Documentary
ROOFTOP ALUMS AT SUNDANCE
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 | 4:41 PM
Sundance announced their films in competition today, and we're proud to say that there are three Rooftop Films alums in competition. With over 9,000 submissions, it's a pretty great honor for these filmmakers. The films are:
• Humpday
(Director and Screenwriter: Lynn Shelton)
A farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far. Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard. World Premiere.
Lynn's narrative film My Effortless Brilliance played at Rooftop in 2008, and is now available on pay-per-view from IFC.
(Star and director, pictured left.)
• Toe to Toe
(Director and Screenwriter: Emily Abt)
The story of an inter-racial friendship put to the test by the intense pressures of a competitive Washington, D.C. prep school. Cast: Sonequa Martin, Louisa Krause, Silvestre Rasuk, Leslie Uggams, Gaius Charles, Ally Walker. World Premiere.
Emily screened her film Take It From Me at Rooftop in 2000--before the internet!
• William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
(Directors: Sarah Kunstler & Emily Kunstler)
With clients including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Chicago 10, the late civil rights attorney William Kunstler was one of the most famous lawyers of the 20th century. Filmmakers Emily and Sarah Kunstler explore their father's life from movement hero to "the most hated lawyer in America." World Premiere.
Sarah and Emily (pictured above, with their father), producer/director/activists at Off-Center Media, had three shorts play at Rooftop in 2002-4: A Pattern of Exclusion: The Trial of Thomas Miller-el; Tulia, TX: Scenes from the Drug War; Getting Through to the President. They were also some of the earliest recipients of support from the Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund.
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We're also pleased to see these friends on the roster:
• The Glass House (Director: Hamid Rahmanian)--The Glass House follows four teenage girls striving to overcome drug addiction, abandonment and abuse by attending a rehabilitation center in Tehran. North American Premiere.
• Dare (Director: Adam Salky; Screenwriter: David Brind)--Three very different teenagers discover that, even in the safe world of a suburban prep school, no one is who she or he appears to be. Cast: Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming, Sandra Bernhard, Rooney Mara. World Premiere.
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Lastly, our heartfelt condolences go out to all the filmmaker alums and friends who didn't get in. There's lots of other festivals out there . . . including Rooftop! Submit your films for Rooftop's 2009 Summer Series, and good luck to all, at Sundance and beyond.
THREE DOCS FROM THE 2008 SUMMER SERIES
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ACADEMY AWARDS
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 | 4:01 PM
Three fantastic docs that we showed this year made the short list for an Academy Award nomination: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin's Trouble the Water; Steve James and Peter Gilbert's At the Death House Door; and Jeremiah Zagar's In A Dream.
Congratulations to all those filmmakers and to everyone who made the list, especially Ellen Kuras (The Betrayal, which opens in New York this week--see our appeal below), Daniel Jung (They Killed Sister Dorothy, which I loved when I saw it at SXSW) and James Marsh (Man On Wire, which blew us away at Sundance). Good luck to all of you.
Read more HERE.
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) Opens at IFC Center on November 21st
Friday, November 14, 2008 | 4:20 PM
A truly beautiful and heartbreaking new documentary is opening at the IFC Center on November 21st, and we recommend you all go check it out. I saw Ellen Kuras' film at Sundance this past January and everyone who I spoke to was as moved by the film as I was. Filmed over 23 years by Kuras (the cinematographer for countless fantastic films, including the miraculous Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) tells the story of Thavisouk Phrasavath and his family. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. government conducted a secret war in the neighboring country of Laos. When the U.S. withdrew, thousands of Laotians who fought alongside American forces were left behind to face imprisonment or execution. Thavisouk's family made the courageous decision to escape to America. There, they discovered a different kind of war.
The Betrayal is epic in scope yet devastatingly intimate, featuring a score by Academy Award winning composer Howard Shore, the film is a testament to the resilient bonds of family and an astonishing tale of survival.
Of course, Kuras' film is particularly relevant today, as countless families in Afghanistan and Iraq that assisted the U.S. quite possibly will face (or already have faced) the same sort of retribution that the Laotians did. Many supporters in those countries will be killed and many others will be forced to flee their homeland, but to this point we have heard very little talk of their plight as the U.S. prepares to slowly pull their security forces out of those countries. In The Betrayal, we see the real human consequences of U.S. policy decisions, and Kuras' deft cinematic touch, astonishing footage, and lyrical sensibilities turn the tale of the Phrasavaths into a narrative poem with genuine depth and power.
Of course, it is exceedingly difficult in the present marketplace for a subtle and meaningful film like this to get a proper theatrical run and reach the audience that it deserves, so please do try to support the film while it is in theaters and spread the word. If you have seen or heard about the film and want to support it, the filmmakers are requesting that you lend a hand and:
• Send personalized emails to your friends, co-workers, family and like-minded organizations to get them out to see THE BETRAYAL opening weekend starting November 21st @ the IFC CENTER
• Talk about the film on your website and listserv's by linking to the movies website
• Write about the film!
