Rooftop Films Announces Schedule, Venues, and Ticket Sales for 19th annual Rooftop Films Summer Series

TIME MACHINES, TANGERINES, AND ELECTRIC QUEENS: THE 2015 SUMMER SERIES OPENING WEEKEND AND FEATURES LINEUP!

Rooftop Films is proud to announce its Opening Weekend, Features and select highlights of the 19th annual Rooftop Films Summer Series. This year’s series will feature over 40 outdoor screenings in 19 spectacular venues, with huge crowds, live music, special enhancements and the best in new, independent films from around the world.

Rooftop Films is a is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit organization whose mission is to engage and inspire diverse communities by showing movies in outdoor locations, producing new films, teaching filmmaking to young people, and renting low-cost equipment to artists and non-profits. At Rooftop Films, they bring underground movies outdoors.

Rooftop Films Industry City

The Rooftop Films 2015 Summer Series of “Underground Movies Outdoors,” will run every weekend from May 29-August 22. Programming for the 2015 Summer Series includes feature-length films and programs of shorts, all new, all independent. Most of the feature films are either New York, US or World Premieres. Most screenings will include a filmmaker Q & A. Films represent a diverse range of documentaries, fiction, drama, comedy animation and more. We couple films with venues, and connect artists with audiences so that each event is unique and memorable.

Rooftop Films Brookfield Place. Photo Credit: Darial Sneed

The Series kick things off on Friday, May 29th, at the principal venue, Industry City, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, with some of the greatest new short films from around the world. The event will include the New York premiere of David Sandberg’s highly anticipated and hilarious short film, Kung Fury, which raised $630,000 on Kickstarter and the trailer for which has racked up more than 10,000,000 views online. The following night, Saturday, May 30th, it moves to the roof of The Old American Can Factory, in Gowanus, Brooklyn, to present Bob Byington’s charming off-beat comedy, 7 Chinese Brothers, starring Jason Schwartzman as an irrepressible man-child attempting to pull his life together and win over his boss at the Quick-Lube. David Sandberg will be in attendance opening night, Bob Byington and Jason Schwartzman will be in attendance on May 30th, and both evenings will feature live music before each screening and a post-screening after party, featuring Signature Sponsor New Amsterdam Spirits. Tickets for both events are on sale now at www.rooftopfilms.com. Rooftop Films members are admitted free of charge. Memberships are available at www.rooftopfilms.com/2015/info/membership.

Rooftop Films – The Old American Can Factory. Photo Credit: Irwin Seow

It will continue throughout the summer with screenings each week in a variety of stellar outdoor locations. With live performances, audience interaction, and enhanced themed events at amazing venues, Rooftop turns each film screening into an unforgettable event.

Rooftop Films Summer Series. Photo Credit: Dillon DeWaters

The full feature film slate includes exceptional fiction films, such as Sean Baker’s warm-hearted yet riotously entertaining Tangerine; Trey Shults’ powerful SXSW-winning Krisha; Frank V. Ross’ delicately personal Bloomin’ Mud Shuffle; Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s bone-chilling psychological thriller Goodnight Mommy; and many more fantastic films, including Zachary Treitz’ Rooftop Films Edgeworx grantee Men Go To Battle, Joe Swanberg’s Digging for Fire, and more.

The Series will also highlight powerful, innovative and invigorating documentaries. This year’s slate includes non-fiction discoveries from all across the world: Crystal Moselle’s critically acclaimed The Wolfpack; Khalik Allah’s ground-breaking Field Niggas; Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel’s wildly entertaining Finders Keepers; Jason Zeldes’ Romeo is Bleeding; Hao Zhou’s The Chinese Mayor; Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken’s Divine Location; and many more great docs, including Welcome to Leith, Kings of the Wind and Electric Queens, Spartacus and Cassandra, and Sam Klemke’s Time Machine, just to name a few.

Rooftop Films Brooklyn Grange. Photo Credit: Irwin Seow

Rooftop Films Socrates Sculpture Park

This summer, new editions of signature themed short film programs will return, including two Romantic Shorts screenings, a New York Non-Fiction program, two showcases of groundbreaking animation, and many big thrillers, comedies, docs and dramas in small packages.

This year’s series also includes a number of special events and partnerships including the annual South by South West – SXSW Weekend, a Sundance Short Film program, a Swedish Focus in partnership with the Swedish Film Institute, a presentation of The Skin Deep’s {The And} interactive event, and more special screenings to be announced soon.

All shows include live-music before the screenings and most include filmmaker Q&As and complementary after parties. The Summer Series will also include more than 13 programs of short films, and there will be additional feature films and special events announced shortly.

