Rooftop Films was founded on the screening of short films, so it seems only fitting to go back to our roots with a week chock full of fantastic shorts! From the Lower East Side to Downtown Brooklyn, we hope to see you at these vibrantly themed events on (you guessed it) our city’s finest rooftops.
The fun begins tonight at Metrotech Commons with Interface Innovation, an evening devoted to technology and the arts. Our friends at the Brooklyn Experimental Media Center and CITE Game Innovation Lab, both from NYU-Poly, have created new interactive works that complement the data-moshed theme of our selected shorts. We’ll be showing six films at this FREE event full of comedy, romance, drama, suspense and of course, technological flair. Musical guest, Hot Sugar, will finish off the night with a performance. As one of our filmmakers states so eloquently in his video: “It’s cool cuz it’s nerdy!”
Flash forward to Friday night and it’s time to pay tribute to the Big Apple with a collection of New York Non-Fiction shorts screening on Open Road Rooftop in Manhattan. Each of these eight films offers a unique look into the boroughed and bustling city we call home. Our filmmakers have depicted the explosive sensory overload of synesthesia in the city, documented their exhausting commutes, followed a Staten Island man who spent a fortune warning the world of his predicted apocalypse, and invited us into their hair salon that services women struggling with cancer (among other fascinating narratives). Explore hidden niches of the city you never knew existed courtesy of these nine directors.
Saturday marks the final event of the week with an evening of Absurd Animation. Experimental instrumentalist band Wires.Under.Tension will kick off the evening with a musical performance and the presentation of their animated music video, followed by eleven more outlandish, goofy, tragic, hilarious, somber and ultimately enjoyable animations to carry out our theme of the night. Sure to be a highlight is Adventure Time creator Pendelton Ward and Tom Herpich’s Sundance-selected short “Thank You.”
We’re proud to showcase the work of these talented filmmakers as they share their stories with us across the city!