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)