Rooftop has been programming innovative, romantic short films for the past two decades. Granted, our definition of “romance” is a bit… unique. From the age-old romance between a man and a dolphin, to a couple united by their love of guns, the Rooftop programmers like to celebrate love in all of it’s messy forms, but no evening came close to our 2010 “Hopelessly Devoted” program, during which our founder Mark Elijah Rosenberg proposed to his then-girlfriend-now-wife Stephanie Skaff. 6 years laters I asked Mark to reflect on the experience:
I’ve always thought of Rooftop Films as an inherently romantic place. You’re in this secret location, watching unknown films, with an intimate group of people, on a beautiful summer night. Of course, Rooftop has always meant a lot to me personally, and it’s also how I met the woman who would become my wife: she had a studio in the same building as the Rooftop office, and we invited her band to play at a show.
Knowing that with the Romantic Short Films program, and her band playing, we’d be able to have a lot of our family and close friends present for the event, I secretly planned for months to pop the question to her that night. She had no idea it was coming, but she loved it, as did the crowd, as I think you’re always in for something special at Rooftop Films romance night.
–MER
Watch the full proposal below, then buy tickets to our 2016 romance night “Is This Love?” tomorrow at The Old American Can Factory.