Rooftop Films: INDUSTRIANCE: Emiment Domain (Event Over)

LIMITED TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER. CASH ONLY. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 718.417.7362.

In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location.

Ticket price includes: Panels, Reception, Free Wine, Music and Films

5:00PM: Panel Discussion outside in the courtyard  - Cinema and Social Justice
6:30PM: Panel Discussion outside in the courtyard - The Art of the Short Film
7:30PM - 9:00PM: Reception in the courtyard including wine courtesy of Brooklyn Oenology
8:00PM: Doors open

8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by Silver Haunches ( www.myspace.com/silverhaunches)

9:00PM: Films

Ticket: $6 online for a limited time, $9 after

Preview: See short films from this program at www.IFC.com

Presented in partnership with: IFC.com, New York magazine, IndiePix, Shooting People & XO Projects

Panels:

THE ART OF THE SHORT FILM
Hear from a range of filmmakers about the craft and possibilities of the short film. The filmmakers on this panel work in animation, documentary, narrative and the hard-to-describe, and they will talk about what they do, why they do it and how they get it done. Get inspired by the sheer range and creativity of these amazing filmmakers. These filmmakers do not make shorts as calling-cards, they make them because they love to work within the limitations of the form. These are not shorts in search of a feature but films that you will fall in love with. Just as they are.
    Panelists include: Benh Zeitlin (Filmmaker, Glory at Sea); Duana Butler (Filmmaker, Curator of ReelNY); Signe Baumane (animator), and more.

CINEMA AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Can films change the world? What role can filmmakers play in local community activism and global policy change? Filmmakers can tap into the power of storytelling to translate complicated issues into stories that people can relate to, engaging audiences and motivating change. This can take place in many ways, from small shifts in perception to epic battles in Congress and the courts. Filmmakers also deal with social justice on a very local and personal level, as artists fighting for health insurance, sustainable incomes, and vibrant communities to live in. Hear from filmmakers about the possibilities for impact and outreach in their neighborhoods and beyond and get inspired by their passion for filmmaking, connectivity and the possibilities for change.
    Panelists include: Ryan Harrington (Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund); Simon Kilmurry (Executive Director of POV), and more.
 

INDUSTRIANCE Short Films: Eminent Domain

Dynamic short films about communities in flames and on the cusp.

Very soon after the birth of Rooftop Films, co-founder Josh Breitbart came up with a very simple catch-phrase that was meant to sum up what Rooftop Films was all about: “Movies that show us where you live and how you live.” Over time, this simple set of words became something like a guiding mantra for us as we programmed our festival. The availability of digital cameras had made possible an explosion of video documentation of local cultures and communities and the cumulative effect of these works was to awaken in society at large a greater sense of the myriad ways in which how we live is inextricably tied to place.

Enthralled by this realization, we came to understand that--as a festival whose screenings actually take place outdoors in communities--we were particularly obligated to show those works that addressed the transformation of neighborhoods, towns and cities, and the implications this process has for the people who live there.

This sense of responsibility came to mind recently when we were interviewed by the Times for an article about the old Bushwick warehouses that we converted to spacious lofts back in 1997, and which served as the home base for Rooftop Films for 5 formative years. The spaces are now known locally as “The McKibbin Dorms,” and the wide-open artists’ spaces that we once hoped would be the locus of beneficent community participation have been chopped up into cramped, lousy quarters for young and disgruntled transplants.

After reading the article, we lamented the sorry state of our former home, and an old friend wrote me, “Foucault put it best (and I paraphrase): People know what they do and they frequently know why they do what they do, but rarely--if ever--do they know what they are doing does.” 

Foucault was wise, but his aphorism is not law. This program of shorts features six stunning films that show that if we look closely and with an unwavering eye, it is possible to determine and predict the real consequences of our actions. Perhaps, with work, we can even turn the tide.

Part of Rooftop Films and XO Projects’ INDUSTRIANCE™ï¡¿Series: films, discussions, installations and more about the changing landscape in industry, architecture, agriculture, labor, and related fields.

The Films

How to Save a Fish from Drowning (Kelly Neal | Scotland |12:42)

A film about the death of white rural America told through the voices of three old men fishing on a frozen lake

Goodnight Beijing (Ronja Yu | Beijing, Sweden | 28:00)

"In 20 years there will be nothing left of Beijing," says a resident of a historic city district.

Beijing-born filmmaker Ronja Yu returns to her home town to document the transformation of the city as it prepares for the summer Olympics 2008. A gleaming new Beijing is replacing the old emperor capital, but the interests of the citizens living in these transitioning areas are widely ignored by a government obsessed with progress and image.

Cusps (Sara Zia Ebrahimi| Philadelphia | 14:35)

Paralleling changes in the city of Philadelphia with those in her own life, Iranian-American filmmaker Sara Zia Ebrahimi explores her experiences living as an urban nomad, migrant and immigrant in the post-industrial landscape of Philadelphia neighborhoods.

INTERMISSION

On The 3rd Planet from the Sun (Pavel Medvedev | Russia | 32:00)

Elderly pilgrims wander the woods, middle-aged men scavenge for “space garbage“ in the swamps, and teenagers gather debris and turn it into disco balls and strobe lights for their party pads. 45 years after Russia stopped testing nuclear bombs in the Arkhangelsk region of Northern Russia, life goes on as usual.

Ignite (Shawn Bannon | Los Angeles | 3:00)

The 2007 fires of Griffith Park. Shot with seven time-lapse cameras. An experimental perspective that is beautiful, eerie, and captivating.

Le Pont (Vincent Bierrewaerts | Belgium | 13:00)

A man and his son are living on the top of a mountain. The only access to the outer world is a bridge. One night, the child sees the flashing lights of a remote city.