ASIFA-East discount for Rooftop Film Festival!

It’s almost summer and that means Rooftop Films is projecting films on rooftops throughout New York City.  This year’s festival features many animated shorts and our pals at Rooftop sent us a run-down.  They are also offering ASIFA-East members a discount to the festival shows.  Please look for the discount code in our weekly email newsletter.  Hope you enjoy the shows!!
Wednesday, May 25th – New Date
DARK ‘TOONS
From Road Runner to The Simpsons, animated films have always been good at finding fun in the dark and twisted. It’s easier to embrace life’s awful absurdities when we don’t have to watch them happening to real, live people (or dogs). Of course, sometimes the attraction is the spectacle an inspired animator can create: the sheer, over-the-top train-wreck momentum of things going horribly wrong – an over-protective pooch’s gauntlet of challenges in Guard Dog Global Jam or the snowballing rush to Armageddon in Enrique Wrecks the World. Lots of things go brilliantly wrong in this program of shorts – some thrilling, some unsettling, all utterly unique.

Venue: On the pier at Solar One, 2420 FDR Drive (E 23rd Street and the East River
New York, NY 10010
Subway: R/6 to 23rd St., walk all the way east.

8:00 PM Doors Open
8:30 PM Live Music
9:00 PM Films Begin
11:00 PM After Party Onsite, sponsored by Radeberger Pilsner

Tickets and more info at: http://rooftopfilms.com/2011/schedule/dark-toons-1/

The Films:
GUARD DOG GLOBAL JAM (Bill Plympton | New York, NY | 5 min.)
THE HOLY CHICKEN OF LIFE AND MUSIC (Nomint | Greece | 3 min.)
THE GLOAMING (Niko Nobrain | France | 14 min.)
COSMIC JUNGLE (Marie Ayne, Martin Brunet, Alexander Casals, Sebastien DeOliveira Bispo, Fabrice Fiteni, Mathieu Garcia | France | 5 min.)
THE REPLICANTS: USER (Edouardo Salier | France | 4 min.)
TRIUMPH OF THE WILD (Martha Colburn | New York | 11 min.)
THE ONGOING LIFE OF PETER PEEL: CAN, CAN, CAN’T (Felix Massie | UK | 2 min.)
LGFUAD (Kelsey Stark | Brooklyn, NY | 4 min.)
MOSKITO BRAVO (Emeline Chankamshu, Alexandre Cuegniet, Paul Serrell, Sarah Sutter, Henning Wagenbreth | France | 7 min.)
ENRIQUE WRECKS THE WORLD (David Chai | San Jose, California | 4 min.)

Thursday May 26, 2011
NO WAY OUT – Short Film Thrillers
These fun and frantic short films—comedy, animation, music videos—tell the twisted tales of terrified souls trapped inside the machine. One of these little old ladies is not like the other, but she’s settling among the group. This ordinary office is not what it seems, but you may end up working here. A disturbing chaos is sweeping these average American high school scenes, but there’s no time to transfer out. And once we have gone into the future, we may never come back whole. But patch up that shabby space suit, dust off that bloody prom dress, and batten down the hatches: it’s gonna be a spectacular show when this ship goes down.

Venue:
On the Roof of Brooklyn Technical High School
29 Fort Greene Place (between Dekalb and Fulton), Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY 11217
G to Fulton, C to Lafayette, 2,3,4,5 to Nevins or B,M,Q, R to Dekalb

8:00 PM Doors Open
8:30 PM Live Music by Ela Orleans
9:00 PM Films Begin

Tickets and more information at: http://rooftopfilms.com/2011/schedule/no-way-out/

The Films:
TWINSET (Amy Rose | Scotland)
JPBF (Stephen Collins | USA)
ONCE IT STARTED IT COULD NOT END OTHERWISE (Kelly Sears | Houston, Texas)
PROM NIGHT (Celia Rowlson Hall and Jae Song | Brooklyn, NY)
WE USED TO CALL PEOPLE LATE AT NIGHT (Eran Hilleli, Anna Shevchenk and Yoav Brill | Israel)
EVASION (Speedy Graphito | France | 5 min)
PROTOPARTICULAS (Chema Garcia Ibarra | Spain)
OUT OF NOWHERE (Will Lamborn | Los Angeles, CA)
WOUNDED MAN (Zachary Volker | New York, NY)
LIARS: SCISSOR (Andy Bruntel | TK | 4 min.).
BURNING WIGS OF SEDITION (Anna Fitch and Simon Cheffins | San Francisco, California)

The Music:
ELA ORLEANS
“…The idyllic beach-house guitar conjured up an atmosphere all twilight and palm trees – a far cry from the stark onstage cluster of sampler boxes in a drafty warehouse…” – Jezebel Music

Wednesday, July 6, 2011
ROOFTOP FILMS: CLERMONT-FERRAND SHORT FILMS – Free Show
A collection of extraordinary new short films, all selected from the 2011 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival , the premier short film festival in the world. When we, as audience members, watch feature length films, we have a certain set of expectations. But when a filmmaker creates a short film, he or she is freed from some of those expectations, and therefore the short form allows filmmakers to take more chances and explore alternative cinematic techniques.