• Friend Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk on Facebook
"CAPTURED" SCREENS AT MAYSLES CINEMA
WED., NOV. 12, 7PM
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | 11:22 AM
Head to the Maysels Cinema tonight for a screening of Captured, an engaging and provocative documentary about vigilante-photographer Clayton Patterson and the sordid history of Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Rooftop was thrilled to host the World Premiere of Captured as part of our Panorama Week in June. Over 1,000 people packed Open Road Rooftop, a graffiti-covered roof on the Lower East Side, to learn more about the ever-changing downtown community. Even former Mayor Ed Koch and former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern showed up, despite being portrayed in a not-so-positive light in the film.
One of the goals paramount to our mission at Rooftop Films is to show movies that are germane to the environment/community in which we choose to screen them, and Captured was no exception. We hope you'll check out the screening tonight! Directors Ben Solomon, Dan Levin and Jenner Furst will be there for a post-screening Q&A, as well as Clayton Patterson himself.
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Captured (Dir: Solomon, Levin, Furst)
7:00 PM
The Maysles Institute Cinema
343 Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X Boulevard, NYC
(between 127th and 128th. 2/3, 4,5,6, A,B,C,D to 125th Street)
cinema@mayslesfilms.com, 212-582-6050 ext. 218
INTERVIEW WITH LAURA TERRUSO,
DIRECTOR OF "THE LAST BUTCHER IN LITTLE ITALY"
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 | 11:42 AM
This shop is the last that remains of Elizabeth Street's Italian American history. At eighty two, Moe is the only employee.
RT: Tell us about your film:
LT: My film documents the changing landscape of Little Italy, told by Moe Albanese, an Italian-American butcher who has never left the famous Manhattan neighborhood.
RT: What was your inspiration?
LT: Moe was my inspiration for making the film. I interviewed him for an oral history course that I was taking at NYU and I was really taken with him. He is a true New Yorker in every sense. When I listened to the audio interview, I realized that the story was so visual and that it needed to be told on film. I enlisted Eugene Lehnert, a truly gifted cinematographer. We decided to shoot on 16mm--as that film stock is becoming as archaic as the local butcher shop.
RT: Is there anything you'd like to share about the film that might not be immediately apparent (your conception of the film, backstory, production methods, etc.)?
LT: New York City's Little Italy is a community that had changed dramatically throughout the past century. The tumultuous history of Italian-American immigrants has produced nostalgia in its subsequent generations; all Americans with Italian ancestry want to visit Little Italy. Nostalgia for this once oppressed ethnic community has led to gentrification which has, in turn, acted to rapidly change the course of its history and culture.
"Albanese Meats" seems to be the last vestige of what Little Italy once was and unlike the restaurants that line Mulberry Street, Moe does not exploit the nostalgia of his shop for financial gain; he keeps it open because it connects him personally to his past. The last time I visited "Albanese Meats", Vinny Vella , an actor and close friend of Moe's, was teasing Moe, saying, "Look at all of this stuff! When you gonna throw out all this junk?" Moe threw his hands up in the air and said, "I can't! It's sentimental!" The shop serves as a physical reminder not just of his entire life's work, but also of his family. Moe's mother ran the shop until she passed away at age ninety seven. She lived in the tenement building across the street and watched over the neighborhood old timers just as Moe does. Moe keeps the shop open because he can. He keeps the shop open because it reminds him and everyone who passes of what once was.
RT: Any interesting stories about the production? Any particular difficulties or serendipitous events or pleasant/unpleasant surprises?
LT: When shooting at the San Gennaro Festival, I really wanted to get a rooftop high angle shot of Mulberry Street. I lived on Mulberry Street for a year right after graduating college but no longer had a connection with the building. I decided that we would try the old New York trick of pressing all the apartment buzzers at once and seeing if anyone would buzz us in and it worked! We scurried up to the roof and were able to get a great shot. Only in New York can you get away with that.
RT: Did you have a prior relationship with Moe and Little Italy?
LT: I grew up in a part of Brooklyn that was predominantly Italian-American. I moved to Manhattan for college and have been living here ever since. In 2004, just after graduating college, I moved to the area of New York City known as Little Italy. Of course, by this time, Little Italy was nothing more than a string of Italian restaurants, many of which were not even owned by Italian-Americans. In the evenings, I would return home from my job and tip my hat to the restaurant barkers from South America who would reply "Ciao Bella" or "Buona Sera Signorina." It was clear to all of us that "Little Italy" was a farce; we inhabited a movie set and a nostalgia factory fueled by tourist dollars. In my explorations of the neighborhood now known as Nolita, I never once visited the "Albanese Meats", butcher shop on Elizabeth Street. The store's placement on a tree lined strip of upscale boutiques made it even more of a mystery. Elizabeth Street's designer storefronts lure customers with flashy window displays, each more flamboyant than the next. Despite my Italian heritage, I still felt more comfortable browsing the racks than I would have entering the butcher shop. The shop was there for the old timers it seemed, and I was a part of the neighborhood's new order. It is not surprising then that it was my mother who finally introduced me to Moe Albanese. I was telling her about my graduate courses at NYU and how I needed someone to interview for my oral history class. She told me that a friend from work had a father who has owned the same butcher shop in Little Italy for over fifty years. I immediately remembered the little shop from my time in the neighborhood and now I know that Moe has the best meat in New York City.
