By Mabel Pais
KAMAL AHMED’S Narrative Feature ‘Crash the System’
Shorts from
SNIGDHA KAPOOR’S ‘Look Like You,’ and
DARSHAN SINGH BHULLER’S ‘Nala’
And many more
The Festival of Cinema NYC (festivalofcinemanyc.com) returns to the Regal UA Midway (108-22 Queens Blvd. Forest Hills, NY 11375) and the Queens Library at Forest Hills (108-22 Queens Blvd Forest Hills, NY 11375) for its 7th year, August 3-13.
After a pre-launch party inside Resorts World NYC’s famous 360º Bar and Lounge (110-0 Rockaway Blvd, 110-00 Rockaway Blvd, South Ozone Park, NY 11420) on Wednesday, August 3, FOC NYC will screen over 100 independent films from local filmmakers as well as world cinema representing countries that include Turkey, Spain, Denmark, The Philippines, Germany, and more.
New initiatives and presentations include participating in the Theaters Unsilenced Initiative. A nonprofit organization founded by three sisters in Queens whose mission is to spread awareness and provide educational resources and tools to help improve communication with the deaf and hard of hearing community. As part of the initiative, participating filmmakers have added subtitles and captioning to aid in making the festival accessible to individuals with hearing impairment.
The Festival of Cinema NYC Founder and Executive Director Jayson Simba, said, “This year’s edition of the film festival embraces the idea of not simply screening our films and celebrating our filmmakers, but underlining the ‘festival’ in “’film festival’, by emphasizing the connection of filmmaker to audience member via our panels, discussions, and Q&As, focusing on our accessibility, and increasing the interactive nature of FOC NYC. It always begins and ends with great films, but it becomes special by highlighting why we love to come to the movie theater and the artistic accomplishments of our filmmakers.”
2023 FESTIVAL OF CINEMA NYC FILM LINEUP
OPENING NIGHT
Paris is in Harlem
Director: Christina Kallas l USA l 110m
On the eve of New York City’s controversial “No Dancing” Law getting repealed, the lives of several strangers are forever changed by a shooting at a historic jazz bar in Harlem.
Preceded by
Herizon
Director: Miguel Gallardo l USA l 7m
A woman’s escape to the beach becomes a desperate quest for self-liberation when she’s confronted with an enigmatic force of nature. As the sun sets, the boundaries between reality and metaphor quickly begin to disappear.
CLOSING NIGHT
Disfluency
Director: Anna Baumgarten l USA l 96m
After unexpectedly failing her final college class, Jane, an aspiring speech pathologist, retreats home to her parent’s lake house in the hometown she grew up in. Her sister and friends soften the burden of failure, inspiring her to embrace the carefree summer as she tries to sort out what to do next. She also rekindles an old friendship with her neighbor Amber, a single mother with a difficult toddler, utilizing her skills and knowledge to help her connect with her son. Jane, however, fights through PTSD and imposter syndrome as she attempts to piece together what exactly happened in order to unravel the emotional and psychological tangle that has been haunting her as she finds a path forward toward the never-ending process of healing.
Preceded by
Floppies
Director: John Cappello l USA l 14m
Floppies is an intimate glimpse into the complicated relationship between an artist-son and his dementia-addled father as they attempt to communicate by collaborating on a one page comic. As they bring this comic to life, they recall flashbacks to key moments in each of their lives.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS AND PRESENTATIONS
A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
Dir: Dito Montiel l USA l 100m
Fire Bones
Dirs: Greg Brownderville, Bart Weiss l USA l 90m
ADDITIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES
Boys at Twenty – World Premiere
Dir: Isaac Dell l USA l 76m
Crash the System
Dir: Kamal Ahmed l USA l 75m
An ex-conman unwillingly becomes a pawn to the industrial weapons industry and tries to overthrow them when he meets up with an underground group of saboteurs who are iconoclastic.
D.O.A.
Dir: Kurt St.Thomas l USA l 82m
Ghosts of the Void
Dir: Jason Miller l USA l 91m
The Goldsmith
Dir: Vincenzo Ricchiuto l Italy l 89m
Good Side of Bad
Dir: Alethea Root l USA l 96m
Guy Friends
Dir: Jonathan Smith l USA l 84m
Miss Viborg
Dir: Marianne Blicher l Denmark l 100m
Sibel’s Silence – North American Premiere
Dir: Aly Yeganeh l France l 95m
Stars
Dir: Mars Roberge l USA, Canada l 108m
Tales of Babylon – North American Premiere
Dir: Pelayo De Lario l UK l 126m
There´s No Place Like Home
Dir: Puk Grasten l Denmark l 106m
Waiting for the Light to Change
Dir: Linh Tran l USA l 89m
Where Is The Lie?
Dir: Quark Henares l Philippines l 87m
DOCUMENTARIES
Aurora’s Sunrise
Dir: Inna Sahakyan l Armenia, Germany, Lithuania l 96m
The Book of Harth
Dir: Pierre Guillet l USA l 63m
Copyright Infringement
Dir: David Sabshon l USA l 105m
Gotham: The Fall and Rise of New York
Dir: Matthew Taylor l USA l 124m
The Unseen Crisis: Vaccine Stories – North American Premiere
You Were Never Told
Dir: Cindy Drukier l Canada l 89m
SHORT FILMS
There are 85 Short films, including
Look Like You
Dir: Snigdha Kapoor l USA l 13m
Nala
Dir: Darshan Singh Bhuller l USA l 13m
SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
There are 13 screenplays in the competition.
Festival of Cinema NYC:
Festival of Cinema, Inc. was founded by local independent filmmakers with a passion to get movies made and to expand the reach of artists’ work. Recognizing the challenges filmmakers face in the film industry, the festival’s aim is to establish a presence, and spread awareness, of cinematic creativity. Learn more at festivalofcinemanyc.com
(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Education, Cuisine, Health & Wellness, Spirituality, and Business.)
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