The Show Must Go On
Short films about people who find meaning and value in the pieces and places that others have left behind.

***Sold Out ***
Thursday, July 26, 2007
8:30 - Live Music by Drew and the Medicinal Pen (Details)

9:00 - Movies Begin

On the roof of the Westbeth Artists' Community
55 Bethune Street
Directions: Take the A/C/E/L to 14th St. & 8th Ave. or 1/2/3 to 14th St. & 7th Ave. Walk west on 14th Street to Washington St. Make a left on Washington and walk downtown 6 blocks to Bethune Street.
In the event of rain the show will go on at the same location, so bring an umbrella!

Presented in partnership with - Friends of the High line, Westbeth Artists Community, IFC.com, and New York magazine.

The Show Must Go On
For 11 years now, Rooftop Films has been hosting public events in reclaimed public spaces: industrial rooftops, refurbished piers, empty islands in the middle of the harbor. It is part of our mission not only to show people mind-opening movies they won't see anywhere else, but to take them to places they would never go. We forge associations between art and the areas in which it is seen, and engage the public with unseen cinema and unexplored communities.

There is no place in New York City that is a more coveted secret space than the High Line. The High Line is an elevated railway, built between 1929-1934 and connecting directly to the industrial buildings along 10th Avenue (once called "Death Avenue" because of the number of train-related fatalities that occurred before the trains were taken off the streets). But by the 1950s, the rise of shipping by truck began to render the rails irrelevant, and by 1980 the High Line was completely abandoned.

In Summer 2008, the High Line will open to the public, creating new York's first ever elevated park and walkway. There will be spaces to walk, relax, watch theater and musical performance, and perhaps even movies. Unfortunately, the High Line is not yet open to the public, but to celebrate the ongoing progress towards the opening of this great new public space, Rooftop Films and Friends of the High Line are proud to co-present this screening of short films about reclaimed spaces on the beautiful roof of the Westbeth Artists Community at 55 Bethune Street in the West Village. The Westbeth building once was attached to a part of the old High Line, and though the High Line in this area of the Village has been demolished, there is still one very small section of track still attached to the Westbeth building.

Friends of the High Line (FHL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and reuse of the High Line. FHL believes the historic High Line rail structure offers New Yorkers the opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind recreational amenity: a grand, public promenade that can be enjoyed by all residents and visitors in New York City. When the High Line is converted to public open space, you will be able to rise up from the streets and step into a place apart, tranquil and green. You will see the Hudson River, the Manhattan skyline, and secret gardens inside city blocks as you've never seen them before. We hope that this program of short films about people who find meaning and value in the pieces and places that others have left behind inspires will tide us all over until 2008, when we can all head up to High Line to enjoy the brilliant new views.

THE FILMS:
Flotsam / Jetsam (Nathan & David Zellner | Austin, TX | 5:15)
"The Seven Seas. The largest, most treacherous collection of water in the entire world. The thirst for adventure pumps through my veins like blood from a turnip. There is no room for error, every detail has been planned to the nth degree. Tanning lotion to protect us from the sun, oranges from scurvy, but nothing can protect us from the primal horrors lurking in the darkest depths below..."

- Co-Director David Zellner's production diary.

Toxic Brooklyn (Trace Crutchfield & Vice: VBS TV | Brooklyn | 7:00)
Real estate agents will tell you that Williamsburg is one of the hottest and most active neighborhoods in the country. But environmental scientists and unhealthy residents will also tell you that Williamsburg is pretty “hot,” if not downright radioactive.

** This film is part of a 7-part series about the North Brooklyn environment. Watch them all at VBS.tv.

Launch (Brian Doyle | Brooklyn & Cape Canaveral, FL | 24:00)
Funded in part by the Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund. Shots of a decayed NASA site, culminating in the spectacular launch of a space shuttle.

Harrachov (Matt Hulse & Joost van Veen | Scotland | 10:20)
Piece by piece, a menacing machine-system is constructed. Combining live action, stop-frame animation and a kinetic sculpture, Harrachov explores the effect of an arcane force that, like a black hole, exerts an irresistible power upon certain objects and materials.

FourDocs: The Collector
(Martin Hampton & Leonie Hampton | United Kingdom | 4:00)
A portrait of Christian Guienne, who has collected from the streets of his local town for 30 years. He gives us a tour of his extraordinary collection and an insight into his all-consuming obsession.

Salim Baba (Tim Sternberg | Brooklyn & India | 7:00)
Salim Muhammad has earned his living for 45 years by screening discarded film fragments for neighborhood children, on a hand-cranked projector bequeathed to him by his father. Salim runs this enterprise with the hope that his children will, in turn, inherit it from him.

The Show Must Go On (George Fort | Brooklyn | 3:30)
A mysterious singer and a group of animals are caught in a storm aboard a small party ship. As the ship sinks we are left to contemplate: is this merely the end of our crew or could it be the end of mankind?

Coney Island, USA (Craig Butta | Brooklyn | 8:00)
Ritchie, a down and out carnival hustler, struggles to survive the gentrification of Coney Island. With a new train station and more customers than ever, Ritchie is unable to evolve in this changing world. The film takes a glimpse into his last summer on Coney Island, the demise of his business and his unrequited love for a sideshow freak.

Motodrom (Joerg Wagner | Germany | 9:00)
The world of the hellriders in their wooden barrel: men and motorbikes, speed and stunts, gasoline and adrenaline. A dying fairground attraction, portrayed in a thrilling homage with 5000 rounds per minute.

God Provides (Brian Cassidy & Melanie Shatzky | Brooklyn & the Gulf Coast | 9:00)
God Provides is a portrait of unrelated people who are temporarily bound together in the immediate aftermath of a major natural disaster.

Nijuman No Borei (Jean-Gabriel Periot | France | 10:50)
200,000 phantoms - Hiroshima 1926-2006.

Music: Drew and the Medicinal Pen

Drew is a day-dreamer and late-sleeper. He is a doodler and entrepreneur. He also makes music, lots of music: cigarette-butts-in-Chinese-food, insomniac, vodka-breath, bedroom-pop music. Late at night he draws graffiti of dead TV's. He is scrappy and young, and moved to NYC from Philadelphia. He currently resides on the Lower East Side where he plays shows regularly and survives on a diet of tuna and spaghetti.