RT: As a filmmaker, how was your experience with Moe different from your experience with other local shop owners?
LT: The local shop owners were all very welcoming since they saw the piece as free advertising. It was actually more difficult trying to do follow up interviews with Moe. Every time I returned he would say, "Again? We already did the interview!"
RT: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?
LT: I am not a full-time filmmaker, though I hope to someday be one. I work as the program coordinator for the Center for Religion and Media and the Center for Media, Culture and History at NYU. I am also a graduate student at NYU.
RT: What is your current/next project?
LT: I am working on a few projects. One is a short comedy about relationships. I am also working on two more documentaries.
RT: If you've been to a Rooftop show, how was the experience?
LT: It was a truly exciting feeing. Rooftop films is a really dynamic festival and I'm honored to be a part of it.
RT: What excites you about having your short film on Rooftop Films at IFC.com?
LT: I'm thrilled that lots of people will see the film!
RT: Do you have any questions for the viewers? We hope they'll post comments!
LT: Yes, I'd be interested in hearing about the Little Italy's in their cities.
COURT 13 PRODUCTIONS ("GLORY AT SEA")
MAKE VIDEOS FOR OBAMA
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 | 2:32 PM
Many of the filmmakers from Court 13 Productions, the team behind the amazing Rooftop-co-funded film Glory At Sea, have been working for Barack Obama's campaign for months. I can't think of a better group of artists to craft inspirational films with a poignant social message.
Check out a couple short samples of their work. If this doesn't make you weep with hope and joy, and get out of your seat to help change America, I don't know what will:
Rooftop Films is immensely proud to have supported filmmakers doing such honorable work. Want more? Check out another wonderful video on Obama's website and his YouTube page.
Although the election is just a day away, there's still time to volunteer for Obama (or any other candidate, since we're legally required to be non-partisan). Keep in mind, in 2004, as late as November 2, John Kerry was leading in many polls. And in 2000, it was a mere 537 votes in Florida that separated Bush and Gore. Although the election may look decided, it could be crucial for you to go to a swing state to knock on doors or drive people to the polls, or just call voters from your home.
Don't wake up on November 5 and regret you didn't help more.
INTERVIEW WITH SARA POMERANCE,
DIRECTOR OF "RELAX AT HOME"
Friday, October 31, 2008 | 10:16 AM
One of the misfortunes of old age is revealed in this simple slice of life at a relaxing brunch..
Sara Pomerance's short Relax At Home, played as a part of Rooftop Film's "Home Movies" Program this past summer. We were happy to be able to ask her a few questions about her short film and her filmmaking process.
Q & A
RT: So tell us little bit about this film. What was your inspiration for the film? Were these people you knew personally?
SP: My lens observes the behaviors and psychological coping mechanisms of people around me. Rather than psychoanalyze, I use the material to construct a narrative. Through stories, I ask questions such as: Does thinking positively actually change people's lives? Relax At Home, is a portrait of my mother, as she continually reassures my grandfather. She repetitively affirms the positive. He responds non-verbally.
RT: Obviously, you captured some very intimate moments here. How did you approach your subjects about the film?
SP: I always ask permission before filming. The relationships of people around me are a rich territory in which to study contradictions found in everyday interaction.
RT: Did you shoot a lot of footage? And how did you know that these few short minutes were the ones you wanted to become the film?
SP: I do shoot a lot, but only show the moments most relevant to the subject of each piece. By constructing and revealing my characters I form a critique of social mannerisms and routines. My video pieces are intended to function as shorts, but together, when shown in sequence, portray the complexity of individual and family relationships.
RT: How do you feel about growing old?
SP: I hope that life get easier as I age.
RT: What is your current/next project?
SP: I prefer not to talk a lot about projects before they are complete. Currently my fascination is teenagers and I am also interested in autism.
RT: What excites you about having your short film on Rooftop Films at IFC.com?
SP: I am honored and look forward to having a larger audience.
RT: Do you have any questions for the viewers? They'll post comments.
SP: What do you think is the function of reassurance? Does thinking positively actually change people's lives?
To view more of Sara's work including videos and photography, visit her website.
CELIA MAYSLES' WILD BLUE YONDER
OCT. 24TH, 2008 - RVSP NOW!
Friday, October 17, 2008 | 4:31 PM
Rooftop Films is proud to announce the New York Premiere of Celia Maysles debut feature documentary, Wild Blue Yonder. Just seven years old when her father David Maysles (Salesman, Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter) died in 1987 from an unexpected stroke, Celia Maysles grew up having no idea her father and his brother Albert were pioneers of verité documentary filmmaking.
Determined to uncover the secrets surrounding her background, Celia set out on a quest to rediscover her father by using his own artistic process: verité filmmaking. In Wild Blue Yonder, Celia takes us on a daring journey to the past, to understand the father she never knew. Along the way, she encounters unexpected difficulties as she tries to reach out to her uncle Albert Maysles, who is surpisingly reluctant share with Celia the the hundreds of hours of unused footage of her father.
