Though there are plenty of notable film festivals based in New York City, I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed last year’s inaugural First Time Fest. Based on the concept that the festival promotes the work of new filmmakers, the First Time Fest fills a need for emerging filmmakers as a platform to gain exposure for their work.
This year the First Time Fest will run April 3 – 7, 2014, and is based at the festival’s new home, NeueHouse (110 East 25th St.). NeueHouse will be the location for panels, workshops, selected film presentations, parties and the filmmaker lounge. Most screenings, including all the competition films, will take place at the AMC Loews Village 7 (11th St. & Third Ave.) The films in competition are:
1982 USA. Director, Tommy Oliver. Set in Philadelphia at the onset of the crack epidemic, 1982 follows a father’s efforts to protect his 10-year-old daughter from her drug-addled mother, while trying to steer her towards recovery. A grant recipient from the San Francisco Film Society and winner of the US in Progress award, 1982 premiered to great acclaim at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.
Bittersweet USA/Netherlands. Director, Marieke Niestadt. A thrilling, intimate, and unpredictable sports documentary follows Australian kickboxer and WIBA World Champion Diana Prazik’s seemingly impossible quest to defeat Frida Wallberg of Sweden.
Butter on the Latch USA. Director, Josephine Decker. At a Balkan music camp, one woman’s respite devolves into a thrilling, psychosexual drama as her friendship and sanity are tested to extremes. Butter on the Latch had its international premiere at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival, alongside Decker’s second film, Thou Wast Mild and Lovely.
Class Enemy Slovenia. Director, Rok Bicek. A group of students rallies against their new German professor when one of their classmates commits suicide. The film premiered at the 2013 Venice Film Festival, and was Slovenia’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.
Fall to Rise USA. Director, Jayce Bartok. In this multi-layered and absorbing New York drama, a famous principal dancer (Daphne Rubin-Vega) struggles to uphold her identity when a knee injury relegates her to motherhood.
Getting to the Nutcracker USA. Director, Serene Meshel-Dillman. This behind-the-scenes look at The Marat Daukayev School of Ballet’s herculean efforts to stage The Nutcracker is an absorbing, intimate documentary that looks at the sacrifices and passion of its children dancers, ages three to eighteen.
Love Steaks Germany. Director, Jakob Lass. She is an alcoholic chef, he, a sensitive masseur. Together they forge an unlikely relationship in this energetic and darkly comic romance set at a sea-side resort, which won the Lions Film Award at the 2014 Rotterdam Film Festival.
Miss Julie Sweden. Director, Mikael Berg. A beautiful and bold new adaptation of Strindberg’s classic battle of the sexes play set on a Midsummer’s night in a rustic mansion in 1920s Europe.
The Sleepwalker USA/Norway. Director, Mona Fastvold. A young couple’s renovation plans are thwarted by the unexpected arrival of her estranged sister in this thriller starring co-screenwriter Brady Corbett, Christopher Abbott and Gitte Witt, which premiered in Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
There will also be two out-of-competition screenings:
See You Next Tuesday USA. Director, Drew Tobia. A pregnant and abrasive grocery store clerk draws her troubled family close as she spirals toward her due date in this moving, dark comedy that recallsthe films of John Waters and Todd Solondz.
Nothing Left To Fear USA, Director, Anthony Leonard III. Producer/Composer, Slash. In this thrilling horror film, a family’s journey toward a better life is interrupted by an unstable man of the cloth.
As with last year, there will also be the First Exposure retrospective series that will screen the first films of notable filmmakers who will be on hand to talk about making their first films. This the First Exposure series will feature Jennie Livingston presenting Paris is Burning, Albert Maysles (Salesman), Julie Taymor (Titus), Michael Moore (Roger & Me), Kelly Reichardt (River of Grass), Cinematographer Frederick Elmes (Eraserhead), James Toback (Fingers), and Peter Bogdanovich (Targets). In addition, Taymor will receive the John Huston Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema. The inaugural award was first presented last year to Darren Aronofsky by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese (you can see my coverage of that here!)
If that wasn’t enough, there will also be several Industry Panels with notable producers, financiers, agents, composers, critics and other members of the entertainment industry. Panels at FTF are intimate gatherings between attendees and special guests where questions are encouraged and discussion is lively. Among the panels are “What’s Up, Doc;” “Help Me Help You;” “Show Me the Money;” “We Need a Bigger Boat – producing Independent Cinema;” “The Critical Eye;” “From Rock to Score” presented by the Grammys; and “Sell Baby Sell.” A special panel, Women in Entertainment and Media, sponsored by the by the Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management Group, will include Brooke Shields, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Carol Alt.
For more information about the First Time Fest, visit the festival website here!
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