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Rooftop Films: Celebrate the 4th with Media That Matters!

Posted on June 23, 2005

This fourth of July, join us in Brooklyn...

Some Folks Call It Un-American
Co-Curated by Rooftop Films and the Media That Matters Film Festival

Explosive political films, personal portraits of genuine Americans, plus music videos, animation and video mashups that question contemporary patriotism.

Monday, July 4th, 2005

8:00 - Live music by The Mountain Goats (details below)
9:00 - Fireworks
9:30 - Screening and Q&A

On the roof of the Fulton Mall Parking Garage
300 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
Dress warmly (it's cooler sitting still than in the streets).
In the event of rain the show is indoors at the same location.

BUY TICKETS: $15

THE FILMS:
Americaís Biggest Dick (Brian Boyce / San Francisco, CA / 3:00)
In the kill or be killed world of Scarface, the cruelest, most sadistic, vindictive criminals become heroes. In other circles, the same types become Vice President.

All That I Can Be (Educational Video Center / New York, NY / 8:00)
A documentary about why one young man felt his best option for success in America was in the military, even during a war.

The Stork (Nina Paley / New York, NY / 4:30)
...is the bird of war. A cheery animated film about babies, bombs and suburban blight.

There There Square (Jacqueline Goss / Annandale, NY / 14:00)
The desire to own and name land and the pleasures of seeing from a distance color this personal survey of the history of mapmaking in the New World. There There Square takes a close look at the gestures of travelers, mapmakers, and saboteurs that determine how we read — and live within — the lines that define the United States.

Something Other Than Other (Jerry Henry / Los Angeles, CA / 7:05)
A beautiful personal portrait of the birth of a young multiracial coupleís first child. Funded in part by the Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund.

Pizza Surveillance Feature
(Micah Laaker, American Civil Liberties Union / 2:20)
We think it's convenient when the take-out place knows our address from our phone number. But just how much information do we want to share?

World On Fire (Sophie Muller / Los Angeles, CA / 4:20)
$5,000 could cover the cost of one day of hair and make-up on set in L.A. or pay for one year's schooling for 145 girls in Afghanistan. Sarah McLachlan does the math and encourages you to join her.

Buried in the Backyard
(Sarah Prior & Monica Bigler / New York, NY / 30:00)
In March 2003, The Wall Street Journal reported that bomb shelters were more prevalent now than during the Cold War, but is this really true? Has the bomb shelter reached the mainstream? This documentary traverses the American landscape, from Michigan to Utah, offering glimpses into a little-seen, sometimes festering and funky, interior.

El Moro (Jim Finn / Chicago, IL / 3:00)
As sung by Leonard Nimoy, this is the story of the bravest little hobbit in the world who fights the big bullies in the neighboring kingdom.

System Failure (WITNESS / Brooklyn, NY / 8:00)
Physical abuse, sexual harassment, inadequate education for incarcerated youth — if a society can be graded by how it treats its prisoners, then the state of California gets an "F."

A Girl Named Kai (Kai Ling Xue / New York, NY & San Francisco, CA / 8:00)
Through a stirring and poetic mix of experimental video, home movie footage, and sliced up sounds, Kai appeals to her traditional Taiwanese parents for acceptance in spite of her unconventional take on life and love.

Luckiest Nut in the World (Emily James, Fulcrum TV / 5:30)
A singing peanut and his gang of shelled friends explain that sometimes free trade is just nuts.

Hot Dog Man (Joyce Ventimiglia & Jim Haverkamp / Durham, NC / 5:45)
Director of Last Pack (Rooftop 7/14/01) and Armor of God (Rooftop 6/28/02). A hilarious and poignant home movie about an absurd American icon, a giant self-devouring hot dog statue in downtown Durham, North Carolina.

THE MUSIC:
The body, soul and voice of The Mountain Goats, singer-songwriter John Darnielle, comes to Rooftop Films to perform a classic solo set. His songs — bitter and deadly love stories, character portraits of the wild and lonely, sharp cries of anguish — are astonishingly uplifting. The sparse details of his lyrics are like postcards from long-lost friends, wandering the American wasteland and wondering how they'll ever survive.

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