A story about missing links, legacies lost and found, and the passion of filmmaking, Wild Blue Yonder takes us deep inside a conflicted family where filmmaking remains the ultimate means to uncovering the truth.
Featuring: Celia Maysles, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, DA Pennebaker, Susan Froemke, Judy Maysles, Lois Wright, Big and Little Edie Beale and more.
Special Guest: Grey Gardens' Lois Wright!
The event is presented by Corra Films, Cactus Three, The National Arts Club and Rooftop Films.
Press can RSVP by emailing us at RSVP@rooftopfilms.com. All others can RSVP on going.com.
Venue: The National Arts Club
Address: 15 Gramercy Park South (at 20th Street between 3rd and Park)
Directions: 6, R or W to 23rd Street or any train to Union Square
8:45 PM: Doors Open
9:15 PM: Film Begins
Admission: FREE if you RSVP.
RURAL ROUTE FILMS - OCTOBER 17-19
AT ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 | 4:47 PM
Since 2005, Rooftop Films has been proud to collaborate with the enchanting Rural Route Film Festival, an urban fest dedicated to showing the greener side of life. We've hosted selections from Rural Route during our Summer Series, and collaborated on screenings at their festival. Now Co-Founder Alan Webber is preparing to embark on a year-long, world wide Rural Route tour--The Year of the Nomad--jetsetting to major cities and strolling down country lanes to find and show the world's most idyllic cinema.
This weekend, catch this amazing festival one last time in NYC!
THE RURAL ROUTE FILM FESTIVAL
Friday-Sunday, October 17-19
at Anthology Film Archives
& Scandinavia House
FREE PBR
FREE ORGANIC VALLEY STRING CHEESE
FREE BOOKS FROM LONELY PLANET
Scandinavia House
58 Park Ave. (@ 38th St.)
ickets available by phone (212) 847-9737
http://www.scandinaviahouse.org/
Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Ave. (@ 2nd St.)
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org
SCHEDULE - ANTHOLOGY
Fri., Oct. 17 @ 7:30PM
& Sat., Oct. 18 @ 8:30PM
"Best of Rural Route Short Films"
DVD Launch Party
The world premiere of Rural Route's new "Best of" dvd! Join Rural Route as we launch the new DVD that will sail the seven seas on the worldwide "Nomad" Tour throughout 2009 (subtitled in Spanish & French). Come pick up your own copy! The program features 13 of the very best shorts from 5 years of Rural Route. This includes award-winning documentaries, experimental films, narratives, and music videos. Stories about bear hunters, Siberian folk artists, dental farmers, dancing tractors, and racing lawnmowers! Movies from the driest desert, the snowiest mountains, the greenest fields, and more!
Fri., Oct. 17 @ 9:30PM
"Big Dead Place" - Films from Antarctica by Nicholas Johnson
While periodically working on contract as a garbageman in Antarctica, Nicholas Johnson has been writing and making short films about his time on the ice. Come witness an insider's view on the bizarre culture and mesmerizing scenery of the famed McMurdo Research Station, which Werner Herzog visited in his most recent "Encounters at the End of the World".
Sat., Oct. 18 @ 6:30PM
"Arica Nativa" - Freak Films From the Chilean Andes
Rural Route's first stop on the "Nomad" Tour will be in Arica, Chile, surrounded by the Atacoma Desert (the driest place in the world). This program of films comes from our sister rural festival in Arica, and features a fascinating, experimental look into indigenous culture in the Andes.
Sun., Oct. 19 @ 4:30PM
"Go Organic!" - Healthy Foods Short Film Program
You are what you eat...so you'd better start paying attention to what exactly that is! These short selections from RR's popular new wave agricultural program provide a refreshing education on the current state of farming, and point out positive sustainable and organic practices from the Midwest to Cuba that you can take part in.
Sun., Oct. 19 @ 6:30PM
"Rural Kiwi" - Films From the New Zealand Film Archive
Rural Route also has a scheduled stop in Wellington, NZ in March of 2009. This program of films has been co-curated by Mark Williams of the New Zealand Film Archive. This program features a fun, campy farm education film from the 50s, a short about a hunter who is haunted by dead animals, and a modern Maori race car demolition derby!
SCHEDULE - SCANDINAVIA HOUSE
Saturday, October 18, 3PM
"That Special Summer" ("Kid Svensk") (Finland, Sweden)
Directed by Nanna Huolman, 2007. This award-winning film explores the extreme highs and lows of a Finnish girl growing up in 1980s Sweden. Headstrong 12-year-old Kirsi, known as Kid, has assimilated perfectly into school life in Gothenburg, but her widowed mother, Ester, lives in a Finnish cocoon, refusing to learn Swedish or partake in the local culture. When Ester decides to start a restaurant back in Finland with the help of an old beau, Kid becomes increasingly agitated, lashing out in protest. In the end, this touching drama portrays a girl not only coming to grips with a difficult mother/daughter relationship and the meaning of "home," but also her foray into first love. 85 min. Presented by the Consulate General of Finland & the Consulate General of Sweden.
