Rooftop Films: Un-American Films (Event Over)

**Please note that this show does not take place on a roof. It is on a pier space called Solar One, located on 23rd St and the East River, directly across from the fireworks barge. The view of the fireworks from this space is one of the best in the city.**

All audience members must be at the venue by 6pm, due to standard 4th of July NY Police Department restrictions. The matter is out of our control, and if you are late, the NYPD will not let you past their barricade. Please arrive early. Rooftop Films cannot refund your money if you are late.

Venue: On the ground at Solar One, at East 23rd Street and the East River. The venue is directly below the fireworks and provides a great view.
5:00PM: Doors open, open bar begins
6-9:00PM: Titus Andronicus, Frances and Aleks and the Drummer presented by Sound Fix
9:00PM: The best fireworks view in the city
9:30PM: Films

Food / Drink: 5-7pm Open Bar provided by Radeberger beer and Brooklyn Oeneology. Cash bar after 7pm. Food will also be available for purchase.

Rain: In the event of rain, there will be some covering for the audience, but we suggest you bring an umbrella. The show will be held in accordance with the city plan for the fireworks, either later that night or on a later date to-be-determined.

Tickets: $30 - admission includes open bar from 5-7 PM, courtesy of Radeberger and Brooklyn Oenology.

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

Presented in partnership with: IFC.com, New York magazine & Solar One

Un-American Films (Short Films)
Food, drinks, live music, fantastic fireworks view and explosive political films. A mix of the wacky and the weighty in contemporary America.

Rooftop’s annual 4th of July show includes a party atmosphere peppered with some prepossessing films; serious calls for social justice tempered by some seriously funny films. In this crucial election year, we present films on a range of topics, stressing the importance of history and offering irreverent looks at our heroes, making a case for a re-evaluation of who we are as Americans and who we want as president.

This show takes an intimate look at a variety of issues facing our nation, using artfully-told personal stories and carefully-crafted craziness to address the breadth of the American experience. These films provide unexpected insights, stories that are both disquieting and uplifting, and that peculiar brand of intelligently twisted American humor.

There are personal stories of soldiers coming back from war, which remind us of the ongoing costs of being part of a war society, no matter the battle. There’s an intriguing dialogue between a Muslim-American and a seemingly close-minded American whose bigoted views perhaps don’t come from base of ignorance and isolationism you might expect. And there’s a hilarious animated musical video that might tell you a few things you probably didn’t know about JFK: “He smelled like the future / His words felt like flowers / And if he shook your hand you'd make love with it for hours.”

Come make love with America at Rooftop Films!

THE FILMS

22nd Amendment (Andrew Sloat | Brooklyn, NY | 1:00)
Sometimes the Constitution is our best friend.

JFK (Brad Neely | Austin, TX | 4:30)
Sometimes our memories of past presidents make them out to be a little more glorious in retrospect. Another hilarious animated musical presidential portrait from the maker of “George Washington” (Rooftop 7/4/07). See more of Brad’s films at Rooftop all summer long!

Germans in the Woods (Tim Rauch | Brooklyn, NY | 3:03)
Our memories of the so-called “Good War” often leave out many of the brutal facts that haunt veterans like Joseph Robertson, who in this animated documentary from America's national oral history project, StoryCorps, remembers a German soldier he killed at the Battle of the Bulge.

Left In Baghdad (Peter Jordan & John Kane | Palo Alto, CA | 12:00)
The current quagmire in Iraq leaves fresher memories and scars, as seen in this sobering and subtle portrait of a family man on the first day of the rest of his life, which he must now live without his left arm.

City (Topaz Adizes | Brooklyn, NY | 8:00)
This thought-provoking narrative short is part of “The Americana Project,” a collaborative film that explores the various shades of the American identity from a global perspective. This prototypically New York interaction—between a foreign cabdriver and a harried American—follows some unexpected lines of discussion.

A Loud Color (Brent Joseph | New Orleans, LA | 6:30)
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 and explains why re-opening his center after the storm is more important than ever before. | Brought to Rooftop by the Media That Matters Film Festival.

W. (The Vikings | Los Angeles, CA | 2:00)
Here at Solar One, a non-profit center dedicated to the study and promotion of alternative forms of energy, we leave you with the story of a curious outcast who finally found his place in the world, an issue that extends well beyond America but needs to be addressed here and now.