ROOFTOP WEEKEND RECAP - July 18-19
ANOTHER HOT WEEKEND AT ROOFTOP FILMS

By Rooftop Films on 07/22/2008

FRIDAY: RURAL ROUTE SHORT FILMS
Friday Night temperatures were still hovering in the 90s, which often dampens people's spirit for going out. But we had yet another huge crowd at Rooftop Films, as people packed the lawn at Automotive High School to cool off in the pastoral grass for our annual collaboration with the Rural Route Film Festival.

Sound Fix Records helped book Goddamn Rattlesnake a wild acoustic indie honky tonk band, who playfully batted each other around the head as they flicked bugs from each other's faces in between songs. A big group of people sat right up at their feet, kicking off the energetic vibe for the evening. It's great to see so many folks enthusiastic for the live music at our shows!

Normally our collaboration with Rural Route highlights the pastoral peace of country living, but this year we were celebrating the rougher side of the rural life, and burning rubber in the rural route. People were hooting and hollering throughout the evening, and we almost got a riotous ball game going, inspired by
The Hardest Goal.

Filmmaker Max Finneran, who directed the opening short Pumpkin Hell was in the crowd, and had some kind things to say in an email the next day:

"The screening looked and sounded fantastic--frankly a lot better then many indoor festivals I've been to. I kind of underestimated how cool it would be to see my movie outside! And with 400 plus out on a hot sweaty night it was a great experience. I also thought the programming line-up was a really solid collection of shorts--nice and diverse with unexpected, original ways of defining "rural route," the cornerstone of it all being that little Outhouse horror show that capped the night off."

SATURDAY: INDUSTRIANCE - THE LIVELONG DAY (Short Films)
One of the most rewarding things we do as programmers is take a challenging theme and find a solid and intelligent set of films that form an entertaining and informative program. On Saturday, Rooftop Films continued our collaboration with XO Projects Inc. and our INDUSTRIANCE series, programs about the changing landscape in industry, architecture, agriculture, labor, and related fields, and the ways those changes affect individual lives. Making such a concept personal and engaging is difficult, but the hundreds of people who came out on Saturday were enthralled by the diverse selection of films about labor.

In part, that may be because we had in the program two of the most perfect films for our festival: City of Cranes a perspective-shifting documentary about crane operators, and Behind The Glass, a film that focuses on the passion of outdoor film projectionists. There's really nothing at other festivals or screenings that can compare to seeing films like those on rooftops, outdoors--where the films and the venue and the view all come together to make a magical, memorable event. With filmmakers Gabriel Rhodes and Jesse Epstein (director of 34x25x36) in attendance, what seemed like a relatively low-key Rooftop show turned into another spectacular evening.