Announcing the Official Selections of the 2017 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival
The Art of Brooklyn Film Fest — the only festival in the world exclusively devoted to work that emerges from the Brooklyn scene — is proud to announce Official Selections for its 7th Annual edition June 3–11, 2017.
The official hashtag is #AoBFF17
NARRATIVE — FEATURE
Certain Women
Drama, 107m
Directed by Kelly Reichardt
Presented in partnership with IFC Films
One of America’s foremost filmmakers, Brooklyn’s Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff) directs a remarkable ensemble cast led by Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, and Laura Dern in this stirring look at three women striving to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest: a lawyer (Dern) who finds herself contending with both office sexism and a hostage situation; a wife and mother (Williams) whose determination to build her dream home puts her at odds with the men in her life; and a young law student (Stewart) who forms an ambiguous bond with a lonely ranch hand (radiant newcomer Lily Gladstone). As their stories intersect in subtle but powerful ways, a portrait emerges of flawed, but strong-willed individuals in the process of defining themselves.
Certain Women is presented as a Featured Selection, and not in competition for an award.
Four Bottles
Comedy, 82m
Directed by John Painz
World Premiere
Stacy has been living in the city for the last three years and just found out she didn’t get her dream job. Now she has to decide whether she’s going to stay in New York City or move back home to Wisconsin. Over the course of the evening she goes to four different friends apartments to get some advice, but the only thing her friends want to talk about are themselves. Shot in Brooklyn by Brooklyn director John Painz.
Future ’38
Comedy, 76m
Directed by Jamie Greenberg
NYC Premiere
A Technicolor valentine to the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s and ’40s, with a sci-fi twist. It’s a time-travel adventure which presents the exotic future-world of 2018 A.D., as imagined by the film-makers of 1938! Starring Betty Gilpin (Masters of Sex, Nurse Jackie) Nick Westrate (Ricki and the Flash, Turn) with Sean Young (Blade Runner), Robert John Burke (Robocop 3, Law & Order SVU) Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) Ilana Becker (Kevin Can Wait) Shot in NYC with a mostly Brooklyn-based cast and crew.
Gold Star
Drama Feature, 90m
Directed by Victoria Negri
NYC Premiere
Vicki resists connecting with her ailing father, and making peace with herself, but finds a way forward thanks to a new friend and a life-changing event. Starring the late Robert Vaughn in his last film appearance, and Catherine Curtain (Orange is the New Black, Wolf of Wall Street.) The director is Brooklyn-based and scenes were shot in Bushwick.
Half the Perfect World
Comedy Drama, 85m
Directed by Cynthia Fredette
When solid and steadfast hat maker Lily is seduced by her boyfriend’s cousin Daniel, her seemingly perfect world is turned upside down. The film is set in Williamsburg and has a Brooklyn-based crew.
Prism
Sci-Fi Feature, 90m
Directed by Lee Peterkin/Nick Snow/ Corey Scott Rutledge/Luis Alarcon/Grant Lancaster/Roberto Serrini/Doug Roland
An anthology feature comprised of seven stories by seven directors, connected by the irrationality of love and how it drives us to behave in extreme ways. Starring Mike Starr (Goodfellas , Dumb and Dumber) Victor Verhaeghe (Bridge of Spies, The Night Of) Brian McCarthy (Paterson, Orange is the New Black) Most of the cast and crew of Prism are Brooklyn-based.
The Dunning Man
Comedy Drama, 90m
Directed by Michael Clayton
Brooklyn Premiere
Connor Ryan, out of a job and dumped by his girlfriend, returns to Atlantic City to try to rebuild his life with the last source of income that he has — a few apartments in a low-rise condo complex that sits in the shadows of AC’s newest & most expensive casino. Dawn-Lyen Gardner (Luke Cage, Star Wars: Clone Wars voice), James Carpinello (The Punisher, Gotham) Dunning’s main cast and crew live in Brooklyn.
The Search For One-Eye Jimmy
Comedy, 80m
Directed by Sam Henry Kass
Brooklyn Premiere — Special 25th Anniversary Screening
While working on a documentary on his old Brooklyn neighborhood, a young film school graduate shifts the focus of his production onto the disappearance of a local resident and the strange characters who are conducting the search to find him. Shot in a pre-getrified early 90s Red Hook an all-star cast including Michael Badalucco, Jennifer Beals, Steve Buscemi, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Holt McCallany, Anne Meara, John Turturro, Nicholas Turturro and Sam Rockwell.
The Search For One-Eye Jimmy is presented as a Featured Selection, and not in competition for an award.