THE 2015 SUMMER SERIES SCHEDULE
Friday, May 29th
On the Rooftops of Industry City, 220 36th Street, Sunset Park
This is What We Mean by Short Films
OPENING NIGHT! Rooftop launches our 19th year with spectacular short films about cinematic escapes.
FILMS: All Your Favorite Shows! (Danny Madden); La Nuit Américaine d’Angélique (Pierre-Emmanuel Lyet & Joris Clerté); Actor Seeks Role (Michael Tyburski); Butter Ya’Self (Julian Petschek); The Land (Erin Davis); Lesley the Pony Has an A+ Day! (Christian Larrave); Kung Fury (David Sandberg); Thank Ewe (Keith Wilson).

Saturday, May 30th
Old American Can Factory, 232 3rd Street, Gowanus
7 Chinese Brothers (Bob Byington)
Bob Byington’s latest hangdog comedy, starring Jason Schwartzman and his trusty sidekick, Arrow.

Thursday, June 4th – (FREE SHOW)
Metrotech Commons, Downtown Brooklyn
Sundance Film Festival Shorts
Highlights from Sundance 2015 include wild, weird and wonderful short films.
FILMS: Palm Rot (Ryan Gillis); The Face of Ukraine (Kitty Green); Papa Machete (Jonathan David Kane); Mynarski Death Plummet (Matthew Rankin); Volta (Stella Kyriakopoulos); Pop-Up Porno: m4m (Stephen Dunn); Mulignans (Shaka King); Myrna the Monster (Ian Samuels); Storm Hits Jacket (Paul Cabon).

Friday, June 5th
Old American Can Factory, Gowanus
Spartacus & Cassandra (Ioanis Nuguet)
An intimate cinematic portrait of two Roma children forced to become their parents’ parents.

Saturday, June 6th
Industry City, Sunset Park
The Wolfpack (Crystal Moselle)
Brothers locked away from society find a window to the outside through their love of film. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Wednesday, June 10th
Solar One, Kips Bay
Desperate Measures: Short, Spellbinding Mysteries
Uncanny short films about images that burn into our minds and stain our brains.
FILMS: Nugget (Sara Salovaara); Gun Shy (Sam Goetz); The Breath (Fabian Kaiser); Teeth (Tom Brown & Daniel Gray); Slope Park (Dudi Dorham); Sea Devil (Dean Marcial & Brett Potter); Unicorn (Grace Nayoon Rhee); A Million Miles Away (Jennifer Reeder).

Friday, June 12th
Old American Can Factory, Gowanus
Welcome to Leith (Michael Beach Nichols & Christopher K. Walker)
Aryan militants invade a small North Dakota town. The town fights back.

Saturday, June 13th
Industry City, Sunset Park
Love Comes Later: Romantic Short Films
These strangely funny, lovingly sexy, romantic short films are sure to turn you on (to something).
FILMS: My Baby 8L3W (Neozoon); Bottom Feeders (Matt Reynolds); Pop-Up Porno: m4f (Stephen Dunn); SMILF (Frankie Shaw); Brontosaurus (Robert Putka); Prends Moi (Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette & André Turpin); Heartless (Nara Normande & Tião); Serenity (Jack Dunphy); Cutaway (Kazik Radwanski); Pop-Up Porno: f4m (Stephen Dunn); AND A SECRET SNEAK PREVIEW FILM.

FILMBUFF AND VICE TO RELEASE BERLINALE HIT PRINCE

THE WILDLY HIP COMING OF AGE STORY TO UNVEIL IN THEATERS AND ON VOD AUGUST 14^TH, 2015

FilmBuff in partnership with VICE Media announced today the upcoming release of PRINCE (PRINS), the feature debut from acclaimed Dutch music video director Sam de Jong.  PRINCE first debuted at the 2015 Berlinale, where it received an honorary mention for the coveted Crystal Bear for Best First Feature.  Produced by 100% Halal, PRINCE will be available in North America in theaters and all major VOD (Video On Demand) platforms starting August 14^th, 2015. The deal was negotiated by Sam Scupp of FilmBuff and Charlotte Mickie of Mongrel International on behalf of the filmmakers.

PRINCE will be available in North America in select theaters and all major VOD platforms including Amazon Instant Video, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Google Play, iTunes, Sony PlayStation Store, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Vudu and Xbox Video.

PRINCE follows 17-year-old Ayoub, played by newcomer Ayoub Elasri, on his journey into manhood while vying for the love of the neighborhood beauty Laura (Sigrid ten Napel), and the respect of the local tough-guy gang. Although Ayoub dreams of getting the girl and the neighborhood crown, he has little to show for his aspirations until he meets Lamborghini-driving Kalpa, played by Dutch rapper Freddy Tratlehner, local kingpin and alleged sociopath, who turns Ayoub into the talk of the town.

