A Rural Route tradition since 2011, we'll screen some of our best short films on Brooklyn Grange’s flagship rooftop farm in Queens.
THE SCHEDULE: Doors open at 7:30 with live music from Rana Santacruz to begin at 7:45.
The films will begin at 8:30 with an after party at Coffeed to follow.
(In case of rain, screenings will take place at Coffeed)
THE PERKS: Ticket purchase to our Rooftop Farms Shorts Program includes a frosty (and did we mention complimentary) beer courtesy of SingleCut Beersmiths. Fresh garden greens from the farm will also be available along with Coffeed's regular, delicious menu.
THE BAND: Rana Santacruz is a multi intrumental artist. Born and raised in Mexico City, Santacruz's music draws as much influence from magical realism and Gabriel Garcia Marquez as it does traditional folk.
THE FILMS: THE LAST ICE MERCHANT. Dir. Sandy Patch. 14min. Documentary. 2012. Chimborazo Province, Ecuador.
Twice a week for over half a century, Baltazar Ushca has hiked up the slopes of Mount Chimborazo, the tallest mountain in Ecuador, to harvest glacial ice (full of vitamins and minerals nonexistent in commercially-produced ice) that covers the highest altitudes of this dormant volcano.
THE SEA [IS STILL] AROUND US. Dir. Hope Tucker. 4min. Experimental. 2012. Corinna, Maine.
“Rachel Carson is dead, but the sea is still around us…this small lake is a sad reminder of what is taking place all over the land, from carelessness, shortsightedness, and arrogance. It is our pool of shame in this, ‘our particular instant of time.’” E.B. White, 1964.
BRIMSTONE LINE. Dir. Chris Kennedy. 10min. Experimental. 2012. Brimstone, Ontario, Canada.
A series of grids frame the Credit River, delineating the landscape and motivating the movement of the camera, while the water continues to flow by.
WHEN ELEPHANTS DANCE, THE GRASS GETS BEATEN. Dir. Jan Van den Berg. 25min. Documentary. Siem Reap Province, Cambodia.
Coming from a village agricultural background, Moon and Bun San don’t have the money for a traditional wedding, but friends and family help them put it together. During the course of the wedding and preparations, we get a picture of the dramatic situation of many small Cambodia family farms. Every day large foreign companies are buying more of the agriculture land that had been given to them by the government, while promised job opportunities don’t happen and the farmers find themselves without land or income. (Director Jan Van den Berg is based in Utrecht, Holland, but his documentaries have artistically explored important human rights issues and unique cultures around the world.)
GOWANUS CANAL. Dir. Sarah J. Christman. 7min. Experimental. 2013. Brooklyn, NY.
Just below the surface of one of the most contaminated urban waterways in the United States, microorganisms thrive amidst the toxic waste in ‘mud paintings’ of surprisingly psychedelic color and texture.
THE LAKE. Dir. Dexter Buell. 9min. Experimental. 2012. Brooklyn, NY.
Adjacent partners seek redemption and release from their demons and a failing marriage through interaction with an urban lake.
NGABEN: EMOTION AND RESTRAINT IN A BALINESE HEART. Dir. Robert Lemelson. 16min. Documentary. 2012. Klung Kung, Bali, Indonesia.
A poetic and impressionistic look at “Ngaben,” the famed, elaborate Balinese funerary ritual from the perspective of a mourning son.