
perspective of our workers, hustlers, lovers and royalty. It’s your
city. Take a look.
Venue: On the Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Address: 350 Grand St. @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Saturday, June 13
PANORAMA: Persona Non Grata
US Premiere!
(Fabio Wuytack | Belgium & Venezuela | 90 min.)
Prosecuted as a rebel. Banned as a priest. Committed as an artist.
Loved as a father. An inspiring and important documentary co-funded by
Rooftop Films.
Venue: On the roof of the Old American Can Factory
Address: 232 3RD St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/ Park Slope, Brooklyn)
Friday, June 19
Winnebago Man
New York Sneak Preview!
(Ben Steinbauer | Austin, TX | www.winnebagoman.com | 84 min.)
Ben Steinbauer hires a private detective, who scours a long list of
address changes and misdirections, and successfully tracks down this
icon of foul-mouthed freakouts. The results will startle you. Turns
out, he’s living peacefully alone in the woods, more J.D. Salinger than
Ted Kaczynski.
Venue: On the Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Address: 350 Grand St. @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Saturday, June 20
New Muslim Cool
(Jennifer Maytorena Taylor | Pittsburgh/San Francisco | 82 min.)
A Puerto Rican Muslim rapper fights oppression in Pittsburgh.
Venue: On the roof of El Museo Del Barrio
Address: 1230 Fifth Ave. @ 104th St. (East Harlem)
Thursday, June 25
Rooftop Films, BAM Cinemafest and Arthouse Films present
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
(Sarah and Emily Kunstler | Brooklyn, NY | 85 min.)
He might have been the most hated and most beloved lawyer in the world, but did anyone really know William Kunstler?
Venue: Outdoors across from BAM Cinematek
Address: Parking lot across from BAM @ Fulton and Ashland (Ft. Greene, Brooklyn)
Friday, June 26
Rooftop Films and Magnolia Pictures present
Humpday
(Lynn Shelton | Seattle, WA | 94 min.)
Male bonding goes a little bit too far in this bromantic comedy.
Venue: On the Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Address: 350 Grand St. @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Saturday, June 27
Voices from El-Sayed
(Oded Adomi Leshem | Israel | 75 min.)
New York Premiere!
In
this smart and amusing documentary, the world’s largest community of
deaf people is suddenly given a gift that threatens to disrupt local
heritage.
Venue: On the roof of the Old American Can Factory
Address: 232 3RD St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/ Park Slope, Brooklyn)