“PRINCE is a very dear and personal project,” says director Sam de Jong.  “We shot the film only one mile away from where I grew up – in a very specific social environment.  For the project to cross borders and travel the world is a dream come true.  I hope U.S audiences learn something about urban Dutch life and struggles and additionally discover that we are all struggling with the same issues in the western world.”

PRINCE was hailed by critics’ following its debut at the 2015 Berlinale’s Generation 14Plus section.  Screen International praised, “Its stylistic brio makes PRINCE a live wire!” while The Hollywood Reporter raved that the film is “distinguished by its light tone and idiosyncratic handle on genre conventions,” and that it has a “quirky spirit that makes it easy to enjoy.”

This is the second partnership between FilmBuff and VICE Media, as the two previously worked together to release All This Mayhem in 2014. The company distributes compelling video and films across all media, with a focus on the digital space. FilmBuff’s deep relationships within the creative community provide access to cutting-edge content that consistently informs, entertains and inspires audiences around the world.

“We’re thrilled to be teaming up with VICE again and we are honored to be working with such a talented filmmaking team” says FilmBuff’’s Sam Scupp. “PRINCE is a very special film – it’s wild and hip and utterly heartfelt at its core.”

VICE’s Executive Creative Director Danny Gabai says, “PRINCE heralds the arrival of an extraordinary new voice in cinema, writer / director Sam de Jong, and we couldn’t be more excited that people are going to have the opportunity to discover him. His movie mixes teen comedy, freaky surrealism and super emotional drama in a world that feels totally natural — like its own mini-universe. He’s going to be blowing people’s minds for a long time.”

“I am so proud of the film, of Sam and the team who worked so hard to make this film possible,” says Gijs Kerbosch, Producer at 100% Halal.  “Working side by side with our friends at VICE was a great experience, and we are super excited that we have joined forces with FilmBuff to release the film in North America.”

PRINCE is produced by Gijs Kerbosch, Roel Oude Nijhuis, and Gijs Determeijer of 100% Halal and by VICE Media (Fishing Without Nets, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, All This Mayhem). The focus of teh company is to create purely creative work through documentaries, fiction, commercials, photography and music videos. In 2014, they released three documentaries (selected at Hotdocs and Locarno 2014), produced two short fiction films (selected at Berlinale 2014), over 35 commercial shoots, over 100 photo shoots and have worked with clients such as ADIDAS, EA GAMES, HEINEKEN, FOX SPORTS, CONVERSE, CITIZEN and NIKE. Today, 100% Halal represents a steady group of 20 directors and photographers for commercial work (most renowned are JOHAN KRAMER, KAREN ROSETZSKY), and is surrounded by a large group of creative people, connected to people and networks all over the world.

VICE is a global youth media company and content creation studio. Launched in 1994 as a punk magazine, VICE now operates out of 36 countries, and has expanded into a multimedia network, including the world’s premier source for original online video, VICE.COM; an international network of digital channels; an award winning television & feature film production studio including an Emmy-Winning HBO Show, the Sundance Award winning film FISHING WITHOUT NETS and a overall film partnership with 20th Century Fox; a magazine; a record label; and a book-publishing division.

The feature production arm of VICE Media, VICE’s feature film division is a curated slate of visionary and culturally focused films blurring the lines of documentary and narrative fiction. With numerous projects in development and production,  new and emerging talent is given a voice in independent film, affording audiences a fresh perspective and stories they can’t get anywhere else.

 

 

WHITNEY INAUGURATES NEW EMERGING ARTIST SERIES, PRESENTING U.S. DEBUTS OF JARED MADERE, RACHEL ROSE, AND SOPHIA AL-MARIA

In conjunction with the opening of its new building in the Meatpacking District, the Whitney Museum of American Art reaffirms its commitment to young and emerging artists with an ongoing series dedicated to presenting their debut solo exhibitions in the United States. To inaugurate this new initiative, the Museum has announced that three young artists, Jared Madere (b. 1986), Rachel Rose (b. 1986), and Sophia Al-Maria (b. 1983), will receive their first one-person exhibitions in the country over the next year. Since its founding in 1930, the Whitney has had a long and consistent engagement with living artists, often presenting work early in their careers in the Breuer building’s Lobby Gallery or at the Museum’s former Altria satellite branch (1983–2008). With this new emerging series, the Museum builds upon its legacy of introducing upcoming artists to a broader public. In addition, the artists will work closely with the Whitney’s curatorial staff, and will be invited to fully explore the flexible nature of the exhibition spaces in the Museum’s dynamic new building.

