Back for its 13th year, the Greenpoint Film Festival begins on Aug. 7 for a full week of film screenings, celebrations, and events.
The five-day festival is set to feature more than 100 different films — including narrative and documentary shorts and features, animated films and three extended reality stories from local filmmakers and foreign directors.
Highlights of the festival include an Opening Night screening of “Lucha: A Wrestling Tale,” a documentary that follows the women’s wrestling team at Taft High School in the Bronx as they work toward the championship; and and the Aug. 9 centerpiece presentation featuring a retrospective of acclaimed filmmaker Alex Lora’s works “Unicorns” and “The Masterpiece.” Lora himself, a local, will be in attendance.
The festival closes on a high note on Aug. 11 with a double feature: the U.S. premier of Jelly Moneymaker’s documentary “Drum Song: The Rhythm of Life,” which explores climate change through the eyes of Alaska’s indigenous populations; and a screening of festival favorite “Miwene,” a coming-of-age story about a young woman living deep in the Amazon rainforest.
“Drum Song: A Rhythm of Life” is one of ten films making their U.S. premier at the Greenpoint Film Festival: cinephiles will, for the first time, be able to see features like “The Green Ink” and “Unspoken,” as well as documentaries like “Moje Własne Słowe (In My Words)” and “Planet Wind – The Global Story of Offshore Wind.”
True to its local roots, the Greenpoint Film Festival will emphasize Polish film with a free Polish Cinema Heritage program at Film Noir in Greenpoint. The festival is dedicated to offering a platform to local filmmakers — and will also include panels and workshops meant to “[expand] the local film network in North Brooklyn with the goal of helping local filmmakers make connections and gain support for their projects.”
“Our film festival has grown with leaps and bounds both with the number of films offered and the expansion of our footprint here in Brooklyn,” said Greenpoint Film Festival creative director Ricardo Villar, in a statement. “But it all still starts with our mission on behalf of the filmmakers and giving them a platform to tell their stories and connect with audiences and each other. As we continue to build our reputation as a place and event to celebrate cinema here in North Brooklyn, we are thrilled with each step we take to bring recognition to their work and talent.”
At the end of the festival, the best films and filmmakers will be honored at the Filmmaker Awards, including a special recognition for movies that champion environmental causes and social justice.
The Greenpoint Film Festival runs from Aug. 7-11. A full schedule of events, prices, and more details are available on the festival’s website.
