Just wanted to mention a couple of things before I dash off for the day:
I want to personally congratulate Mark Elijah Rosenberg, artistic director of Rooftop Films, program director, Dan Nuxoll and managing director, Genevieve Delaurier and their entire staff and crew on a stellar opening weekend for their 12th summer season. I know of other local festivals and annual film events that have been around just as long, or longer, that don't begin to measure up to the professionalism, exciting programming and artistic potency that this organization has in its arsenal. It's a bitch launching and keeping something going in New York City--finding your audience, keeping your audience and growing your audience is a full-time job. With partners like Scion, IFC, indieWIRE, Indiepix Films, and others, they are obviously intent on kicking ass well into the next decade, and beyond.
Last night's event in the East Village, on the rooftop of New Design High aka the "Open Road Rooftop," was fantastic and packed with hundreds of people, including downtown princess, Chloe Sevigny and the astoundingly prolific filmmaker and Academy-Award winner, Alex Gibney, in attendance, as well as the star of the evening, Mr. Clayton Patterson, photo and video documentarian, historian and keeper of the flame for the Lower East Side of our fair city, a place that is quite rapidly becoming monetized, corporatized and Disneyfied at an alarming rate. A.R.E. Weapons opened with a blistering set, followed by the world premiere of Captured. Big kudos to filmmakers Ben Solomon, Dan Levin and Jenner Furst for crafting a superb and riveting documentary.
Tonight, the special season opening weekend continues. Click here for more info on the entire summer program.
Item Two: On Wednesday, June 25, there will be a special downtown reception and screening during the 2008 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at 7:30 at Room Studio. Cinereach, a supporter of the festival, will present the 2008 Cinereach Award, a $5,000 prize, to (the awesome) Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath for their amazing film, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), the story of one family's epic journey from war-torn Laos to New York City, 23 years in the making. Cinereach is an up-and-coming non-profit funded by a group of young filmmakers and philanthropists dedicated to promoting socially-conscious film. We will be hearing a lot more from this organization in the very near future. There will be a conversation with Kuras and Phrasavath after the screening.
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