This past weekend, the Greenpoint Film Festival returned to the neighborhood for it’s third consecutive year, pulling from many different facets of the film world.The highlights included selections from the world of documentary, music video, new for 2013, and the world of the Micro-Budget film.
Last Friday evening’s documentary portion, housed at 67 West Street, featured Max Kutner’s, “At The Corner of 3rd and 3rd”, a short-form piece showcasing Gowanus’ own Coignet Stone Company Building; a 19th century historic holdout in the ever-developing landscape of Brooklyn. This was followed by Lisa Molomot’s feature length, “The Hill” which focuses on a New Haven, CT neighborhood dealing with the looming displacement of it’s residents due to expansion of the city’s school system. Both films offered plenty of food for thought and I found that Kutner’s Gowanus piece struck closer to home as we here, in Greenpoint, are also dealing with the prospects of urban renewal and development and the impact that is having on our community.
Saturday was chock full o’ film making goodness starting in the afternoon with a smattering of music videos curated by David Ohliger at The Gutter. The selections ranged from experimental to extremely inventive. Julia Stiles even made an appearance…in Cave Man’s synth pop cut “In The City”. Emily Newhouse killed it with her over-the-top, comedy-laden video for “I Am Addicted To The Internet” and Awkwafina’s tounge-in-cheek video “My V@g” really brought it home. I highly recommend viewing.
I closed my festival experience with the Micro-Budget short form curated by Greenpointers contributor, Matt Glasson. Many props to Glasson for curating such a killer selection of short films. These pieces were excerpts from the Flux Festival, where teams of filmmakers were given a limited time (and as the name would imply, small budget) to make short films centered around a theme.
The theme this time around was time travel and each selection was its own unique take on the idea. As someone who works professionally in the creative space, I can honestly say I was floored by the high production value of “Old Timers” and “Primogenesis” as well as the inventiveness of “The Misadventures of The Incredible Dr. Wonderfoot”. I could go on about these wonderful selections so I suggest that you check out the list of films and their creators here and take it upon yourselves see them.
Filmmaker Q&A @ The Micro-Budget Shorts Screening - © Drew English The Greenpoint Film Festival has started it’s own little buzz in the New York Filmmaking world and I am excited to see how it grows next year. With so much focus today on independent filmmaking and the DIY attitude, this year’s festival serves to supplement the idea that creativity’s only limitation is how far you can push your imagination.