Because we are always searching for filmmakers who are creating genuinely new and unique work, each year Rooftop scours the globe, searching for the most inventive, daring, and breathtakingly entertaining short work being made worldwide. So we think that it means a lot when we say that nowhere have we encountered short work as consistently amazing as that which we see each year at Clermont-Ferrand. For decades, the films shown at Clermont-Ferrand have explored all the possible ways that stories can be told, all the different cinematic conventions that can be rejiggered. The films that play each February in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand defy expectations, break boundaries, and this program of shorts that we have selected from their 2011 slate includes some of the most wildly adventurous films being made in the world today—regardless of running time

7:00 PM Live Music
8:30 PM Films Begin

Venue:
On the grass along the water at Socrates Sculpture Park, 3134 Vernon Boulevard (at Broadway), Long Island City Queens, NY 11106
Subway: Take the N or W train to the Broadway stop in Queens and walk eight blocks west on Broadway (toward the East River) to the intersection of Vernon Boulevard.

No charge for admission. More information at: http://rooftopfilms.com/2011/schedule/clermontferrand-short-films/

The Films:
BIG BANG BIG BOOM (Blu | Italy | 10 min.)
TURNING (Saul Freed and Karni Arieli | UK | 10 min.)
MAN IN A ROOM (RAfael Palacio Illingworth | USA, Switzerland, Mexico | 6 min.)
YURI LENNON’S LANDING ON ALPHA 46 (Anthony Vouardoux | Germany | 14 min.)
RUBIKA (Claire Bauden, Ludovic Habas, Mickael Krebs, Julien Legay, Chao Ma, Florent Rousseau, Caroline Roux, Margaux Vaxelaire | France | 4 min.)
MASSIVE ATTACK: SPLITTING THE ATOM (Edouard Salier | France | 4 min.)
ALL FLOWERS IN TIME (Jonathan Caouette | Montreal | 13 min.)
SUIKER (SUGAR) (Jeroen Annokkee | Netherlands | 7 min.)
DEEP END DANCE (Conor Horgan | Dublin, Ireland | 6 min.)
LOOM (Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, and Csaba Letay | Germany | 5 min.)
THE PIANO TUNER (Olivier Treiner | France | 13 min.)

Friday, July 29, 2011
ANIMATION BLOCK PARTY
Some call it punk rock, some call it grass roots, but labels aside, NYC-based Animation Block Party is dedicated to exhibiting the world’s best independent, professional and student animation.

The 7th annual ABP film festival kicks off at Rooftop Films and continues all weekend long.

The summer of 2011 will mark the eighth annual Animation Block Party film festival. ABP has quickly become the premiere animation festival on the East Coast, showcasing the world’s best student, professional and independent shorts of all genres.

For the past six years, the ABP festival has opened at Rooftop Films. The ABP-Rooftop experience offers a big-screen simulcast of animation on both lawns at the Automotive High School.

This year, ABP will open on July 29th at Rooftop Films and then continue on July 30th and 31st at Bam Cinematek. Every evening will feature an awesome after party with free drinks.

The entire Animation Block Party lineup will be announced on the ABP festival website on June 25, 2010. For information, please go to www.animationblock.com

8:00 PM Doors Open
8:30 PM Live Music
9:00 PM Films Begin
11:30 PM After Party at Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave at Driggs Ave)

Venue:
On the lawn of Automotive High School, 50 Bedford Ave. (at North 13th St.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Subway: L to Bedford Ave. or G to Nassau Ave.

Tickets are $10 online or at the door. Tickets and more information at:
http://rooftopfilms.com/2011/schedule/animation-block-party-1/

Saturday, July 30, 2011
KILL SCREEN VIDEOGAME FILM FESTIVAL
Rooftop Films and Kill Screen present a night of short films, new videogames, and special presentations that showcase the impact that games have on our culture and daily lives. Rooftop Films and Kill Screen present a night of short films, games, and special presentations that showcase the impact that videogames have had on our culture and daily lives. Since 2008, the total worldwide gross income from videogame sales has exceeded worldwide movie theater box office grosses. Yet videogames are still generally treated as second rate entertainment. Kill Screen is a publication devoted to answering the question: “What does it mean to play games?” On July 30th we will explore that question, show some extraordinary work, and play some amazing videogames that might provide some answers.

8:00 PM Doors Open
8:30 PM Live Music
9:00 PM Films Begin
11:30 PM Reception in Courtyard with Indie Video Games

Venue:
On the roof of The Old American Can Factory, 232 3rd St. (at 3rd Ave.), Gowanus/Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Subway: F/G to Carroll St. or M/R to Union

Tickets are $10 online or at the door. Tickets and more information:
http://rooftopfilms.com/2011/schedule/kill-screen-videogame-film-festival/

The Films:
DAS RACIST: “WHO’S THAT? BROOOWN!” (Thomas DaNapoli | Brooklyn, NY | 4 min.)
GET REAL! (Evert de Beijer | Netherlands | 11 min.)
8 BITS (Valerie Amirault and Sarah Laufer | France | 7 min.)
MINECRAFT: THE STORY OF MOJANG (EXCERPT) (2 Player Productions | Sweden | 8 min.)
MINECRART INTERSTATE (Brett Sanders | Florida | 3 min.)
CLASSIC VIDEO GAME DEATHS (Rob Beschizza | USA | 3 min.)
DEAD ISLAND TRAILER (Deep Silver | Germany | 3 min.)
BEAR UNTITLED (Christen Bach | Berlin | 1 min.)
SUPER THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Tomfoolery | United Kingdom | 1 min.)
POST NEWTONIANISM (Josh Bricker | New York, NY | 6 min.)