ROOFTOP PROGRAMMERS AT APEXART
Cell Phone Videos: Screening and Discussion
Monday, September 22, 2008 | 4:33 PM
apexart
Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 6-8pm
291 Church St (btw. Walker & White, NYC)
FREE
In conjunction with the exhibition Scrawl.
Please join apexart, Mark Elijah Rosenberg (Founder & Artistic Director of Rooftop Films) and Dan Nuxoll (Rooftop's Program Director) in a discussion on the technological movement in cell phone capability that is influencing and altering the public's ability to capture moments, generate content, and create entirely new modes of communication.
The event also includes a screening of selected videos from apexart's open call for cell phone videos that present moments that are an intimate snapshot of a city's inhabitants and capture a larger message about a city's ethos. With contributions by Maiju Ahlgren, Brian Alfred, Dave Bennett, Dmitry Bulnygin, Sean Capone, Pierre Yves Clouin, Daria Dorosh, Juliana Forero, Marcus Hansson, Kristen Jensen, Alex Katsenelinboigen, Mollie Murphy, Wayne Pyle, Wendy Richmond, Kathryn Sabatini, Reza Safavi, Ronan Sharkey, Rudy Shepherd, Vitamin Green, Linda Weiss.
THE JOSHUA TREE LAUNCH SERIES
(William Lamson | 3:08 | Documentary)
Saturday, September 20, 2008 | 2:03 PM
Lamson is known for performing actions that shock delicate objects with inventive violence. In this lovely and playful series, he casts monumental versions of a child's toy into the imposing Nevada desert.
Some habits you had when you were a kid will never die...they'll just grow bigger with you. William Lamson must know this all too well--he is an artist and a filmmaker, and has, here, constructed giant versions of paper planes to launch into the Nevada Desert. Lamson seems to be fascinated by flight, and though time after time the plane crashes downward, he does it again and again. He sees his work as addressing many issues from masculinity to science and play, as well as personal heroism of the amateur, in which human struggle is the central component and meaning is created through it.
About his later video series, Sublunar, he said, "the pursuit of flight, no matter how flawed or hopeless the attempt, places the amateur in the heroic position of trying to transcend his place on earth. This project investigates the flight endeavor as it represents the desire to escape earth and the hope of surpassing human limitation."
The Joshua Tree Launch Series was featured in Rooftop's July 12th Making the Mission series, focusing on films that know that taking a risk is sometimes just as important as the thing you are risking. An audience favorite, there was thunderous applause even after the final failed attempt at flight.
ROOFTOP ALUM ANDREW BERENDS
BACK IN THE US
Friday, September 19, 2008 | 6:27 PM
Andrew Berends, whose film When Adnan Came Home played at Rooftop in 2006, has returned home himself. Andy had been in Nigeria working on his new documentary for six months when he was suddenly detained for 10 days without charges. He was then released and deported. Andy was at Rooftop the other night, and told me that the endeavor was frightening, but that he was mostly just annoyed, though certainly very glad to be home. That kind of bravery is what makes Andy's films so unflinchingly powerful.
Here's more from the Free Andrew Berends website:
Andrew Berends, the American filmmaker who had been detained by Nigerian State Security Services was returned to the United States Wednesday. He was escorted to his plane by Nigerian immigration officers without an explanation as to why he was being sent home. Berends was never charged with a crime, and had a legal business visa in his passport at the time of his detainment.
His Nigerian translator, Samuel George, has been provisionally released, but is expected to return to the State Security Services offices at noon on Friday, along with a third man who had also been detained. The status of any investigation against them is still uncertain.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) jointly sponsored a letter, written to the President of Nigeria calling for Berends' immediate release, and signed by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Robert Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and John Kerry (D-MA).
This is the third in a string of similar detainments of American journalists in the past two years by the Nigerian government. Most recently, five members of the crew making the documentary film Sweet Crude were detained for seven days, before ultimately being released without being charged.
Berends says, "I am extremely disappointed with this pattern of suppressing press freedom in Nigeria. It calls into question the Nigerian government's sincerity when it comes to upholding the basic tenets of democracy since the transition from military rule in 1999."
Berends was in Nigeria working on his documentary film, Delta Boys, about the militancy in the Niger Delta. He had been arrested at Nembe Waterside in Port Harcourt along with his translator, Samuel George, while filming women on their way to market. He had been granted permission to film by the military sergeant in charge in the area.
[Andy told me that he has enough footage to begin cutting together the film, as he had been shipping material back to the States all along. Look out for Delta Boys in 2009. -Mark Elijah Rosenberg, Rooftop.]
ROOFTOP WEEKEND RECAP - September 5th & 7th
TWO SHOWS ON COMING TO AMERICA
Monday, September 8, 2008 | 3:05 PM
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 5: La Frontera Infinita at El Museo del Barrio (East Harlem)
The rain threatened all night, but never came, and Rooftop Films concluded an excellent run of shows at El Museo del Barrio. The museum, which is committed to exhibiting the work of Latino artists from East Harlem and abroad (even while under renovation and expansion), made an excellent partner for Rooftop Films, where we don't screen in theaters, we screen in communities. In 2008, we hosted three evenings of music and film, focused on the local and international Latino community. Each show, including this one, was filled to capacity.
Photo by Dillon DeWaters.
