First Look at New Voices in Independent Film

(New York, NY | September 10, 2013)—For the seventh year in a row, Rooftop Films proudly collaborates with IFP on screenings activities during the 34^th edition of IFP’s Independent Film Week (September 15-19, 2013).  Rooftop Films will co-host the Independent Filmmaker Labs “Sneak Preview” Showcase, a free and open to the public party and screening, on September 16.  The IFP Labs are presented in partnership with the Time Warner Foundation.  The Labs Showcase gives audiences a first-look at exciting new films, before their festival premieres. This outdoor screening features excerpts from the 20 new films from the emerging talent of the 2013 IFP Labs, the nation’s only program that supports diverse feature filmmakers when they need it most: through the completion, marketing and distribution of their first features.  Screenings will be preceded by live music and followed by filmmaker Q&As.

“Rooftop has been co-presenting the IFP Labs Sneak Preview Showcase since 2007, and each year the event has been a great success,” said Dan Nuxoll, Program Director for Rooftop Films. “These screenings are a fantastic opportunity for filmmakers, industry insiders, and independent film fans to meet many of the most exciting emerging filmmakers before their films hit the festival circuit. Best of all, you can experience these clips in an environment that reflects the electric enthusiasm of the current independent film scene.”

“The independent Filmmaker Labs Sneak Preview Showcase presented with Rooftop Films introduces tomorrow’s great filmmakers today, and we are excited that New York City audiences are the first to discover these new voices during Independent Film Week,” said Joana Vicente, IFP Executive Director.

IFP and Rooftop Films have previously showcased Dee Rees’ Pariah (Focus Features), David Lowery’s (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) first feature St. Nick, Alexandre Moors’ Blue Caprice (Sundance Selects, opens 9/13), Lucy Mulloy’s Una Noche (IFC, opens 8/23), Stacie Passon’s Concussion (Radius TWC, opens 10/4), Michael Collins’ Give Up Tomorrow (P.O.V.) and Penny Lane’s Our Nixon (CNN Films/Cinedigm, opens 8/30). Rooftop Films is no stranger to the films that have been through the Labs, most notably this year’s labs brings several Rooftop alum including Gary Huggins and Filmmakers’ Fund recipient Darius Clark Monroe.

For more information on the Lab films and the upcoming 2014 program, visit: www.ifp.org/programs/labs.  Submissions for the 2014 Labs will open in February.

Event details and full list of films screening in the program below:

WHAT:  IFP Labs “Sneak Peek” Showcase

WHERE: On the Pier along the East River at Solar One

24-20 FDR drive, Service Road East

(At 23rd street and the East River New York, NY)

WHEN: Monday, September 16

7:00PM Doors Open

7:30PM Live Music

8:00PM IFP Lab Selections + Q and A with filmmakers

IFP LAB SHOWCASE SLATE

Documentary Labs

Approaching the Elephant

Directed by Amanda Wilder; produced by Jay Craven and Robert Greene

Bringing Tibet Home

Written and directed by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay; produced by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay and Tenzing Rigdol

Do I Sound Gay?

Written and directed by David Thorpe; produced by David Thorpe, Howard Gertler, and Jenny Raskin; executive produced by Dan Cogan

Evolution of a Criminal

Directed by Darius Clark Monroe; produced by Darius Clark Monroe and Jen Gatien; executive produced by Spike Lee

Farmer Veteran

Directed by Alix Blair and Jeremy Lange; produced by D.L. Anderson

In Country

Directed by Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara; produced by Meghan O’Hara, Mike Attie, Daniel Chalfen, and Jim Butterworth

Kasamayaki (Made in Kasama)

Directed and produced by Yuki Kokubo; executive produced by Annelliesse Popescu

The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest

Written and directed by Gabriel London; produced by Gabriel London and Daniel Chalfen; executive produced by David Menschel, Peter Brusik, and Jim Butterworth

Mateo

Directed by Aaron Naar; produced by Aaron Naar and Benjamin Dohrmann

Roots and Webs

Directed by Sara Dosa; produced by Josh Penn; executive produced by Adam Spielberg and John Montague

Narrative Labs

AWOL

Directed by Dev Shoval; written by Dev Shoval and Karolina Waclawiak; produced by Jessica Caldwell

Below Dreams

Written, directed, and produced by Garrett Bradley

Beneath the Harvest Sky

Written, directed, and produced by Gita Pullapilly and Aron Gaudet; produced by Kavita Pullapilly; executive produced by Allison Jones

Dig Two Graves

Written and directed by Hunter Adams; produced by Hunter Adams, PJ Fishwick, and Claire Connelly

Dukhtar

Written and directed by Afia Nathaniel; produced by Afia Nathaniel and Khalid Ali; executive produced by Muhammad Nadeem Nawaz

Gabriel

Written and directed by Lou Howe; produced by Ben Howe and Luca Borghese

Homemakers

Written and directed by Colin Healey; produced by Colin Healey, Dave Schachter, and Ella Hatamian

Kick Me

Written and directed by Gary Huggins; produced by Betsy Gran

Something, Anything

Written and directed by Paul Harrill; produced by Ashley Maynor; executive produced by Dee Bagwell Haslam and Ross Bagwell, Sr.

Stay Then Go

Written and directed by Shelli Ainsworth; produced by Christine Walker and Geoffrey Sass, executive produced by Stephanie Dillon

Press Contact for Rooftop Films: Alece Oxendine | 718-417-7362 | [email protected] | www.rooftopfilms.com

About Rooftop Films

www.rooftopfilms.com
Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization whose mission is to engage and inspire the diverse communities of New York City by showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers and musicians. In addition to their annual Summer Series – which takes place in unique outdoor venues every weekend throughout the summer – Rooftop provides grants to filmmakers, teaches media literacy and filmmaking to young people, rents equipment at low-cost to artists and non-profits, and produces new independent films. At Rooftop Films, we bring underground movies outdoors. For more information and updates please visit their website at www.rooftopfilms.com.

AT&T is the proud presenting sponsor of the Rooftop Films 2013 Summer Series and the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund AT&T Feature Film Grant.

About IFP

www.ifp.org

After debuting with a program in 1979 New York Film Festival, the nonprofit IFP has evolved into the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, and also the premiere advocate for them. Since its start IFP has supported the production of 7,000 films and provided resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers – voices that might not otherwise have been heard. IFP fosters the development of 350 new feature and documentary films each year through its Project Forum of Independent Film Week, Independent Filmmaker Labs and projects in its fiscal sponsorship program.