Rooftop Films
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Rooftop Films Announces Programming for Summer Series 2023
The New York City-based independent film non-profit Rooftop Films announces today the lineup for their annual Summer Series (presented by AMC Networks), the outdoor film festival that showcases new indie titles all summer long across all five boroughs. The 27th edition will kick off on Thursday, May 25th at Green-Wood Cemetery, and per tradition, will feature a night of live music and short film screenings. Each subsequent screening during Summer Series 2023 will include filmmaker Q&As, live performances and/or free after parties. This year’s festival will run from May 25 through August 24 with a total of 45 events. Highlights […]
by Filmmaker Staff on May 4, 2023 -
YouTube Body Horror: Penny Lane on Her Morgellons Disease Doc, The Pain of Others
In the era of fake news and alternative facts, and of people constructing their own custom-made versions of reality, Penny Lane’s The Pain of Others feels very timely, to say the least. Defying any expectations and preconceived notions, Lane’s perfectly titled “body-horror doc” acts as a challenging and thought-provoking sociological study of one unusual YouTube community (which, with Maxim Pozdorovkin’s Our New President also on the fest circuit this year, makes me think “YouTube behavioral psych” might soon become a thing). The Pain of Others weaves together the video diaries of three women suffering from Morgellons disease, a term given […]
by Lauren Wissot on Jun 25, 2018 -
Watch: Weiner, Set to Kick Off Rooftop Films Summer 2016 Series
New York’s Rooftop Films will kick off its 20th annual summer series on May 18 with a screening of Weiner, the winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s 2016 US documentary grand jury prize. Directed by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, Weiner will open in theaters May 20 and hit VOD on May 26 via Sundance Selects. As the trailer (above) shows, the documentary follows the now infamous former New York congressman on the 2013 mayoral campaign trail following a sexting scandal. In addition to Weiner, Rooftop Films will present the documentaries Don Juan and Life, Animated, as well as narrative titles Hunt for the Wilderpeople and White Girl. […]
by Paula Bernstein on Apr 26, 2016 -
Rooftop Filmmakers Fund Grant Winners for 2015 Announced
Rooftop Films, which is heading into its 20th season, has awarded 13 cash and service grants to alumni filmmakers. The GarboNYC Feature Film Grants were awarded to directors Kitty Green and Sebastian Silva. Green will receive a monetary grant of $15,000 to help finish her new film, Casting JonBenet, and Silva will receive a $10,000 grant to support his film, Demon Me. Casting JonBenet, a documentary about the infamous murder of child model JonBenet Ramsey, marks Green’s second feature after her 2013 documentary debut Ukraine Is Not a Brothel. Among the films Silva has directed are Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus and Nasty […]
by Paula Bernstein on Dec 10, 2015 -
Rooftop Films Announces 2015 Opening Weekend and Features Lineup
Rooftop Films, New York’s pre-eminent eventized screening series, has announced the first films from their 2015 Summer Series program. Set to open with a slew of shorts on May 29, including the excellent All Your Favorite Shows! and Actor Seeks Role from 25 New Faces Danny Madden and Michael Tyburski (respectively), the lineup includes festival favorites like The Wolfpack and Krisha, and some more relatively unseen titles like Bloomin’ Mud Shuffle, Spartacus & Cassandra, and Divine Location. Check out the films below and head to Rooftop’s Kickstarter to support the series in exchange for memberships. Friday, May 29, 2015 This is What We Mean by Short Films […]
by Sarah Salovaara on May 4, 2015 -
Adam Rifkin on Giuseppe Makes A Movie
With the maniacal film geek erudition of Quentin Tarantino and the madcap family values sensibility of John Waters, Giuseppe Andrews has made 30 independent features that you’ve most likely never heard of. And he probably couldn’t care less about that. A veteran of both Hollywood and indie film, Adam Rifkin, on the other hand, is a name familiar to any fan of the 1999 cult comedy Detroit Rock City, which Rifkin directed, and which starred Andrews alongside Edward Furlong. Now Rifkin and Andrews have teamed up again as Rifkin follows the director in his quest to shoot in two days […]
by Lauren Wissot on Jun 20, 2014 -
Help Support Rooftop Films 2014 Season!
Temperature rise can mean crumbling Antarctica glaciers, but, in New York at least, it also means the arrival of Rooftop Films. Now, this essential screening series is crowdsourcing a membership drive on Indiegogo that will support what is a killer 2014 line-up. Join by Wednesday at midnight and receive, in addition to tickets and season passes, bonus gifts including mugs, posters, DVDs and admission to VIP events. Check out this year’s lineup (which includes, this Saturday, our current cover film, Obvious Child) at the Rooftop site and consider joining — in the next day! — at the Indiegogo page.
by Scott Macaulay on May 13, 2014 -
2014 Rooftop Films Lineup
Rooftop Films, New York’s pre-eminent outdoor Summer showcase, announced their lineup this afternoon, with a good dose of circuit selections and niche titles. Following a venue shuffle, Gillian Robespierre’s Obvious Child will kick things off on May 17 at Sunset Park’s Industry City, ahead of the film’s June 6 release. In my interview with Robespierre for the Spring issue, the director credited Rooftop’s grants and warm reception of her short as a necessary boost when deciding to press ahead with the feature, so it should be a nice homecoming. The slate will also showcase fellow New Directors/New Films titles, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night and She’s […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Apr 22, 2014 -
Rooftop Grants Past and Present
As the summer draws to a close, another year of Rooftop Films grants is upon us. The New York-based nonprofit, though perhaps best known for its alfresco screenings across the four major boroughs, also functions as a dedicated support system to independent filmmakers in various stages of the production process. Beyond the traditional cash grants, Rooftop offers assistance in the form of equipment, workshops and post-production services. Those who have previously screened at the festival are exclusively eligible for grants through the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund, ensuring a continued, symbiotic partnership between exhibitor and artist. As such, this year’s recipients feature […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 19, 2013 -
Independent Film Week: 3 Films I Can’t Stop Thinking About, Part 3
The first rule of Film Week is that if you have time to blog during Film Week, you’re probably not doing it right. The second rule of Film Week is that if you attend, the best part is that you will meet all kinds of awesome people making awesome films. This may intimidate you. It’s okay. Be cool. I guess that’s the third rule of Film Week, bro: just be cool. When the good folks at Filmmaker Magazine asked me to blog about Film Week again this year, I knew I wanted to write about some of the awesome people making awesome […]
by Penny Lane on Sep 26, 2012
