Rooftop Films: Dangerous Docs (Event Over)

SATURDAY MAY 23
DANGEROUS DOCS
You can't make this stuff up.
 
Venue: on the roof of the Brooklyn Tech
Address: 29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn) MAP
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by Drink Up Buttercup
9:00PM: Films
Tickets: $9-$25
Presented in partnership with: Crunch, Cinereach, New York magazine & Brooklyn Technical High School

No refunds. In the event of rain, the show will be indoors at the same locations. Seating is first come, first served. Physical seats are limited. This means you may not get a chair. You are welcome to bring a blanket and picnic.

MAP | SOUND FIX

There is no denying the simple pleasure provided by a film that captures some bizarre and extreme phenomenon from some distant corner of the world, and Rooftop’s Dangerous Docs program brings together 6 such gems. Teenagers in Soweto dance atop moving trains, Australian preservationists rescue bizarre endangered chickens, a sideshow performer turns amputation into a spectator sport, and men travel from all across the world to compete in the World Beard and Mustache Championships.

Of course, a good non-fiction film does more than merely document a spectacle, and each of these films also delves into the motivations of the subjects. We find out how an African teenager justifies risking his life for a fleeting moment of local fame; we hear about the exhilaration the artist feels as he turns his own body into a shredded canvas; we witness the love one troubled man feels for a flock of squawking birds; we get a glimpse of the quirky vanity that drives someone to grow a mustache that protrudes 16 inches off the side of his face.

Even after all this, it’s not likely that we will all be able to fully relate to these individuals—they often make decisions that most of us would never even consider. But we do, hopefully, come to understand some of the forces that drive them to such extremes of behavior. And, whatever their motivations, it is certainly fun to watch.

Films:
Lila (Broadcast Club | France | 12:00)
A brilliant cinematic explosion of sheer energy, capturing the exhilarating feeling of finding freedom in nature and escaping from society to build new, fleeting communities in the hills, valleys and dunes.

Splitting Hairs (F. Stone Roberts | Austria/Germany/U.S. | 26:00)
Facial hair championships began 30 years ago in the Black Forest of Germany. “Beard Clubs” organized social gatherings that gradually became competitive. Over time, the championships drew competitors from across Europe, but it was not until the early 1990’s that American pioneers Bruce Roe and Phil Olsen discovered the event. With rivalries boiling, Phil, Bruce and Gary travel to Berlin to face a gauntlet of the best beards and moustaches in the world. As Bruce puts it: "the competition is the toughest I have ever seen.” There is no lack of bravado on display, as one would expect from a competition that attracts a man with a beard that resembles two giant danishes attached to his cheeks. One competitor exclaims, “I am to the World Beard and Moustache Championships what Pope John Paul II was to the fall of Communism.” Yes, my hirsute friend. Yes you are.

Sanza Hanza (King Surfer) (Nadia Hallgren | Soweto, South Africa | 6:30)
Sanza Hanza follows V.I.R.U.S. (Very Intelligent Riders Usually Survive), a gang of young train surfers in Soweto searching for the ultimate ride or ‘play’, as they call it, testing their already weak embrace on mortality. They hang off of the sides and tops of passenger trains, dancing freestyle the whole time, dodging electrified cables, stray pipes and obstructions, all for their own amusement

Chop Off (M.M. Serra | New York | 6:00)
Chop Off exposes the dark, fearful recesses of the human psyche by filming the body modification of performance artist R.K. Literally risking "life and limb," R.K.'s body is his medium, and amputation is his art. The very act of filming him often stimulates a cascading range of emotions, from disgust to fear to dread.

Lies (Jonas Odell | Sweden | 13:00)
Jonas Odell (Never Like the First Time, Rooftop ’08) brings us three perfectly true stories about lies. Winner of the Jury Prize for Best International Short Film at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Rare Chicken Rescue (Randall Wood | Australia | 26:00)
After a long battle with depression, Queensland rare chicken breeder Mark Tully is now on a mission to protect the endangered chickens to which he owes his life. Winner of the Jury Prize for Best Short Documentary at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival. 


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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 our 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 low-cost equipment to artists and non-profits, and produces new independent films. At Rooftop Films, we bring the underground outdoors. For more information and updates please visit our website at www.rooftopfilms.com.