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March 2019
Partner Screening
Paternal Rites
Dir. Jules Rosskam, 2018, USA, 82 mins
Paternal Rites is a first-person essay film that examines the secret underbelly of a contemporary Jewish American family as they grapple with the aftereffects of physical and sexual abuse on their present-day lives. It is also a groundbreaking film about the nature of trauma and memory itself: the ways in which trauma encrypts in uncanny ways; the function of speech and narrative in the process of decryption; and the role of film and filmmaking in the practice of healing. Paternal Rites draws inspiration from podcasts like This American Life and Radiolab and the long lineage of LGBT essay filmmakers in the U.S. such as Jenni Olson, Marlon Riggs, and Richard Fung.
Presented as part of Queens World Film Festival
April 2019
NewFest at The Center Presents
Wild Nights With Emily
Dir. Madeleine Olnek, 2018, USA, 84 mins
Free Pre-Release Screening
In quiet mid-19th century Amherst, Emily Dickinson (Molly Shannon) is writing prolifically, baking gingerbread, and enjoying a passionate, if clandestine affair with her sister-in-law Susan, who conveniently lives next door. While seeking publication of some of her nearly 2,000 poems, Dickinson faces condescending male literary gatekeepers too confused by her genius to take her writing seriously. Eventually, her work attracts the attention of a scheming would-be writer, who also happens to be Emily’s brother’s lover, and sees Emily’s poetry as a vehicle for her own creative ambitions. Beneath the quips, period fripperies and not so secret trysts is a moving drama of thwarted passion both romantic and artistic that is also a timely critique of how Emily Dickinson’s life was posthumously recast for the genteel sensibilities of her late Victorian readership – a view of her that still dominates today.
Talkback with director Madeleine Olnek to follow
Fun Down There (1989)
Dir. Roger Stigliano, 1989, USA, 89 mins, 16mm
Winner of Berlinale’s prestigious Teddy Award in 1989, Roger Stigliano’s debut film takes a charmingly droll and optimistic approach to the coming-out-while-coming-of-age portrait. Co-writer Michael Waite stars as Buddy, an innocent upstate NY guy who lands in Manhattan and wanders through hip house parties and cafes in search of his tribe. Mixing the deadpan candor of early Jim Jarmusch with refreshingly naturalistic gay sex scenes, this relic of queer cinema is overdue for rediscovery. Co-shot and co-edited by the great Peggy Ahwesh, FUN DOWN THERE is replete with atmospheric footage of the late-80s East Village.
Q&A with director Roger Stigliano
Recent Events
NewFest at The Center Presents
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Screening Room at The Center
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Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1970)
Quad Cinema
Dir. Douglas Hickox, 1970, UK, 94 mins, 35mm Joe Orton’s dark comedy made his career in its 1964 UK stage premiere; proved too hot for Broadway; and posthumously made it to the screen as a career boost for helmer Hickox (soon to direct Theater of B...
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Knife+Heart
Roxy Cinema Tribeca
Dir. Yann Gonzalez, France, 2018, 103 mins A Cannes 2018 Official Selection, this steamy and seedy ode to cinema and postured pulp comes from visionary director and NewFest alum Yann Gonzalez (YOU AND THE NIGHT). Vanessa Paradis stars as a no-nonsens...
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Winter Kept Us Warm (1965)
Quad Cinema
Dir. David Secter, 1965, Canada, 81 mins, 16mm The first English-language Canadian film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, this endearing University of Toronto-set debut focuses on the blooming relationship between shy freshman Peter (Henry Tarva...
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The Gospel of Eureka
Screening Room at The Center
Dirs: Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, USA, 2019, 75 mins Pre-Release Screening Welcome to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a one-of-a-kind oasis in the Ozarks where Christian piety rubs shoulders with a thriving queer community in this celebratory and hu...
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Dallas Doll (1994)
Quad Cinema
Dir. Ann Turner, 1994, Australia, 104 mins, 35mm In this riotous riff on Pasolini’s TEOREMA that deserves be a cult classic, the incomparable Sandra Bernhard stars as an American golf pro in Australia seducing her way through a bourgeois family and...
Find out more / TrailerPartner Screening
The Heiresses
Film Forum
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Man Made
Screening Room at The Center
Winner! Audience Award for Best Documentary, NewFest 2018 Dir: T Cooper, USA, 2018, 98 mins From surgeries and T parties to the struggles and joys of transitioning, follow four men as they prepare for Trans FitCon, the only bodybuilding competition e...
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Live Podcast: This Movie Changed Me
The Greene Space
Live Podcast Recording with writer, performer and comedian Justin Sayre One fan talking about the transformative power of one movie. This Movie Changed Me offers an unexpected take on pop culture, transporting listeners inside the world of movies by ...
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30th Annual New York LGBT Film Festival
Now in our 30th year, New York's LGBT Film Festival has expanded to seven days! Our 30th anniversary festival will celebrate the year’s best LGBT films from the U.S. and abroad, as well as parties and events bringing together filmmakers, movie love...
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The Dark Side of Tomorrow
Quad Cinema
Dirs. Barbara Peeters & Jacques Deerson, 1970, USA, 84 mins New York premiere of 4K restoration While their husbands are away on business, two lonely L.A. housewives embark on an affair in this remarkable feature from Barbara Peeters (one of the only...
Find out more / TrailerEdge of Seventeen (1998)
Liberty Hall @ Ace Hotel New York
Dir: David Moreton, USA, 1998, 99 mins Special FREE screening of NewFest 1998's Closing Night Film It's the summer of 1984, you're seventeen, you live in the Mid-West, and you're pretty sure you're gay. So begins director David Moreton and writer Tod...
Find out more / TrailerOutdoor Summer Screening
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
THE WILLIAM VALE
Dir. Desiree Akhavan, 2018, USA, 91 mins In partnership with Rooftop Films Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz) looks the part of a perfect high school girl. But after she’s caught with another girl in the back seat of a car on prom night, Cameron is...
Find out more / TrailerOutdoor Summer Screening
We the Animals
Old American Can Factory
Dir. Jeremiah Zagar, 2018, USA, 90 mins In partnership with Rooftop Films Us three. Us brothers. Us kings, inseparable. Three boys tear through their rural New York home town, in the midst of their young parents’ volatile love that makes and unmake...
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Scotty and The Secret History of Hollywood
Screening Room at The Center
Dir: Matt Tyrnauer, USA, 2017, 98 mins Free Pre-Release Summer Screening SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD is a scintillating, crowd-pleasing portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers. Having just been mustered out of the Marines Cor...
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