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2007 Rooftop Films: Season Kick Off

By Mike Everleth ⋅ May 28, 2007

If it’s summer (it is, isn’t it?), then it’s time for the annual New York City open air screening series, Rooftop Films, which is now in it’s 11th year.

To kick off this year, they will be holding a special free screening on Sat. June 2, then their regular season kicks off on Fri. June 8. Every weekend after that will feature two nights of screenings, Fri. and Sat., which adds up to an amazing 39 shows through the end of September. Some of them are feature films and others are all-shorts nights. As for the shorts nights, right now, I don’t have the lineup of the shorts they’re showing, but if I get those in as we get closer to event nights, I’ll try to update. June happens to be, of course, mostly shorts programs with a few features thrown in. And they are:

June 2
“Black + White = Grey”
Free screening. A mixed bag of short films, including comedies, dramas and documentaries, all about deception.
On the lawn at Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn. Lineup:
Last Stop, dir. Tatiana Doroshenko & Greg Williams
Baker’s Men, dir. Tamika Guishard
Silences, dir. Octavio Warnock-Graham
Surface of Things, dir. Keith Davis
Quasar Hernandez, dir. Nathan & David Zellner
Pop Foul, dir. Moon Molson
Still Standing, dir. Youth Organizers TV
Scaredycat, dir. Andy Blubaugh

June 8
“This is what we mean by short films…”
Opening night! On the roof of the Open Road Rooftop Project (Lower East Side, Manhattan). Lineup:
A Lesson in Filmmaking, dir. Nacho Vigalondo
Wir Sind Dir Treu (We Are The Faithful), dir. Michael Koch Koln
For(r)est in the Des(s)ert, dir. Luiso Berdejo
By Modern Measure, dir. Matthew Lessner
Everything Will Be OK, dir. Don Hertzfeldt (Read the review)
Dog Days, dir. Geoffroy de Crecy
The Little Gorilla, dir. Harry Kellerman
The Tube With a Hat, dir. Radu Jude

June 15
“New York Non-Fiction”
Short films about the sides of NYC you don’t normally see. On the roof of the Open Road Rooftop Project. Lineup:
Bodega, dir. Casimir Nozkowski. Dallas Penn and Rafi Kam
The Guarantee, dir. Jesse Epstein and Robert Castillo
Bongo Barbershop, dir. Charlie Ahearn
A Son’s Sacrifice, dir. Yoni Brook
Arc Hive – Battery & Night Set, dir. Gregory King
Toxic Brooklyn, dir. Trace Crutchfield
There Goes the View, dir. Carolyn Macartney
Bike Kill 4, dir. Nick Golebiewski
Meditation, dir. Neil Ira Needleman
Sonic Youth: ‘Do You Believe in Rapture?’, dir. Braden King

June 16
“INDUSTRIANCE™ – Disaster Management”
Short films in which the future isn’t always what it might seem. On the roof of The Old American Can Factory (Gowanus / Park Slope, Brooklyn). Lineup:
Professor Nieto: Carlitopolis, dir. Luis Nieto
Joe: Body Electric, dir. Jack Beck
Toxic Brooklyn, dir. Trace Crutchfield
Atomium in/out, dir. Marie-Francois Plissart
Profession Nieto: Far West, dir. Luis Nieto
Dear Bill Gates, dir. Sarah J. Christman
Metalosis Meligna, dir. Floris Kaayk
Energie!, dir. Thorsten Fleisch (Watch online)
Message for the Neighbors, dir. Pritt Tender
Postman, dirs. Mischa Rozema & Postpanic

June 22
“Eternal Love”
Short, romantic films.
On the roof of the Open Road Rooftop Project.

June 23
Losers and Winners, dirs. Ulrike Franke, Michael Loeken
A documentary on the moving of an abandoned factory from Germany to China, focusing primarily on the 400 Chinese workers whose job it is to dismantle the plant and rebuild it in their home country.
Screening location TBA.

June 29
“Trapped Inside the Machine”
Short films on the topic of fate.
On the lawn of Automotive High School (Williamsburg, Brooklyn).

June 30
Perpetual Movements, dir. Edgar Pera.
A documentary tribute to the legendary, late Portugese guitarist Carlos Paredes.
Screening location TBA.

To get more info on these films and perhaps get lineups quicker than I can post ’em, please visit the extensive Rooftop Films website. I also got note that they’re looking for volunteers, so go sign up. You could always end up like this dude.