New York hosts an increasingly rich range of film festivals every fall, from intimate indies to major international premieres. Here are a few keys from each.
The Downtown Festival
THE DOWNTOWN FESTIVAL is a younger, independent-spirited festival held in Lower Manhattan venues (notably the Roxy Cinema) that blends film with music and performance art. It was founded to capture a cross-disciplinary downtown ethos—artists supporting artists, with less of the glitz you might find at larger festivals.
FIOR DI LATTE. Directed by Charlotte Ercoli. A playwright hooked on sniffing perfume to relive memories from an Italian vacation spirals into obsession as his life falls apart. Charlotte Ercoli’s musical abilities plus joyous, absurdist plot is very entertaining and bizarre. With excellent performances by Julia Fox and Kevin Kline.
Chelsea Film Festival
Founded and directed by Ingrid Jean-Baptiste and Sonia Jean-Baptiste, the Chelsea Film Festival champions emerging voices in global independent cinema...
New York hosts an increasingly rich range of film festivals every fall, from intimate indies to major international premieres. Here are a few keys from each.
The Downtown Festival
THE DOWNTOWN FESTIVAL is a younger, independent-spirited festival held in Lower Manhattan venues (notably the Roxy Cinema) that blends film with music and performance art. It was founded to capture a cross-disciplinary downtown ethos—artists supporting artists, with less of the glitz you might find at larger festivals.
FIOR DI LATTE. Directed by Charlotte Ercoli. A playwright hooked on sniffing perfume to relive memories from an Italian vacation spirals into obsession as his life falls apart. Charlotte Ercoli’s musical abilities plus joyous, absurdist plot is very entertaining and bizarre. With excellent performances by Julia Fox and Kevin Kline.
Chelsea Film Festival
Founded and directed by Ingrid Jean-Baptiste and Sonia Jean-Baptiste, the Chelsea Film Festival champions emerging voices in global independent cinema, screening at the Regal Union Square and SVA Theatre, drawing filmmakers from more than a dozen countries.
SÉANCE. Directed by Vivian Kerr. With an excellent performance by Scottie Thompson and the director Vivian Kerr. In 1892 California, a Victorian woman contemplating adultery is forced to take refuge from a storm at the home of her first husband and his unstable wife.
MASTERPIECE (Short). Written by Rae Maddren, directed by John Hudson White. A surreal, Twilight Zone-esque short about creative collaboration which devolves into the absurd.
New Directors/New Films Festival
Lincoln Center’s flagship event for international premieres and art-house cinema, with shorts often debuting future feature directors.
INVENTION. Callie Hernandez’ and Courtney Stevens’ playful film looking at their fathers’ pasts through a narrative in which a passing father leaves behind a mysterious invention.
WHAT WE ASK OF A STATUE IS THAT IT DOESN’T MOVE (Short). Directed by Daphné Hérétakis. A captivating hybrid short that explores the psychic dissonance of living among ruins in Athens, Greece.
DOWNTOWN—The Cherry Lane Theatre, located at 38 Commerce Street, has produced works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Luigi Pirandello, Samuel Beckett (Beckett's play Happy... Text by Liora Ashwood. Read More
A TV displaying Jimmy Woodard and Robert Townsend in Hollywood Shuffle (1987).
HOLLYWOOD—Robert Townsend's debut film Hollywood Shuffle (1987) is more than a spoof film; it is forever an earnest, imaginative and poetic work of satire, touching... Text by Dalia Morgan. Read More
ROME—Few actors have navigated the currents of 20th-century Italian cinema with the agility of Monica Vitti. Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli in 1931, she became a... Text by Tasmin Blake. Read More
Lina Wertmuller is not a household name—and that’s the scandal. While Bertolucci’s Il Conformista was showered with accolades, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best... Text by Dalia Morgan. Read More
Still from What We Ask of a Statue Is That It Doesn’t Move
ATHENS—Daphné Hérétakis’ What We Ask of a Statue Is That It Doesn’t Move is a captivating hybrid short that explores the psychic dissonance of living... Text by Dalia Morgan. Read More
Courtney Stephens’ and Callie Hernández's film Invention blends the actual passing of both of their late fathers, with Stephens' first foray into nonfiction. Drawing from... Text by Dalia Morgan. Read More
DOWNTOWN—In what, in my view, is becoming a growing convergence between the worlds of theater, and the special amalgamation of fashion and art that has... Text by Pina Lomb. Read More
Alice (ah-LEE-cheh) Rohrwacher's latest movie, a 16mm fable replete with diegetic music—music that exists within the world of the film and helps tell its story,... Text by Dalia Morgan. Read More