On Friday, for the second year in a row, we were collaborating with the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico. In just six years, Morelia has become one of the premiere festivals for Mexican and Latino cinema, a destination festival for international industry insiders and a tremendous boon for local cinema lovers. Rooftop Artistic Director Mark Elijah Rosenberg attended in 2007, and highly recommends their fest.
This final screening was of Juan Manuel Sepulveda's haunting documentary La Frontera Infinita, a lovely and lyrical film about the hardships which tens of thousands of immigrants face every year while traveling thousands of hazardous miles for a chance to work in the States. Splendid shots of train travel and long hikes are offset by harrowing accounts of train-hopping accidents and intimate scenes of infinite patience as the travelers wait at waystations and in the woods for the right moment to move on. At the crowded after-party, one viewer called the film "Beckett-like," not only because of the eternal waiting and desperate hope, but because of the film's ingenious dislocation of space and distance. The subjects have a general sense of heading North, but in both dialogue and cinematic reference, the sense of direction and expanse is always vague, leaving the viewer feeling as lonely and lost as the documentary subjects. Often, a film like this could be difficult to watch outside, but the packed house was riveted, and deeply moved.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7: Arusi: Persian Wedding on Roosevelt Island
Hurricane rains did hit New York on Saturday, forcing us to reschedule this screening for Sunday. But the weather was beautiful that night, and despite the postponement there were still some 200 people on the lawn, with the Queensboro Bridge looming over the screen as a stunning backdrop. Special thanks to the New York City Council's Manhattan Delegation, and Council Member Jessica Lappin, for bringing Rooftop out to Roosevelt Island.
Three short films began the night, each touching on themes that would be elaborated in the feature--finding a new way to see (A Different Color Blue), traveling to some place foreign (The Tourists), and metaphorically "lifting the veil" (A L'Ombre du Voile).
The feature film covers all that and more, as Iranian-American filmmaker Marjan Tehrani travels with her brother and his American-born wife back to Iran, for the first time, for a traditional Persian wedding. The touching film simultaneously tells the story of a couple in love, of a family being reunited, and of a country at odds with itself and the world, and the crowd loved it--people cheered throughout, particularly at points which expressed pride in Iranian culture.
During the Q & A, you could tell that people with varying political views, religions and cultural backgrounds were all moved by the universality of this story of love and family, as seen on a global political stage.
DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER ANDREW BERENDS
STILL DETAINED IN NIGERIA
Saturday, September 6, 2008 | 10:18 AM
Another update, straight from D-Word.
To read the original report, and a call for action, scroll down or click here.
We are now in the fifth day of [Rooftop alum] Andrew Berends' detainment in Port Harcourt, Niger Delta, Nigeria. Andrew's friends, family and colleagues are outraged about his situation and find it incomprehensible that more has not been done to secure his release.
The U.S. State Department has been aware of Andrew's detainment since day one. Yet he still has not been visited by a State Department official. We believe it is beyond acceptable protocol for an American citizen to be held illegally without an agent of the American government visiting him to ascertain his safety and the conditions of his custody and to make it crystal clear that the U.S. government is advocating in no uncertain terms for his release.
It does not appear that the State Department has done enough to be in constant communication with the Nigerian Government to apply pressure or even get accurate information about Andrew's status and well-being. If what they are doing is more than minimal, that has not been made clear to us, Andrew's advocates. Nor has it been getting any apparent results. Too many days have passed with no shift in Andrew's circumstances and no coordinated or decisive action on the part of the State Department to shift things.
Andrew entered the country legally as a filmmaker and journalist. He was filming in a public place in a country that claims to be a democracy when he was arrested. He was not filming oil facilities or the military, which are the only two subjects the Nigerian government has deemed to be sensitive. We have been told that on the day he was detained, Andrew even asked and was granted permission by a military official prior to filming.
Andrew reported to us that during the first 36 hours of his detainment, he was interrogated nonstop with no sleep. He was denied food and given barely any water. He does not have the benefit of legal representation inside the SSS facility and has been forced repeatedly to make coerced statements.
This is the fourth incident of American journalists being held in Nigeria within the past two years. It is now a pattern. It is evident that there has been no legitimate reason for the treatment these American citizens have endured. Rather, these incidents are intended to suppress journalism. They are a blatant attempt by the Nigerian government to cover up the evidence of years of human rights and environmental abuses and discourage others from coming to expose the poverty, injustice and corruption rampant in the region. We call on the U.S. government to speak out against this.
We urge our Congressional representatives to let the State Department know that the legislative branch they serve and answer to will not stand by and let more hours of inaction pass. In a country like Nigeria and a region like the Niger Delta, things can change in an instant. It is dangerous to assume that Andrew is OK and give in to the platitude that "these things take time." This situation must be elevated to the highest level of urgency. We must press strongly and continuously for Andrew's immediate release and safe escort out of the country.
Because journalists working in foreign countries often depend on local assistants and translators to do their work, make themselves understood, and keep safe, we are particularly distressed that Samuel George, the Nigerian national who works as a translator with Andrew Berends, was also detained by the Nigerian Military. We have had no word of his condition since his arrest, and we are deeply concerned that Samuel may be experiencing harsh treatment at the hands of the Nigerian government. It is imperative that Samuel George also be released immediately, and that there be no further intimidation and harassment of media workers by the Nigerian government.