NARRATIVE — SHORT
A Life in Paint
Comedy, 7m
Directed by Luis Alcaron
World Premiere
A mockumentary about the heartbreaking plight of the modern-day urban clown. Shot in Brooklyn with a Brooklyn-based cast and crew.
Buckets
Fantasy, 14m
Directed by Julia Jones
A girl learns the brutal sacrifices it takes to satisfy her love. Filmed in Greenpoint (Cinema World Studios) with a Brooklyn-based cast.
Evocation of a Nightmare
Animation, 1m
Directed by Wally Chung
East Coast Premiere
Entering what seems to be a deserted building, a man explores and finds an unwanted guest. Director Wally Chung lives in Brooklyn.
Factory 91
Fantasy, 20m
Directed by Madeline Leshner
Brooklyn Premiere
Mary lives with her older sister, Katherine, and her catatonic Grandfather in a mythical suburb called Bellery. Atop a tall hill on the outskirts of town, is Factory 91. And inside lives a mysterious Doctor, the suburban legend of Bellery. Made by a Brooklyn-based crew.
Fade
Drama, 13m
Directed by Howie Lam
Set in a desolate New York City, a man faces the reality of his life and relationship when his daily routine is disrupted. Shot partly in Brooklyn with a Brooklyn-based crew.
Jada
Drama, 16m
Directed by Doug Roland
Jada is 7 years old. Jada lives alone on Venice Beach. By following her through a day in her life, the story of who she is, why she is there, and the identity of the man who has come looking for her unfolds. Brooklyn is one of the places NYC-based Doug Roland has called home.
Limbus
Sci-Fi, 16m
Directed by Lee Peterkin
East Coast Premiere
During the winter months in their cabin, Alex and Vera experience strange occurrences that are seemingly nonsensical. Nevertheless, the veil of surreality becomes lifted through a visceral and sobering revelation. Made with a Brooklyn-based cast and crew.
Regulars
Comedy/ Drama, 8m
Directed by Jaclyn Gramigna
Two estranged friends run into each other at an old haunt and bond over their mutual misery. Made with a Brooklyn-based cast and crew.
See You Yesterday
Sci-Fi/ Drama, 15m
Directed by Stefon Bristol
From Executive Producer Spike Lee
Two Brooklyn teenage prodigies, C.J. Walker and Sebastian Thomas — determined to outwit fate and role-play as God — build make-shift time machines to save CJ’s brother Calvin from being wrongfully killed by a police officer.
Shoot Me Nicely
Comedy Drama, 19m
Directed by Alias Plagianos
A fashion photographer loses his elite magazine job, plunging him into a downward spiral of odd jobs and celebrity chasing. Starring Linda Hamilton (Terminator), William Sadler (Shawshank Redemption, Iron Man 3), John Behlmann (Blue Bloods), Jackie Martling (The Howard Stern Show). This Red-Hook-based production company has been making films in Brooklyn for over 10 years.
SOULFINGER vs GOLDFINGER
Comedy, 2m
Directed by Crazy Legs Conti
Brooklyn Premiere
An epic battle of SOULFINGER (Denzel Washington) against GOLDFINGER (Al Pacino.) Shot just off of Brooklyn’s Kent Ave.
Sure-Fire
Comedy, 15m
Directed by Michael Goldburg
NYC Premiere
A comedy about Benny Boon, a NYC con man having a mid-life crisis who wants to “go legit.” Instead, he stumbles into posing as a producer making a movie called “Hooker Mom” to pay off gangsters trying to kill him. Written by award-winning screenwriter, Brooklyn-raised Dave Chan.
Sure-Fire is presented as a Featured Selection and not in competition for an award.
The Hobbyist
Film Noir, 9m
Directed by George Vatistas
A seemingly ordinary man seeks out a sagacious druggist in search of an undetectable poison, but winds up getting more than he bargained for. The director achieved his dream of shooting in Brooklyn with this film.
The Other End
Drama, 10m
Directed by Sudeep Kanwal
NYC Premiere
A runaway Indian bride meets a charming stranger on the Brooklyn bridge. Lead actor Ahmad Ali Razvi lives in Brooklyn.
The Shoulder
Drama, 10m
Directed by Rebekah Nelson
A young man kidnaps his older brother and drives him cross country to ween him off heroin. Jerzy Gwiazdowski (Girls, Across the Universe) The film’s writer (Eric Trenkamp) & several crew members are based in Brooklyn. Rebekah Nelson, the director, was an East New York resident during her teenage years.
