My name is Dominic and I’m the Film Programmer here at Rooftop. I have the awesome job of watching and finding films and putting together the events and programs for the Summer Series. With so many films and events this summer it can be difficult to find paths through our programming. I’ll be devoting a weekly blog post to themes in our films to help guide your viewing. Alumni filmmakers got some love last week.
In honor of our nearly sold-out screening of Tickled, here are the only-in-reality, so-strange-they-could-not-be-made-up, true-life tales that will have your mind spinning days and feed party conversation for months.
TICKLED | Thursday, June 16
@ The Old American Can Factory
This film begins with competitive endurance tickling videos. An innocent request from the filmmaker to learn more about the phenomenon is met with intimidation, legal action, and secret identities from a vast and secretive tickling video empire, known for harassing and harming the lives of those who protest their involvement in the films. Representatives from the group have snuck into screenings at Sundance and True/False. Who knows what will happen at our screening?
DANGEROUS DOCS | Friday, June 24
@ MetroTech Commons – FREE!
From the bottom of the ocean to the streets of Aleppo, these short documentaries will transport you to places that were previously only imaginable. The filmmakers of these short films have fearlessly thrown cameras into the center of the action to deliver a night of films that is sometimes perilous and always exhilarating.
TONY ROBBINS: I AM NOT YOUR GURU | Monday, July 11
@ The Bushwick Generator
TONY ROBBINS IN PERSON! Go behind-the-scenes to experience the intricate design and production of Robbins’ famed Date With Destiny seminar. This film is an emotional tour-de-force of cinéma vérité that pulls back the curtain on Tony Robbins and unveils the inner-workings of this mega event, its zealous participants and the man himself. Watching it is like being there. You’ll feel like a participant…
AUTHOR: THE JT LEROY STORY | Thursday, August 18
@ Industry City
After being outed as “it” boy JT Leroy, Laura Albert, a former punk rocker and new mother tells her story. Go down the infinitely fascinating rabbit hole of how Laura—like a Cyrano de Bergerac on steroids—breathed not only words, but life, into her avatar for a decade.
Check back next week when I’ll highlight more found footage and home video from our 2016 Summer Series.
—Dom