Please click HERE to read about how you can help Andrew.
ROOFTOP ALUM ANDREW BERENDS
DETAINED IN NIGERIA
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 | 8:15 PM
Troubling news from D-Word:
Andrew Berends, an established, award-winning American filmmaker and journalist from New York, was detained Sunday, August 31st by the Nigerian military along with his translator, Samuel George. Andrew entered Nigeria legally in April 2008 to complete a documentary film. Back in 2006, Rooftop hosted the first US screening of Andrew's film When Adnan Comes Home.
Andrew was held in custody without food, sleep, or representation, and with limited water for the first 36 hours. He has been questioned by the army, the police, and the State Security Services in Port Harcourt. The State Security Services has confiscated his passport and personal property. Andrew has been returned to sleep in his rented room each night after the initial 36 hours, but then re-detained each morning. Andrew's translator, Samuel George, has not been released at night and has remained in custody since Sunday.
The US State Department is aware of the situation, and an attorney has been retained on Andrew's behalf. Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have issued statements condemning Andrew's arrest. We, Andrew's friends, family, and colleagues, are deeply concerned that he has been held without cause and are calling for his safe treatment and immediate release.
For the latest updates on the situation, including a portrait of Andy and his work, go to:
http://helpandy.wordpress.com/
*************ACTION ALERT!**************
We would like all readers who are U.S. citizens, whether living in the U.S. or abroad, to contact their congressional representatives to raise political pressure on this issue.
Phone Script for Elected Officials:
* As a constituent and a concerned citizen, I wanted to bring your attention to the news that American journalist Andrew Berends has been arrested by the Nigerian government while working on a documentary.
* Nigeria enjoys the highest level of diplomatic relations with the United States, and for an American journalist to be detained without representation and subjected to coercive questioning is both highly inappropriate and illegal.
* We ask you to make known your awareness and concern about this matter, contact your colleagues, and work to ensure the good treatment and speedy release of Andrew Berends and his interpreter from Nigerian custody.
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We would like everyone to call both their own local representatives and also the two Senators from New York State. When talking with New York reps, please add that Andrew is a New Yorker.
The contact information for NY senators Clinton and Schumer is:
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY)- 202-224-6542
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)- 202-224-4451
Your local representatives' contacts may be found here: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress
Please forward this call to action to anyone you think could help by making a call to their representatives and the NY senators.
A LOUD COLOR
(Brent Joseph I 06:35 I Documentary)
Friday, August 29, 2008 | 12:40 PM
Self-perception is crucial to 72-year-old Louis Harding, rebuilding the community center he opened one month before Hurricane Katrina. He discusses the importance of history, heroes and self-esteem for African-Americans.
New Orleans native and filmmaker Brent Joseph shows us an touching and intimate portrait of
Louis Harding, a community leader who's years of hard work to benefit the youth of New Orleans was washed away by hurricane Katrina. Despite the massive set back, Louis keeps moving forward and believes that making his dream a reality is more important now than ever before.
We were able to ask Brent Joseph a few questions about his fascinating portrait of Louis Harding.
Q & A
RT: Tell us a little bit about the film!
BJ: A Loud Color is about Louis Harding, a 74-year-old life long resident of New Orleans who mowed grass for 30 years and saved up his money with the dream of opening a community center one day. He lives in the Central City neighborhood which has one of the highest crime rates in the city so Louis really wanted to do something to educate youth and try to pull them out of the cycle of poverty and violence that has plagued the area for so long. He finally got his center running in the summer of 2005, then Katrina hit and the center was destroyed a month later. For the film, Louis took me on a tour of the center and talked about African-American history in New Orleans and why he won't give up on his dream of running a community center.
RT: What was your inspiration for the film and how did you find out about Louis?
BJ: Well, I was already working on one short documentary that I shot in the immediate aftermath of the storm, called Holdout. It was about my neighbor who never left his house because he had 18 pets. Then in early 2006 I was contacted by Tim Ryan of the non-profit New Orleans Video Access Center. He was tired of hearing the mainstream media portray NOLA as a lost cause. He wanted several local filmmakers to make shorts that highlighted the determination of residents to rebuild. Anyone who has spent a lot of time in the area knows that New Orleans defies all logic. The odds may be against the city, but that doesn't mean that it won't find it's own meandering way to survive. With that in mind I drove back to the city from my new home in Austin looking for a story. How I found Louis is pretty random. I was literally crossing the state line when I heard a car honk. It was an old friend Akeem Khalif. I had not seen him in years. We pulled over on the side of the road and caught up. Akeem told me he had bought a home in the Lower 9th Ward a month before Katrina and it was destroyed before he even moved in. It was awful. I told him about the project I was working on and he suggested that I contact his friend Louis Harding. When I got to the city I arranged to met Louis at his community center and the second I drove up and saw the building I knew that he had a story that had to be told.
RT: What's Louis up to now? Has he made much improvement/progress to the Community Center?
