ANNOUNCING THE RETURN OF THE
INWOOD FILM FESTIVAL
March 17 and 18, 2017
Campbell Sports Center / Broadway and 218th Street
New York, NY —- Announcing the second annual Inwood Film Festival! The focus of the Inwood Film Festival is to celebrate and showcase the Inwood community through the moving image. It is created to be a homegrown community platform to promote and celebrate the neighborhood of Inwood and its residents. Everyone from amateurs to Oscar winners are encouraged to participate by submitting films shot in the Inwood community, or by Inwood community filmmakers. The Inwood Film Festival is produced by Inwood Art Works, Aaron Simms, Executive Producer.
EXHIBITION INFORMATION
FEATURE FILMS
Forbidden Cuba – Friday, March 17 at 8:05pm – 81 minutes – Plus a special post-screening conversation with the filmmakers.
Hunting in Wartime – Saturday, March 18 at 8:05pm – 66 minutes – Plus a special post-screening conversation with the filmmaker.
SHORT FILMS
SHORT SHORTS –
Featuring: Cliff, Leaves, Road Rage, The Beekeeper’s Keeper, Impressions of an Exhibition, Un Trabajo Honesto (An Honest Job), Gone, This Burning House
LONG SHORTS – Program A
Featuring: BALDR, Caleb Vs. Trialagor, Mother’s House, Dime Short
LONG SHORTS – Program B
Featuring: Trouble Getting In, The Blue Zone, Buhoneros (Street Vendors), The Tunnel
LONG SHORTS – Program C
Featuring: Eggs and Soldiers, Safe Words, Look Up! Visions from Under the Canopy, Weequahic
AWARDS
The 2017 Inwood Film Festival will be exhibiting films and presenting the following six awards chosen by an award selection committee::
- Short Shorts – Excellence in filmmaking for Short films under five minutes about or made in the Inwood community or made by an Inwood community filmmaker.
- Long Shorts – Excellence in filmmaking for Short films under 25 minutes about or made in the Inwood community or made by an Inwood community filmmaker.
- Feature Films – Excellence in filmmaking for Feature films about or made in the Inwood community or made by an Inwood community filmmaker.
- Student Films – Excellence in filmmaking for Student films about or made by current students in/attending school the Inwood community or made by an Inwood community student filmmaker.
- Documentary Filmmaking – Excellence in documentary filmmaking.
- Spirt of Inwood – A special award given to a film that captures the cultural essence and sprit of the Inwood community.
Awards will be presented following the final screening of Hunting in Wartime on Saturday, March 18 at 9:15pm.
TICKETS
Single Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased for $15.00 for each individual program.
A special Festival Pass can be purchased for $40.00, which grants unlimited admission to all programs.
All purchases can be made at: https://2017inwoodfilmfestival.eventbrite.com
OFFICIAL SELECTION INFORMATION (In alphabetical order)
BALDR
Director: Tim Ziegler
Synopsis: An aged astronaut laments the loss of his only friend–an octopus in a specimen jar.
Buhoneros (Street Vendors)
Director: Carla Franchesca
Synopsis: Street vendors face many problems in New York City. One of those issues is the cap that limits the number of licenses given to them since 1981, provoking a significant increase in black market deals. PASTORA has been selling underwear on the same spot for 25 years; BRAD sells used books; HUMBERTO sells horse saddles and NENA “LA RUBIA” has spent more than 20 years cooking a Dominican dessert called “Sweet Beans” and had established a well-known business along with several family members. All of them make a living in Inwood and Washington Heights. But, none of them have a license.
Caleb Vs. Trialagor
Director: Victor Verhaeghe
Synopsis: Caleb and Trialagor are superhero, battling to save Ft. Tyron Park.
cliff
Director: Richard Grunn
Synopsis: Follow the creative adventures of cliff during the night shift.
Dime Short
Director: John Diack
Synopsis: Dime Short is a glimpse into the world of so many Americas we never hear about. Bob Greene, a once successful real estate agent in rural Colorado, finds himself at a crossroads in life. His marriage, home and business were lost in the great recession of 2008. One more major setback could force him to live like Pete, the homeless war hero who sleeps down by the railroad tracks. One bright spot for Bob is his standing breakfast date with Donna, a waitress at the local diner. He finally has the courage to ask Donna on a real date but just when Bob is feeling better about himself, his world comes crashing down for all to see. There are those who show humility and those who just don’t get it.
Eggs and Soldiers
Director: Imelda O’Reilly
Synopsis: A single Irish Dad forgets the tree on Christmas eve. Ned the older son’s humanity is challenged when he risks everything to give his younger brother Marco a real Irish Christmas.
