El Planeta

El Planeta is a dark comedy exploring contemporary poverty, female desire, and the always complicated filial relationships of mothers and daughters. A daughter forced to return home after the death of her father, reconnects with her eccentric mother, hustling to maintain the semblances of their middle-class lifestyle in the face of an impending eviction. Over the course of the week, we watch as the daughter’s hopes are tested as she attempts to use her sexuality as a means of escape. Meanwhile the mother grifts her way to certain security — the care of a jail cell. Courtesy of Utopia.

Co-presented by The RIZOMA Festival. RIZOMA is a concept-based international film festival based in Madrid, specializing in US independents and spanish-language auteur filmmaking. Born in a mountain village and quickly transplanted to Madrid, RIZOMA has been growing steadily since 2010, intricately combining film with art, music and performance. Some American films that have had their European, Spanish or Madrid premiere with RIZOMA are Detropia, Frances Ha, Whiplash, I Play with the Phrase Eachother, The History of the Human Beat Box, First Winter, Rat Film, Skate Kitchen, A Space Program, The Sound of Silence, RBG and Kajillionaire and some of the artists that have participated in RIZOMA include John Waters, David Lynch, Laurie Anderson, Crystal Moselle, Tom Sachs, Christine Hallquist, Yuko Shimizu, Theo Anthony and Dan Deacon. This special screening of El Planeta marks the first of hopefully many collaborations between RIZOMA and Rooftop Films.

A Chinese-American restaurant worker falls in love with an 18th century Qing dynasty god who visits him at night and leads him on a journey of sexual awakening and self discovery.