Rooftop Films launched with a single screening of short films in 1997. While we've since grown tremendously-hosting over 45 events across the city every summer, with live music and after-parties- we continue to showcase new short films and the innovative filmmakers who use the form to experiment, challenge and amaze audiences. This summer, Rooftop Films will present over 100 short films in 13 programs, with each program curated thematically.
On Saturday, May 19th, Rooftop Films will kick off the 2018 Summer Series in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery with This Is What We Mean By Short Films, a selection of dynamic shorts from around the world, including Rooftop Filmmakers Fund grantee The Burden. Rooftop Films will present a dozen more carefully curated programs throughout the summer, each with a specific focus or theme. Highlights of the 22nd Summer Series include two nights of documentaries (including Rooftop's signature New York Nonfiction program); Net Positive, a program of internet-related short films co-presented with The Mozilla Foundation; two evenings of short films about unlikely romances; selected shorts from the Sundance Film Festival; two programs of animated short films; and Come and Take It, a program short films by and about bold and uncategorizable women.
"Rooftop Films has championed the short film from the start," said Dan Nuxoll, Artistic Director of Rooftop Films, "and many of the filmmakers whose shorts we have screened have gone on to create some of the most exciting independent feature films of the last twenty years. But though we are thrilled by the potential on display in the short films we will show this summer, we are equally excited by the magnificent things these filmmakers have already accomplished with these daring, perfectly constructed gems."
The 2018 Summer Series is presented by SundanceTV, and supported by signature sponsors Freixenet, Industry City, Ketel One Family Made Vodka, Lay's Poppables, and Mozilla. WNYC is a media partner of the 2018 Rooftop Films Summer Series.
Every Summer Series event will include live musical performances and all ticketed screenings will have after-parties featuring Freixenet and signature drinks by Ketel One Family Made Vodka.
Venues this year include Green-Wood Cemetery in Greenwood Heights, The William Vale in Williamsburg, The Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, Industry City and Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, MetroTech Commons in Downtown Brooklyn, New Design High School in the Lower East Side, and Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City.
Tickets for short film programs and feature films during the months of May and June are now on sale at www.rooftopfilms.com. More dates, programs, and tickets will be announced in the coming weeks. Memberships are available at www.rooftopfilms.com/memberships. Press passes, screeners, images and interviews available upon request.
SHORT FILM PROGRAMS - TICKETS ON SALE
THIS IS WHAT WE MEAN BY SHORT FILMS: OPENING NIGHT
Saturday, May 19, 2018
In Green-Wood Cemetery. 500 25th Street. Brooklyn
Opening Night 2018! It's a graveyard smash!
The Burden (Min börda) (Niki Lindroth von Bahr - The Cutest Dog in the World (Julian Glander) - Irony (Amy Nicholson) - Julius Caesar Was Buried in a Pet Cemetery (Sam Green) - Milk and Cookies (Patrick Mulvey, Andrew Scott Ramsay) - Rebirth is Necessary (Jenn Nkiru) - So You Like the Neighborhood (Jean Pesce) - The Town I Live In (Matt Wolf, Guadalupe Rosales) - To the Dead (Mauricio Arango) - Ultraviolet (Marc Johnson)
*Featuring live music from L'Rain
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/opening-night-2018/
DARK TOONS
Saturday, May 26, 2018
In the courtyards of Industry City. 274 36 Street. Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Twisted animated short films that walk you to the brink of the abyss... then push you over the edge.
A Brief Spark Bookended by DARKNESS (Brent Green) - Born in a Void (Alex Grigg) - Call of Cuteness (Brenda Lien) - Glucose (Jeron Braxton) - JEOM (Kangmin Kim) - Negative Space (Ru Kuwahata, Max Porter) - Nachtstück (Nocturne) (Anne Breymann) - Paradise (Ton Meijdam, Thom Snels, Béla Zsigmond)- SOG (Jonathan Schwenk) - Solar Walk (Réka Bucsi) - Wednesday with Goddard (Nicolas Ménard, Manshen Lo)
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/dark-toons-2018/
LOVE IS WEIRD: ROMANTIC SHORT FILMS
Saturday, June 9, 2018
On the roof of New Design High School. 350 Grand Street. Lower East Side, Manhattan
A sweaty night of sweet loving in short film form.
Dressed for Pleasure (Je fais où tu me dis) (Marie de Maricourt) - Ghosting the Party (Carlos Alberto Fernandez Lopez) - Gros Chagrin (Céline Devaux) - High Summer (Plein Été) (Josselin Facon) - Knockstrike (Rigol Genis, Anglada Pau, Torices Marc) - The Mangina Exit (Byron Brown) - My CUCUMBER Inside the Fridge (Austin Hamilton) - Oh Hey (Sean Pecknold) - Welcome to Bushwick (Henry Jinings) - Who's the Daddy ????????? (Wong Ping)
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/love-is-weird/
LOVE IS SHORT (FILMS)
Friday, June 15, 2018
Venue TBA
Short films about hasty, lusty, slightly awkward encounters.
