Lower East Side Film Festival to Run July 8th-18th

The 2021 Lower East Side Film Festival ("LESFF") invites you to experience their exciting feature film and specialty short showcase lineup in-person (at Village East Cinema, July 8th-12th) or virtually at this year's fest (July 8th - 18th).

LESFF moved online for 2020, expanding viewership to a broader audience demographic, but is excited to also be back in theaters with their awesome programming of independent shorts and features from around the world.

Special events this year include:

• an advanced screening of the first two episodes of ''MCCARTNEY 3,2,1" - HULU's six-episode music series event features intimate and revealing examinations of musical history from two living legends, Paul McCartney and super producer Rick Rubin;

• a virtual screening of "THE REVOLUTION GENERATION", a documentary featuring Michelle Rodriguez, Shailene Woodley, Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez;

• an exclusive stand-up comedy show and film screening with special guest Tig Notaro at Caveat.

All films will be available online July 8th - 18th, while live screenings for vaccinated film lovers will be July 8th - 12th at Village East Cinema.

"11 years ago, our festival was born out of the need for indie-filmmakers to be able to be a part of a community that celebrates films made with huge creativity instead of huge budgets, and that has remained an important part of our ethos since inception," said Lower East Side Film Festival Director, Roxy Hunt. "Year one, we were in a tiny storefront in the Lower East Side, year ten we were virtual, year 11 we're hybrid! No matter where we are, we're always excited to be able to deliver a unique experience to our community of filmmakers and film-lovers."

A few notable feature documentaries (available virtually) this year include:

• Killing Tony - Jenni (21) and her flatmate Tony (47) are both unhappy, living like an old couple that doesn't have the good sense to get divorced. What makes their situation intolerable is that Jenni and Tony are actually the same person;

• Your Mother's Comfort - trans activist Indianara Siqueira fights to protect a safe house for her chosen family, the trans, housing unstable, sex worker community of Rio de Janeiro; and

• Fearless - an intimate portrait of a boxing gym in a small town of Conroe, Texas.

2021 will mark the 11th Anniversary of the Lower East Side Film Festival. Since its inaugural year, the festival has premiered hundreds of short and feature films, hosted thousands of audience members, and has been deemed "one of the most exciting under the radar film events in all of New York City" by Film.com and was featured in New York Magazine's 'Approval Matrix' under "Highbrow/ Brilliant".

This year's judging panel includes: Tig Notaro - an Emmy and Grammy nominated stand-up comedian, Tiffany J. Johnson - a filmmaker and storyteller who recently directed episodes of BLACK MONDAY, Chioke Nassor - writes and directs for film, TV, and the web (Hulu's Woke, High Fidelity, ABC's Black-ish, NBC's Superstore, AppleTV's Little America, HBO's High Maintenance) Visit here to see this year's full jury.

Past LESFF judges and alumni have included Ethan Hawke, Rami Malek, Rosario Dawson, Susan Sarandon, Ramy Youssef, Willem Dafoe, Denis O'Hare, Laverne Cox, Parker Posey, Ilana Glazer, Dolly Parton, Natasha Lyonne, Marky Ramone, Rebecca Miller, Judah Friedlander, Lizzy Caplan, Amy Arbus, Justin Bond, Nick Kroll and many more. LESFF believes great films are made with creativity, innovation, and heart and always seeks undiscovered and underdog filmmakers who understand that a huge budget does not always equal a great film.

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