Forbidden Cuba
Director: Art Jones
Synopsis: The first American feature made in Cuba since the revolution of 1959. Part ‘Local Hero’ and ‘Hearts of Darkness,’ it’s a cautionary tale about capitalism and the state of the American soul. STORY: An American businessman travels to Cuba to retrieve an executive gone rogue, and finds his eyes opened to the beauty and vibrant culture of Cuba, challenging his corporate directives, his identity and everything he has known. As filmmakers, we’ve aimed to bridge the people of Cuba and the U.S., sparking discussion about how our two nations can create a new, just and sustainable relationship for the future. No permits, no Plan B. Defying rules, reason, and naysayers, “Forbidden Cuba” was covertly shot, guerilla-style, across Cuba over the course of three intense weeks – just before Obama announced a historic shift in America’s belligerent relationship with its longtime Cold War enemy. Combining narrative and documentary filmmaking, our small team of five set out to reveal a timely, vibrant truth about today’s Cuba.
GONE
Director: Julia Bengtsson
Synopsis: A dance film in black and white. Inwood residents in the film team include Julia Bengtsson (dance and choreography) and Curtis Stewart (music)
Hunting in Wartime
Director: Samantha Farinella
Synopsis: ‘Hunting in Wartime’ profiles the incredible stories of Tlingit Native Americans from the village of Hoonah, Alaska who served in the Vietnam War. Their stories confront the complexity of serving a country that systematically oppressed them; from forbidding Tlingit language, to over logging, to laws that robbed returning vets of their ancestral trade of fishing. Many vets succumbed to the horrors of alcoholism, PTSD and suicide while some were able to climb back out to lead the next generation back to their Tlingit culture.
Impressions of an Exhibition – The Hut of Baba Yaga
Director: Stuart Diamond
Synopsis: “Impressions of an Exhibition” is an extended music video inspired by Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
LEAVES
Director: Whit K. Lee
Synopsis: Two tree leaves meet and become lovers. What happens to the survivor when one is ripped to pieces?
Look Up! Visions from Under the Canopy
Director: Amala Lane
Synopsis: On a beautiful summer day, I lay on a bench in Ft. Tryon Park and became entranced with the patterns the tree canopy made. A year and a half later, after filming and photographing throughout the year, I bring you this short doc featuring naturalist and author Leslie Day. She shares the science of trees and her personal experience about the intrinsic worth of connecting with nature. She also touches upon the topic of w/not trees communicate with one another.
Mother’s House
Director: Davis Hall
Synopsis: While emptying his late mother’s rural home, Thomas and his wife, Catherine, discover increasingly disturbing secrets until the conflict between memory and truth threatens to destroy them both.
Road Rage
Director: Josh Liveright
Synopsis: Road Rage is part of WHAT IF, a series of three short films made by three concerned dads who combined efforts to offer an antidote to gun violence. What if we didn’t have guns, what if we tried love?
Safe Words
Director: Turhan Caylak
Synopsis: A couple try to finish their film project while holding their relationship together.
The Beekeeper’s Keeper
Director: Megan Rossman
Synopsis: Born and raised in Manhattan, Liane Newton always had a fantasy farm in her head. After the death of her father, she set out to make that fantasy a reality.
The Blue Zone
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Synopsis: The Blue Zone is a comedy about two seniors who meet in an assisted living center after a 50-year hiatus. Harmon and Irene had an unrequited crush on each other in college and finally find the time to explore it…but not always smoothly. The romantic foibles of youth live on, right through the golden years.
The Tunnel
Director: Dylan Tuccillo
Synopsis: Jake’s first memory is waking up in an empty world, one completely devoid of life. Everything is made out of plastic. His life consists of daily rituals that keep him going, as he fakes a normal life of exercise and leisure. To stay busy, he obsessively tracks the schedule of freight trains that pass through town without stopping. He’s searched for other signs of life, and for a way to escape, but has found neither. The only possible way out is a dangerous railroad tunnel, but this place fills him with abject terror. His first attempt to walk through the tunnel leaves him nearly dead. Even if he is able to pass through it, what’s on the other side? Jake struggles with his two options: a safe, lonely life or the risk of death for the unknown.
This Burning House
Director: Rich Perez
Synopsis: Follow the journey of one girl’s thoughts and feelings as her community changes.
Trouble Getting In
Director: Jared DiCroce
Synopsis: A seemingly routine day becomes a life-or-death test of skill when an agent arrives to work and, unbeknownst to him, the impromptu trial begins.
Un Trabajo Honesto (An Honest Job)
Director: Ben Sadoff and Yuby Hernandez
Synopsis: A short documentary highlighting the work, personalities, and community offerings of fruit vendors on the streets of Washington Heights.
Weequahic
Director: Jamie Ruddy
Synopsis: Four Jewish gangsters comically fail in their attempt to shake down the owner of their favorite diner in the Weequahic section of Newark, 1952.
INWOOD ART WORKS creates and curates professional performing and visual arts for the Inwood community. Through its Film Works, Art Works, and Stage Works programs it encourages positive social engagement, goodwill, and unity through live theater, music, dance, film, new media, and visual arts within accessible proximity at affordable prices or free of charge.
For more information, visit www.inwoodartworks.nyc