Entries tagged with “Horror/Thriller” from Rooftop Films Blog

New York Underground Film Festival
April 2-8, 2008
@ Anthology Film Archives
www.nyuff.com
Tickets

March 27 @ 9:45pm
Selections from the 2007 NYUFF
@ IFC Center
Tickets



The New York Underground Film Festival, a venerable anti-establishmentarian institution, the godfather of all "Underground" film festivals, will be hosting its 15th and Final installation in April, and then doing what any good punk rocker should do: dying young and . . . re-establishing itself as year-round programming consortium called "Migrating Forms."

The NYUFF has always been a haven for strange and beautiful, shocking and revealing avant garde cinema, and is definitely a big inspiration for Rooftop. I'll certainly be out for many screenings, including films by the following Rooftop alums: Jim Finn, Jacqueline Goss, Patrick Jolley, Jeanne Liotta, Jennifer Matotek, Seth Price, Robert Todd, Keith Wilson, Bryan Boyce, Lyn Elliot, Kent Lambert, Darrin Martin, Eileen Maxson, Kelly Oliver, Keary Rosen, Shelly Silver, Jim Trainor, Cory Arcangel, Skizz Cyzyk, Joe Nanashe, Moira Tierney, and Aaron Valdez (film pictured).

Check back here to the Rooftop Films blog for some write-ups and reviews of films, and I hope to see you there!

As I wrote the other day, Rooftop Films and IFP are proud to be working together to support all aspects of independent film--from exhibition all the way back through production. IFP does an admirable job at helping films get made, and have an outstanding track record of bringing fantastic films through their Labs. And when one film is having trouble getting finished, IFP is there to help.

Thursday night IFP (in conjunction with SAGIndie and Time Warner) organized a rough cut screening of "El Coyote," a Mexican Spaghetti Wester/Horror feature now in the final stage of production and preparing for the festival circuit. I thought that Brooklyn-based first time filmmakers Sergio Palacios and Damian Rodriquez have the makings of a really dynamic film.

"El Coyote" is classic revenge story, with a lone former drug runner, thickly bearded and dressed in black, riding back into a tiny Mexican town to kill the honchos who once betrayed him and left him for dead. The film is shot with an eerie distance and a distinctly gritty look, placing the characters as imposing archetypes. An astonishing soundtrack--equal parts Sergio Leonie and heavy metal--fills out the mood and propels the story. The action is, at this point, concise and edgy, and the filmmakers are looking in particular for funds to help create more (low-budget) splatter effects. With references to boarder-crossing drug-running this film has political overtones, but the real thrill of it is the low-budget energy of a badass old-fashioned western.

WATCH A TRAILER.

I think the film has the possibility to do well at indie fests and as a niche release, and could certainly be very successful as a cult classic, particularly if they can tap into the Latino market.

They're looking for investors on a very small scale, so if you're interested, please get in touch with directors Sergio Palacios and Damian Rodriguez at -info@elcoyotethemovie.com-

You can also support the film by buying some of Sergio's wicked art at www.vomitstyle.com. This one to the right is called "They Shot the President."