By Mabel Pais

Brooklyn’s Greenpoint Film Festival (GFF) has its 12th edition with screenings indoors this year, August 2-6. GFF (greenpointfilmfestival.org). As before, the film festival will be screening and celebrating truly independent films and filmmakers, a world away from the studios and (especially notable at this time) the AMPTP. The film festival will include 48 films (10 features, 38 shorts), with screenings at The Boiler / ELM Foundation (191 N. 14th Street).

Film industry catering favorites Wilson Rivas Crafts will have a food truck on the premises providing food and concessions for film goers and attendees. The Boiler’s backyard will serve as the film festival’s film-centric community mixer epicenter – open to the public and serving food and beverages before everyone heads inside for that day or evening’s air-conditioned screenings.

The Filmmakers and celebrity guests will participate in GFF’s green “red” carpet, and the Filmmaker Awards will be presented prior to the Closing Night screening. Short film award winners will receive a “Short to Feature Accelerator” prize by R2W2.

Greenpoint Film Festival Creative Director Ricardo Vilar, said, “We are thrilled to be returning indoors for this year’s edition of the film festival. We’re having fun when we say we are “steaming” our films this year since we’ll be in The Boiler but our lineup definitely has a lot of heat with award winners, thought provoking subjects, exciting new talent, and more. For more than a decade, we have celebrated cinema here in North Brooklyn, and this year’s edition looks to be one of our strongest yet.”

2023 Greenpoint Film Festival Lineup

PRIVATE POLISH CONSULATE PREVIEW

Filip

Director: Michał Kwieciński; Poland; 125m

In 1943, a Polish Jew, who managed to escape from the Warsaw ghetto, is waiting at restaurant tables in Frankfurt while pretending to be French and taking revenge on the Nazis in his own unique way.

OPENING NIGHT – ECHOES OF UKRAINE

The Hamlet Syndrome

Directors: Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Roslowski;  Poland; 85m

‘The Hamlet Syndrome’ is a powerful portrait of a vibrant young Ukrainian generation, the first one born after the collapse of the Soviet Union, shaped by the Maidan Revolution of 2013, empowered by political change and scarred by war.

Preceded by

Lesyk a.k.a. Words of Wisdom

Director: Orr Bortman; USA; 32m

A moving portrait of Alexander Lesyk Balaban, an eccentric Ukraine stamp collector living in Astoria, NY for over fifty years. Told across four seasons and spanning over 1,000 years of history, come spend some time with Lesyk, who’s extensive stamp collection is part of the fight for the survival of Ukraine’s identity and history.

CLOSING NIGHT

Joyland

Director: Saim Sadiq; Pakistan; 127m

The youngest son in a traditional Pakistani family takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque and quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman who runs the show.

The presentation will feature a special pre-recorded interview with Sadiq and cast members with Siddhant Adlakha following the screening.

ADDITIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES

Film For Aliens

Director: Piotr Stasik; Poland; 73m

Hela

Director: Anna Maria Kasperska; Poland; 84m

Mechanical Bulls

Directors: Jake Schick, Joshua Laufer; USA; 62m

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

The Artist and the Astronaut

Director: Bill Muench; USA; 100m

Into The Spotlight

Director: Thaddeus D. Matula; USA; 99m

Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science

Director: Geoff Haines-Stiles; USA; 100m

Stopping The Next Pandemics

Director: Xavier Deleu; France; 96m

NARRATIVE SHORTS

A History of Sitting in Waiting Rooms

Director: Lorena Russi; USA; 9m

And Along Came Lily

Director: Danielle Hope Diamond; USA; 11m

Astonishing Little Feet

Director: Maegan Houang; USA; 9m

Bad Blood

Director: Caitlyn Johnson; USA; 11m

Bowling 4 Eva

Director: Aelfie Oudghiri; USA; 14m

The Confirmation (La Confirmation)

Director: Juan Pablo Daranas Molina; USA; 11m

The Cookbook

Director: Pedro Chaves; USA; 22m

Daddy’s Night

Director: William Pinke; USA; 18m

The Ever Hours

Director: Ella Vance; USA; 8m

Forgive

Director: Brittany Reeon Lee; USA; 36m

Fundamental Shapes

Director: Colin Alistair Campbell; USA; 15m

Hangman

Director: Megan Brotherton; USA; 15m

Hot Tears

Director: Abigail Weinick; USA; 14m

Hush

Director: Xueni Yang; Czech Republic; 15m

Interview with Traveler #582

Directors: Lisa Steindler, Jon Bernson; USA; 10m

Leaving Yellowstone

Director: Kayla Arend; USA; 23m

Let My Grandpa into Heaven

Director: Lana Bolycheva; USA; 8m

Lunchbox

Director: Anne Hu; USA; 16m

Made in Germany (OT: Zeitpunkt X)

Director: Simon Schneider; Germany; 25m

Made in Heaven

Director: Yiqing Zhao; USA; 14m

New Lives

Director: Joey Schweitzer; USA; 20m

No Other Gods But Me

Director: Alex Spott; USA; 7m

Nora

Director: Caitlin Ferrell; USA; 10m

Powerful Stuff

Director: Justin Andrew Davis; USA; 17m

Repentance

Director: Sam Motamedi; USA; 9m

Rest

Director: Micah Stathis; USA; 11m

Smothered

Director: Heather Luscombe; USA; 10m

Starved

Director: Sydney Giacomazzi; USA; 9m

Stay Don’t Go

Director: Brian Velsor; USA; 20m

Sulam (Ladder)

Director: Noam Argov; USA; 11m

Till Eye Die

Director: Pimprenelle Rouyer; USA; 15m

Wild Geese Returning

Director: Ming Zhang; USA; 15m

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

Achromatism

Director: Manal Fadlalla; USA; 5m

Breadwinners: Raina Kennedy

Directors: Emily Delaney, Courtney Schaefer; USA; 11m

Faith in Blackness: An Exploration of AfroLatine Spirituality

Director: Charles Reynoso; USA; 27m

Feeling the Apocalypse

Director: Chen Sing Yap; Canada; 7m

Limbo

Director: Alex Ramsey; USA; 7m

About Greenpoint Film Festival

The GREENPOINT FILM FESTIVAL had its inception in 2011 founded by Woven Spaces, Inc. and produced by Greenpoint Film Festival, Inc. built around a non-profit structure abiding by a simple purpose: To create a focal point in critically-acclaimed, thought-provoking, and upcoming filmmakers while simultaneously pushing the envelope in the local community and beyond.

The festival is inspired by the stories yet untold and focuses on giving voices to the voiceless in the filmmaking industry while simultaneously bringing together the dazzling neighborhood of Greenpoint located in North Brooklyn. Learn more at greenpointfilmfestival.org.

About ELM Foundation/The Boiler

ELM Foundation is a community-based nonprofit that promotes the healing and transformative power of the arts by advocating the benefits of art therapy and providing multidisciplinary arts education for kids. The Boiler is a gallery within ELM Foundation that plays host to a variety of events, contributing equitable access to exhibition space, creative resources, and mentorship. Learn more atelmfoundation.art.

(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Education, Cuisine, Health & Wellness, Spirituality, and Business)