Associate curator Christopher Y. Lew, who is organizing all three shows, stated, “The Whitney has had a long tradition of supporting emerging artists which goes back to the Lobby Gallery exhibitions at the Breuer building in the late 1960s. We want to provide a platform for emerging artists at this crucial point in their careers and present to a broad audience the many kinds of new art being made today.”

The three emerging artists to receive their first U.S. solo exhibitions follow:

Jared Madere
October 16, 2015–January 3, 2016

Jared Madere (b. 1986), Untitled (detail), 2015. newspaper, wigs, flowers, blood, toilet, frozen peas, chair, coat hanger; dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and David Lewis Gallery. image courtesy Le Magasin Grenoble

Jared Madere (b. 1986), who is based in New York, will create a new installation in the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Gallery on the first floor, which is free to the public. Madere primarily creates installation-based works featuring disparate materials such as salt, flowers, foodstuffs, and plastic tarps that are assembled and aggregated in a manner that insists on their material connections to society, economics, industry, and human emotion. For Madere, the meanings and associations of objects are never stripped away—floral arrangements can point to longing or sadness and a burnt coat is imbued with isolation and dejection. Madere has participated in numerous exhibitions at venues including David Lewis, New York; Bortolami Gallery, New York; Michael Thibault Gallery, Los Angeles; Croy Nielsen, Berlin; and Le Magasin, Grenoble, France; and he is also the founder of Bed-Stuy Love Affair, an artist-run gallery focused on emerging art.

Rachel Rose
October 30, 2015–February 7, 2016

Rachel Rose (b. 1986), still from A Minute Ago, 2014. HD video, 8:43 min. Courtesy Pilar Corrias, London

Based in New York, Rachel Rose (b. 1986) is known for her striking video installations that deftly merge moving images and sound with nuanced environments. Her video and installations address how we define mortality and her subjects range from zoos and a robotics perception lab, to Philip Johnson’s Glass House, the American Revolutionary War and 19th century park design. She anchors these sites in a range of perspectives on death—from our vulnerability to catastrophe to the impact of history on our lifespan. She investigates specific sites and ideas by connecting them to broader, related subject matter. Rose’s presentation in the Whitney’s fifth-floor Kaufman Gallery will physically engage with the architecture of the Museum’s new Renzo Piano–designed building. Using her own footage and found material, Rose addresses the ubiquity of images and how it generates meaning in contemporary society. Rachel Rose lives and works in New York. In addition to her forthcoming solo exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art, she will helm solo shows at Castello di Rivoli, Frieze London,  and The Aspen Art Museum.

Sophia Al-Maria
Summer 2016

Sophia Al Maria (b. 1983), still from Between Distant Bodies, 2013. Video Installation on 2 cuboglass TVs. Courtesy the artist and The Third Line

Sophia Al-Maria (b. 1983) is an artist, writer, and filmmaker who studied comparative literature at the American University in Cairo, and aural and visual cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. For the past few years, she has been carrying out research around the concept of Gulf Futurism. Al Marie is part of an emerging generation of international artists who are mining the intersections of technology, culture, and identity. Her primary interests are around the isolation of individuals via technology and reactionary Islam, the corrosive elements of consumerism and industry and the erasure of history and the blinding approach of a future no one is ready for. She explores these ideas with certain guidebooks and ideas including but not limited to, Zizek’s The Desert of the Unreal, As-Sufi’s Islamic Book of the Dead, as well as imagery from Islamic eschatology, post humanism and the global mythos of Science Fiction.

Sophia Al Maria, The Watchers No. 1 – 5, 2014, Video installation, Still. © 2013 All rights reserved by the Artist & The Third Line™ of The Third Concept LLC.Crafted by LA Digital

Sophia Al Maria, Future Tents, 2009, Performance at Art Dubai 2009. © 2013 All rights reserved by the Artist & The Third Line™ of The Third Concept LLC.Crafted by LA Digital

Sophia Al Maria, Slaughter, 2013, Video, Still. © 2013 All rights reserved by the Artist & The Third Line™ of The Third Concept LLC.Crafted by LA Digital

In 2016, she will premiere a new video at the Whitney, inspired by the Gruen Transfer, a phenomenon in which a controlled environment—combined with visual and auditory stimuli—is used to distract and manipulate consumers. Her work has been exhibited at the Gwangju Biennale, the New Museum in New York, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Her writing has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, Five Dials, Triple Canopy and Bidoun. Her first solo exhibition, Virgin with a Memory, was presented at Cornerhouse, Manchester, in 2014 and her memoir, The Girl Who Fell to Earth, was published by Harper Perennial in 2012.  She currently lives and works in Doha, Qatar.