Flash Rosenberg live-draws a John Waters conversation as part of inaugural Lower East Side festival
Grand Opening
139 Norfolk St. between Rivington & Stanton Sts.
February 8-27, $10, 8:00
646-875-8078
www.lesfilmfestival.com
The LES Film Festival gets under way tonight, kicking off three weeks of shorts and features made for less than thirty thousand dollars. Screenings take place every night through February 27 in the intimate Grand Opening, with only thirty seats available per show, each of which will include Q&As with members of the cast and/or crew. The competitive event will be judged by actress Eva Amurri, pop artist Marco of MarcoArt, comedian Murray Hill, Fox Searchlight publicist John Maybee, and restaurateur, screenwriter, and HOWL! Festival founder Phil Hartman. Among the films being screened in competition are Harvey Wang and Amy Brost’s ADAM PURPLE AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN, about the Lower East Side environmental activist and artist; BILLY CASH, Zack McTee’s profile of a Las Vegas Elvis impersonator; Kirsten Lepore’s beach-set stop-motion short BOTTLE; Richard Sandler’s BRAVE NEW YORK, which examines changes in the East Village over the last dozen years; Sean Gill’s hairy, apocalyptic MUSTACHE PARTY; Mark Cersosimo’s PLAYING FOR POCKET CHANGE: SAW LADY, a portrait of street performer Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz; and a series of “Conversation Portraits” in which artist Flash Rosenberg live-draws talks previously held at the New York Public Library with Jay-Z and John Waters. The BYOB festival has been broken down into such themes as shorts showcases, Love Night, Experimental Night, Animation Night, Back to School Night, International Night, and Neighborhood Night; some evenings are already sold out (tickets are only five bucks), so don’t hesitate to be part of what will hopefully become a growing annual event.