Rooftop Films at Tribeca

Rooftop is proud to co-present two screenings at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Andrew Semans’ Nancy, Please, and Michael Palmieri & Donal Mosher’s Off Label.

Nancy, Please (a recipient of our Eastern Effects Equipment Grant and Film Fund Grant) follows a bright young Yale doctoral candidate through a quixotic attempt to reclaim his copy of Dickens’ Little Dorritt from an unstable old roommate and is Semans’ debut feature, following his psychologically revealing shorts, I’d Rather Be Dead Than Live in This World and All Day Long.

Off Label, Palmieri and Mosher’s second documentary feature, following October Country, puts human faces on the complicated issue of psychiatric drug use in America. Following multiple subjects through their experiences with PTSD, depression, trauma, suicide, and serving as medical guinea pigs, this doc truly addresses the breadth of drug use in this country and raises pertinent questions about just who exactly is really benefiting from it all.

Tickets and a full schedule here.

Nancy, Please screening schedule is as follows:
Sat, 4/21 – 9:00 pm
Sun, 4/22 – 9:00 pm
Thu, 4/26 – 10:00 pm
Sat, 4/28 – 10:00 pm
All screenings at the AMC Loews Village 7.

Off Label screening schedule is as follows:
Thu, 4/19 – 7:00pm at AMC Loews Village 7
Fri, 4/20 – 7:30pm at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 9
Mon, 4/23 – 10:00pm at AMC Loews Village 7
Tue, 4/24 – 3:30pm at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 6

And don’t miss the rest of the Rooftop Alums at Tribeca:

Ballroom Dancer
Directed By: Andreas Koefoed and Christian Bonke
In 2000, Slavik Kryklyvyy became the World Latin Dance Champion with his partner and lover Joanna Leunis. Enduring success seemed assured, but instead Slavik’s career sputtered while Leunis went on to unrivaled glory with a replacement partner. A decade later Slavik has his sights set on a comeback. He has reteamed with a new partner—his girlfriend, amateur dance champion Anna Melnikova, and redemption seems within their grasp. But when it comes to making their relationship work both on and off the dance floor, will Slavik’s unwavering ambition prove to be his greatest asset, or his fatal flaw?

BURN
Directed By: Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez

Detroit is burning. This fascinating documentary takes us to the heart of the once-roaring industrial mecca to meet the men and women charged with saving a city many have written off as dead. With vast stretches of forsaken buildings left as kindling, the highest arson rate in the country, and a budget crisis of epic proportions, the city turns to new Fire Commissioner Donald Austin to shake up the system with hard-line decisions and drastic, often controversial measures. Cautiously regarded by the DFD as a bombastic outsider, the Detroit native sets out to demonstrate his commitment to helping his hometown rise from the ashes. From executive producer Denis Leary, BURN spends a year within the heat, introducing us to members of a close-knit brotherhood and a community within a shattered city that is unwilling to give up.

Downeast
Directed By: David Redmon and Ashley Sabin

The slogan on the ‘Welcome to Maine’ sign leading into Gouldsboro reads “Open for Business,” but the recent closure of the sardine canning factory has brought this small coastal town to a total standstill. Its laid-off residents—mostly 70-year-olds—just want to get back to work, so when Italian immigrant Antonio Bussone arrives from Boston aiming to open a new lobster processing plant, most of the local labor welcomes him with open arms. After all, they’re sick of sending their lobsters to Canada when there’s a ready-and-willing workforce to process them at home. So why is tapping into federal relief funds to finance the plant turning into the biggest struggle of Antonio’s life?

Keep the Lights On
Directed By: Ira Sachs

The first time they meet, documentary filmmaker Erik (Thure Lindhardt) and literary agent Paul (Zachary Booth) get together for a meaningless late-night hookup. Unexpectedly the two make a connection that goes beyond just sex, and they decide to build a life together. But as they grow closer, the self-destructive habits of the two men begin to threaten the steadfastness of their bond. Following them over the course of several years, acclaimed director Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue) offers an honest, unflinching portrait of a relationship that is by equal measure loving and destructive.

Postcards From the Zoo
Directed By: Edwin

If you’ve ever sent a postcard, you most likely were lucky enough to visit a place worth talking about. If you’ve ever received a postcard, you most likely have imagined you were lucky enough to visit a place worth talking about. The Ragunan Zoo, as Edwin sees it, is one of those places. And the postcards he’s written have a magical message, inscribed in disappearing ink. In his picture you will see: A giraffe. Hippos. A girl who ages with a tiger. A cowboy juggling light. Colorful drifters finding homes in a transient place. Both time and reality are hazy, and the enchanting zoological garden holds captive animals and humans alike.

Revenge for Jolly
Directed By: Chadd Harbold

Harry is having a very, very bad day. He returns home from an all-night drinking binge with his cousin Cecil to discover that his little dog Jolly—Harry’s one true love and the source of light in his dark, solitary life—has been murdered. Brokenhearted and beyond consolation, he vows to track down the dog’s murderer at any cost. Armed with a stockpile of firepower in the trunk of his car, he and Cecil embark on a frenzied, alcohol-fueled wild-goose chase, leaving a bloody path of destruction in their wake.

Rubberneck
Directed By: Alex Karpovsky

Months after a one-night-stand-gone-nowhere with his sexy coworker Danielle, sad-sack Boston scientist Paul still finds himself increasingly consumed with obsessive thoughts toward his clearly uninterested colleague. Paul nurtures his fantasies with the occasional polite exchange at work, believing Danielle will eventually come around, but when Danielle seems receptive to the advances of another lab worker, Paul’s barely contained delusions and long-repressed impulses threaten to bubble over. Is Paul just a jilted loser, or is there something more dangerous lurking beneath the surface of his scarred psyche?

Your Sister’s Sister
Directed By: Lynn Shelton

Jack (Mark Duplass) is still mourning the death of his brother a year later and struggling to get his life on track. His best friend and an ex of his late sibling, Iris (a charming Emily Blunt) intervenes and sends Jack to her family’s holiday pad in the San Juan Islands, outside of Seattle, for a little solo R and R. But Jack is unexpectedly welcomed by Iris’ sister Hanna (the ever-brilliant Rosemarie Dewitt), who has recently retreated to the house to mend her wounds over a recent breakup… using shots of tequila. Jack joins in and a one-night stand ensues, but the fit really hits the shan the next morning when Iris shows up unannounced.

Inquire Within
Directed By: Jay Rosenblatt

A hypnotic, apocalyptic examination of false choices, double binds, vulnerability, and faith.