BJ: I actually just did an update on Louis as a bonus feature for the 8th Annual Media That Matters DVD Compilation. Louis has continued to have even more setbacks, but he now as a very sharp partner who I think is really going to make things happen. They have a new vision and I just made a commercial to help them gain more visibility. I got DJ Jubilee who is a pioneer of Bounce Rap to be the spokesman. Jubilee is a Special Ed teacher by day, volunteer champion coach in the afternoon and DJ by night. He is a local legend and has been ripped off several times by more famous rappers from the city. It's turns out that he coaches across the street from where Louis' center used to be, so Louis walked over and asked him if he wanted to get involved. He's an amazing guy and I feel really lucky to have been able to meet him.
RT: What is your current/next project?
BJ: Right now I am splitting my time between writing a screenplay and working for Monofonus Press, a new record label and publishing press in Austin. They put out combination short stories and records with all of the artwork made by local painters. I'm making short documentaries, music videos and promos for them which I will start posting to their website, you tube and Vimeo in the next few weeks. Other than that I'm just waiting for this miserable Texas heat to be over with.
By the way, my other short that I mentioned earlier, Holdout, was just released on the NewFest Compilation DVD by Indiepix Films Ok, enough of the self-promotion.
RT: Do you have any questions for the viewers? They'll post comments.
BJ: Questions Question. hmmm. I'd like to know how many people out there know about DJ Jubilee. He's an unsung hero who has been ripped off by many bigger name NOLA rappers. He plays everything from project parties to Quintron and Miss Pussycat shows to Tulane frat parties all while juggling his teaching and coaching obligations. If your readers haven't heard of him check him out.
To make donations to the Washington Ave. Community Center, and to find out more information on how you can help, please visit the film's official website, www.aloudcolor.com
THE DRIFT
(Kelly Sears | 8:13 | Animation)
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | 11:09 AM
An absurd fable crafted from images found in thrift store bookshelves about our country's unflinching frontierism and the desire to push too far, too fast.
What happens when the final frontier has been crossed one too many times? Space, the moon, the emptiness-we've already been there. But when astronauts of a new, exalted space mission hear "the drift," a hypnotic song that sounds like emptiness, it draws them further from the ground of Earth and augments a desire to explore and live in wonder.
With Kelly Sears' looped DVD projection, still photographic images of the "American Dream" gathered from magazines, junk piles, and thrift stores become animated in a would-be documentary. They drift across the screen and give an account of a manifest-destiny space mission gone awry. Perfect images give way to rejected or forgotten hopes, and the infatuation with a song of emptiness gives birth to the 'drifter' and thoughts about our place in the universe and what it means to be human.
The Drift showed as part of our Surreal Sounds and Shorts Program at Rooftop on June 27, 2008, featuring unexpected juxtapositions and surreal short films that explore the mind's wanderings and artistic expression.
Kelly Sears is an animator and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Her work has been shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the Hammer Museum, Sundance, Anthology Film Archives and in galleries and film festivals internationally. Sears' collage animations parse together collected media artifacts to reveal secret histories, forgotten tales, and possible moments embedded in the images around us. She has upcoming shows in Los Angeles and La Verne, California, through October.
A FILM ABOUT VIOLENCE
(Ethan Knecht | 1:05 | Drama)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 | 5:05 PM
If you like this film, see similar ones this Saturday, August 2, at Rooftop's unique and wonderful "Home Movies" show!
The simple and powerful example of the ways the film frame shapes (and distorts) our understanding.
Like many great short films, this one starts by making you laugh. A Film About Violence presents us with the awkward situation of the filmmaker, on camera, undergoing a series of slaps to the face while he spills his thoughts on what exactly violence is. It's all about the context--how we would feel if there was a context in this situation, if there was more to the frame. If we knew the identity of the slapper or the reasons behind it, it would most likely change how we react to the action of violence. Filmmaker Ethan Knecht undergoes pain for the sake of art, and changes our reactions to the scene from laughter to self-reflection, all in just over one minute.
A Film About Violence, made in 2006, was featured in the Takoma Park Film Festival in 2007, and will be featured as part of Rooftop's Home Movies show this weekend on August 2. This show features fun, fascinating, personal, profound, and ultimately unfiltered depictions of the filmmakers in their own spheres, preserved (and also distorted) by the medium of motion pictures and how we perceive them--how we reflect on what we are shown. The films in this program are consciously mining the filmmakers' personal lives, using the immediacy of the footage to settle their own feelings, by turns comic and cartoonish, romantic and violent.
RF: Tell us about your film?
EK: My film is a short performance piece on the nature and reality of violence. Violence is both an attractive and unattractive force in contemporary America. On the one hand, violence, as it has for centuries, is a significant and profitable form of entertainment. On the other hand, it has also become a major factor in The War On Terror and of American foreign policy in general. This film explores this duality as well as question the context of violence in film and media.
RF: What was your inspiration?
EK: I'm not positive what my inspiration for this was. This was created in my first year of not having a TV and I think that stepping away from that experience gave me a new perspective on the American media...
RF: How did you withstand all those slaps to the face?
EK: Patience and humor. We only had