The Climb (Michael Covino) - Dolls Don't Cry (Toutes les poupées ne pleurent pas) (Frédérick Tremblay)- Garfield (Georgi Banks-Davies) - Ocean Swells (Sverre Matias Glenne) - Onion (Kandis Fay) - Perfectly Normal (Joris Debeij) - Wyrm (Christopher Winterbauer)
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/love-is-short-2018/
DANGEROUS DOCUMENTARIES
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
At MetroTech Commons. 5 MetroTech Center. Downtown Brooklyn
Short documentaries about people doing some crazy-ass s.
Graven Image (Sierra Pettengill) - Hypnodrom (Richard Wilhelmer) - The Last Honey Hunter (Ben Knight) - LOVE GOES THROUGH THE STOMACH (Neozoon) - Marfa (Greg McLeod, Myles McLeod) - My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes (Charlie Tyrell) - The Water Slide (Nathan Truesdell)
*Free Event More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/dangerous-documentaries/
NEW YORK NONFICTION
Saturday, June 30, 2018
In Green-Wood Cemetery. 500 25th Street.
Brooklyn It's your city. Take a look.
3,000 Miles (???) (Sean Wang, Breton Vivian - A Garbage Story (Olivier Bernier) - Brother K & The Uncut Truth (Billy Linker, Ben Carey)- Crosswalker (Paul Gale, Dustin Molina) Flatbush Misdemeanors (Kevin Iso, Dan Perlman) - I LIVED: Brooklyn - Deborah (Jonathan Nelson, Danielle Andersen) - Jonas Mekas: Always Beginning (Michael Sugarman) - Kayla in 1A (Travis Wood) - Libre (Anna Barsan, Iva Radivojevic) - Oh, What A Beautiful City (A City Symphony) (Lucy Walker) - The Road to Magnasanti (John Wilson) - Slice Thing (David Wanger)
More Info: https://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/new-york-non-fiction/
ADDITIONAL SHORT FILM PROGRAMS - DATES, VENUES, TICKETS TBA
SUNDANCE SHORTS
Highlights from Sundance 2018 include these wild, weird and wonderful short films.
COME AND TAKE IT
Unbecoming short films by and about bold women.
Call of the Wild (Neozoon) - Le Clitoris (Lori Malépart-Traversy) - Come & Take It (Ellen Spiro, PJ Raval) - Hair WOLF (Mariama Diallo) - Hercules (Lisa Duva) - Into My Life (Ivana Hucíková, Sarah Keeling, Grace Remington) - Normal Appearances (Penny Lane) - Slap Happy (Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli)
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/come-and-take-it/
ROOFTOP SHOTS: CLOSING NIGHT
All good things must end before they begin again. Closing Night!
A Night At The Garden (Marshall Curry) - The Fall of Lenin (Svitlana Shymko) - Fauve (Jérémy Comte) - How to Live with Regret (John Wilson) - I Was In Your Blood (Joseph Sackett) - Managed Retreat (Nathan Kensinger) - Mother's Day (Elizabeth Lo, R.J. Lozada) - Ugly (Nikita Diakur)
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/closing-night-2018/
ADDITIONAL SHORT FILMS AND SHORT FILMS BEFORE FEATURES:
160 Characters (Victoria Mapplebeck) - Centauro (Nicolás Suárez) - Fire Mouth (Boca de Fogo) (Luciano Pérez Fernández) - Gokur?sama (????) (Aurore Gal, Clémentine Frère, Yukiko Meignien, Anna Mertz, Robin Migliorelli, Romain Salvini) - Maude (Anna Margaret Hollyman) - Polonaise (Polonez) (Agnieszka Elbanowska) - Skybaby (Julian Glander) - Weekends (Trevor Jimenez) - Symphony of a Sad Sea (Carlos Morales Mancilla) - Wave (TJ O'Grady Peyton, Benjamin Clear)
FEATURE FILM PROGRAMS FOR MAY AND JUNE - TICKETS ON SALE
AMERICAN ANIMALS (Bart Layton)
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
On the roof of The William Vale. 111 N 12th St. Williamsburg, Brooklyn *Filmmaker Bart Layton in attendance More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/american-animals/
NANCY (Christina Choe)
Thursday, May 31, 2018
At MetroTech Commons. 5 MetroTech Center. Downtown Brooklyn
*NY Premiere
*Filmmaker Christina Choe in attendance
*Free Event
*Recipient of the 2014 Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects Equipment Grant
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/nancy/
DAMSEL (David Zellner, Nathan Zellner)
Saturday, June 2, 2018
In Green-Wood Cemetery. 500 25th Street. Brooklyn
More Info: http://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/damsel/
HEARTS BEAT LOUD (Brett Haley)
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Outdoors at Pioneer Works. 159 Pioneer Street. Red Hook, Brooklyn
More Info: https://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/hearts-beat-loud/
WRESTLE (Suzannah Herbert, co-directed by Lauren Belfer)
Friday, June 8, 2018
At MetroTech Commons. 5 MetroTech Center. Downtown Brooklyn
*Free Event
More Info: https://www.rooftopfilms.com/event/wrestle/
Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization whose mission is to engage and inspire the diverse communities of New York City by showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers and musicians. In addition to their annual Summer Series - which takes place in unique outdoor venues every weekend throughout the summer - Rooftop provides grants to filmmakers, teaches media literacy and filmmaking to young people, rents equipment at low-cost to artists and non-profits, and produces new independent films. At Rooftop Films, we bring UNDERGROUND movies outdoors. For more information and updates please visit their website at www.rooftopfilms.com.
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