The Things We Do They Don’t Understand
Drama, 19m
Directed by Ashley Michel Hoban
A woman finds herself having breakfast with the Spanish-speaking mother of her one-night stand. The director lives and works in Brooklyn and this film was made by Brooklynites, in part a response to the parts of New York that we don’t always get to see.
DOCUMENTARY
All Appliance
Documentary, 13m
Directed by Chuka Umunna
Roy and Jack Vanasco are two brothers who enlisted and fought during WW2. At the end of 2016, they close their appliance repair store — All Appliance Refrigerator Company — after 61 years. The film was shot entirely in Clinton Hill, where the director also lives.
‘Amo’ — Uncle
Experimental Documentary, 4m
Directed by Haya Alghanim
World Premiere
‘Amo’ is a portrait of the alive Arab hospitality and lifestyle rooted in the diaspora of Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn.
Black Suns: An Astrophysics Adventure
Documentary, 47m
Directed by Kelvin Phillips
A doc about chasing eclipses and science dreams. It chronicles the lives of Dr. Alphonse Sterling and Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, as they follow the two solar eclipses that occurred in 2012. The director lives in Brooklyn.
Booked for Safekeeping
Documentary, 8m
Directed by Bradley Dever Treadaway
Addresses faltering outlets for the containment & expression of violent impulses, the reactionary bluster of discourse in contemporary society & the isolation & paranoia developing within American communities. The director lives in Brooklyn.
Hello Nostrand
Documentary, 5m
Directed by Travis Wood
A short first-person documentary about a man’s connection to Nostrand Ave.
¡Hola Kitty!
Documentary, 10m
Directed by Daniel Burity
The film is a metaphor of faceless immigrants who work in the shadows of American society. The documentary blends social commentary with pop culture as it highlights an immigrant in a Hello Kitty costume. The director lives in Brooklyn.
I Am Her
Documentary, 30m
Directed by Sasha Pezenik
Out of the limelight, under the streetlight, enter the world of NYC’s transgender underclass. One church opens its doors to provide meals, clothing and sometimes, a little drag show magic. The director lives in Brooklyn and the film was shot partially in Bed-Stuy.
On The Ledge
Documentary, 10m
Directed by Chelsi Bullard
A father and son fight to save a theater that played an important role in New York City civil rights, and is one of the last cultural markers in a neighborhood that is rapidly gentrifying. The film was shot in Brooklyn and features locals from Brooklyn.
Renewal in Sunset Park
Documentary, 3m
Directed by Brandon Brown
Annabelle Selldorf offers insight on how sustainability played an integral part in the Sunset Park facility’s design, while Eadaoin Quinn explains how the facility will transform NY into a more sustainable city.
The Tables
Documentary, 15m
Directed by Jon Bunning
Brooklyn Premiere
A look at the powerful connection between a pair of outdoor ping pong tables in the heart of New York City and the unlikely group of people they’ve brought together. The director and several of the subjects live in Brooklyn.
The Weaveologist
Short Documentary, 6m
Directed by Sandra Itainen
A Brooklyn hair stylist takes us on a close exploration of Black hair culture as he weaves a woman’s hair.
Tiphany
Documentary, 5m
Directed by Justin Ferrato
A short documentary character portrait about a fitness model — also a paraplegic woman- as she shares her devastating story about her past and present. The director and producer live in Brooklyn.
FILM AS ART (EXPERIMENTAL/NON LINEAR)
Kill the Witness
Experimental, 7m
Directed by Justin Ferrato
A struggling musician attempts to write his perfect song, but loses himself in the process. The director lives in Brooklyn.
Sam & Jo
Experimental, 8m
Directed by Raquel Cedar
After a weekend camping trip with her new girlfriend Jo, Sam begins to feel a horrific itch in her hair that she just can’t relieve and realizes that some anxieties go deeper than her dark and twisted roots. The director, cinematographer, and actresses live in Brooklyn.
The Panty Symphonic
Experimental, 14m
Directed by Zach Strum
An outrageous death leads to a battle over a mystical pair of women’s panties. The director and lead actress live in Brooklyn.
To Retreat/ To Give Ground/ To Recoil
Experimental, 7m
Directed by Kara Hearn
East Coast Premiere
In a somewhat desperate search for balance and peace in a demanding life, a woman retreats to a secluded sound stage and takes matters into her own hands. The director lives in Brooklyn and shot the film there, as well.
Victor & Isolina
Animation, 6m
Directed by William D. Caballero
Brooklyn Premiere
Living apart, Victor and Isolina (now in their 80’s) answer questions about their life-long, complex and arduous relationship, posed from behind the lens of their documentary filmmaking Grandson. The director and producer are originally from Brooklyn.
