I almost never agree with the Academy Awards (hey, if I did, what would be the point of Rooftop Films anyway?), but I'm certainly thrilled that three films that played at Rooftop in 2007 have been nominated for awards. The films are "
Freeheld" (directed by
Cynthia Wade), "
Salim Baba" (directed by
Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello), and "
Sari's Mother" (directed by
James Longley).
I was on the
Short Film Jury at Sundance in 2007, and we awarded "
Freeheld" a "Special Jury Prize," so I've been a big supporter of this film for a while. The documentary covers the inspiring tale of New Jersey Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester, who is dying of cancer, and her battle to win the right to pass her pension on to her domestic partner. We showed the film at our
Romance program on June 22, 2007, a daring programming choice that greatly pleased the film's director, who was glad to see the film reach a wide audience who might not otherwise go to see such a tragic story.
"
Salim Baba" is a stunningly beautiful film about a man in India who operates a home made "Cinema Cart," a box on wheels which houses a modified 35mm projector and room for three kids to duck their heads under a curtain to see a two-foot wide image. He uses found and appropriated objects, and we screened the film July 26th on the roof of the Westbeth Artists Community, in conjunction with the Friends of the High Line, in a
program about people who find meaning and value in the pieces and places that others have left behind.
"
Sari's Mother" is directed by the Academy-Award nominated director of "Iraq in Fragments," and it tells the story of a mother in Iraq who tries to find medical care for her 10-year-old son Sari. He contracted AIDS during a blood transfusion and is tormented by pain and fatigue. The labyrinth of Iraqi health care is unfathomable, and Sari's mother gets sent around in circles. The war and the terror make it hard to determine who she can and cannot trust. But Sari's mother is convinced that her son deserves the best possible care, so she persists. Screened in our July 20th program "
The Way We Get By" --deeply philosophical, desperately inspiring short films about the illogical lives we lead--that Sari's mother commits so much of her soul to his care represents the antithesis of logic, and the definition of love.
Those films make up three of the four nominees for the award for Best Documentary Short, so Rooftop has a 75% chance of having an alum take home an Oscar this year. Good luck to all of them!
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