Friday, June 10th, 2005
8:00 - Live music by Brian Straw (details below)
8:30 - Special performance by the comedy troupe Killing My Lobster, the hi/lo mothership.
9:00 - The Films
On the roof of Automotive High School
50 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Dress warmly (it's cooler on the roof than in the streets).
In the event of rain the show is indoors at the same location.
Hi/Lo Film Festival
San Francisco's Hi/Lo Film Festival returns to the roof with more of their uniquely madcap short films. The high concept/low budget films have been coming to the roof for six years now and this year's batch is the highest and lowest of them all.
THE FILMS:
Vagina Party (Directed by Michelle Dean | Produced by Killing My Lobster, 5:00)
The nation«s foremost political consultants present their campaign for a new America.
Diner Ladies (Directed by Paul Charney | Produced by Killing My Lobster, 3:00)
In today«s fast-paced service industry the fundamental question is still the same: is the customer always right or always crazy?
Secret Santa (Alan Harris, Brooklyn, NY, 3:00)
Good will during the holiday season is always appreciated, or is it?
Valium and Grass (Bill Macomber & Tony Schloss, Los Angeles, CA, 12:00)
Assembling a collage that is as much sonic as it is visual, these filmmakers set hypnotic beats to an eclectic mix of B-movie and home movie footage. Then they scribble over it, cut it up, fold it in on itself, and get deliriously trippy with it.
Neighbors (The DB, Brooklyn, NY, 6:00)
Before you "just browse" the neighbor's newspaper you might want to look over your shoulder.
Papillon D'Amour (Nicolas Provost, Brussels, 4:00)
A scene from Akira Kurosawa's Rashoman is turned on its side as a depiction of violence becomes mesmerizingly beautiful.
Rotation (Erin Hudson, Palo Alto, 3:00)
Every filmmaker who has ever driven along 580 by the windmills at the Altamont Pass has wanted to put them in a movie; now someone has.
Candy Girl (Charles Roxburgh, Burbank, CA, 5:00)
Gussied up in the bright red colors of a bygone Soviet era of space exploration, a girl races in her rocket to get back to the moon in time to save the universe and keep her dog from going crazy.
Weights and Measures (Tom Toro, Brooklyn, NY, 7:00)
In a startlingly elegant cinematic style a health inspector visits a Japanese restaurant and finds himself swept away in a macabre tale of sex, power and living up to code.
Petunia (Aaron Hughes, New York, NY, 3:00)
A charming love affair between a man and his flower bounces merrily along from this world into the next.
Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn (Neil Needleman, Katonah, NY, 7:00)
An earnest interest in the family history takes a screeching right-turn as Aunts Esther and Naomi disagree about the details.
I Can Say It (David Politzer, Syracuse, NY, 3:00)
Practice, theoretically, makes perfect. When it comes to those magic words, however, it's all in the timing.
Magic Hostess (Rob Tyler, Portland, OR, 4:00)
Charlie Chaplin critiqued industrialization with Modern Times and Jacques Tati satirized the automatic world in Playtime but here is a more reverent tribute to the wonders of 20th century technology.
Nature's Blueprints (Mike Seely, 10:00)
Director of Hush (Rooftop 7/9/04). Architect Eugene Tsui plumbs the depths of nature's wisdom seeking inspiration for his architectural designs. Nature's Blueprints takes you on a trip to the edges of Tsui's imagination. His fantastic structures provoke questions about the future of our built environments and our relationship to the natural world.
Mobius (Julie Kahn, Miami, FL, 4:00)
It's like a trip to the ballet, except with lawn mowers and weed-wackers.
Good Strong Roof (Tony Gault, Englewood, CO, 6:00)
On the one foot this is the story of a man's lifelong struggle to keep his toenails under control; on the other it may very well be a story about making your peace with who you are.
Spam-ku: I won a haiku contest about spam (Steven Tsuchida, Los Angeles, CA, 5:00)
If the X-files had a penchant for Japanese poetry (and for a certain Hormel meat-based product) you might get a metaphysical comedy like this.
Dark-Bright-Red (Danann Breathnach, London, UK, 9:00)
Using crisp imagery and a taut script, a narrator chronicles the trivial and profound experiences of a foreigner making sense of her menial job, her new tongue and her own aspirations.
Financial Advice (Fritz Donnelly, New York, NY, 5:00)
The Wall Street Journal never tells it like it is. But alone in his apartment, Fritz breaks down all you need to know about taking stock of your assets, inventorying your friends, and hiding your cash in your closet.
THE MUSIC:
Noise folk rocker Brian Straw (7/11/03) returns to the rooftop from Ohio.
