Festival of Cinema NYC returns for its 5th
year, as a live in-person 10-day event, taking place September 24-October 3. Bookending
over 120 independent films from around the world with many premieres among
them, will be the Opening Night selection of John Carlucci and Brandon Laganke’s crowd favorite Drunk Bus, and the Closing Night
screening of Erin Granat & Machete Bang Bang’s acclaimed LGBTQ film,
Moon
Manor.
Over 85 filmmakers are expected to attend
Festival of Cinema NYC next month which will be hosted once again by the Regal
UA Midway in Forest Hills, Queens, famous for their state-of-the-art projection
and sound. World premieres include Cristiano Vieira’s A Cisterna (The Well) and
Samuel Tressler IV’s Leda, which will mark FOC NYC’s very
first RealD 3D presentation, while Pedro von Krüger’s Any Given Day and Vishal P. Chaliha’s Sijou will make North American Premieres at
the film festival.
Festival of Cinema NYC Founder and Executive
Director Jayson Simba, said, “In our 5th year, and despite the
pandemic, we still continue to grow by nearly every metric – submissions, films
selected, screenings, and more. We could not be more excited to return to our
home at the Regal and to see these amazing films on screen and meet all of the
85 filmmakers we are expecting to join us here in Forest Hills. We pride
ourselves on bringing world cinema to the many film lovers here in Queens, and
this year’s lineup really delivers on that front.”
John Carlucci and Brandon Laganke’s raucous comedy
Drunk
Bus kicks things off on Friday, September 24. The film follows a recent college graduate whose life plan is derailed when
his girlfriend leaves him for a job in New York City. However, when he runs
into Pineapple, a 300-lb punk rock Samoan who challenges him with a kick in the
ass to break from the loop and start living, his life will never be the same.
or risk driving in circles forever. Both Carlucci and Laganke will attend and
participate in a post-screening Q&A.
Erin Granat and Machete Bang Bang’s Moon
Manor will make its Queens Premiere on Saturday, October 2 as FOC NYC’s
Closing Night selection. The film focuses on a man with advancing Alzheimer’s who decides that he
will orchestrate a party of a funeral–a FUNeral, prior to his death, showing
his estranged brother, salt-of-the earth caretaker, sharp-witted death doula, a
novice obituary writer, a cosmic being, and everyone else the proper way to make
an exit.
Leda, Any Given Day
Leading
the premiere-rich lineup are world premieres including; Cristiano Vieira’s
Brazilian thriller A Cisterna (The Well), which centers on a successful journalist
and popular television host’s fight for survival when she is kidnapped and held
inside a well; and Samuel Tressler IV’s Leda imaginative drama about a woman
living alone at a large family estate, who begins to lose touch with reality
and time, and begins to spiral into a nightmare of madness. Making their North
American premieres are Pedro von Krüger’s Brazilian thriller, Any
Given Day where a woman’s son goes missing inspiring him to take the
investigation and matters into his own hands; and Vishal P. Chaliha’s Sijou,
about a boy who becomes a victim of the Feudal Land Tenure System which enslaved
people to land holding lords.
The Singular Story of Unlucky Juan
For its fifth year, Festival of Cinema NYC is
working with the Americas Media Initiative organization to raise awareness of
the current societal turmoil and political conditions in Cuba. On Tuesday
September 28 at 7:00PM, the festival will be presenting the animated short film
Esperanza
vs. the U.S. Embargo of Cuba proceeded by Ricardo Figueredo Oliva’s documentary
The
Singular Story of Unlucky Juan. The screenings will be followed by a
60-minute moderated discussion with guest speakers and activists, Roberto
Monticello and Isabel Alfonso leading the conversation. Proceeds from the
evening’s presentation will be donated to assist in Cuban Relief efforts.
This year’s edition of Festival of Cinema NYC
is supported and made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City
Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Other
major sponsors for the 2021 festival include Regal Cinemas, Resorts World
Casino NYC, the NYC & Company Foundation, Techsoup, and Final Draft.
Tickets to Festival of Cinema NYC are on sale now,
and are priced at $17 for regular daily screening blocks. Red Carpet Opening
and Closing night tickets are priced at $30 and include entry into the after
party following those screenings. (Discounts are available, at the door, for
Senior Citizens, SAG-AFTRA members, members of the Queens Economic Development
Corporation, the Forest Hills Asian Association, the Forest Hills Chamber of
Commerce, the Queens Chamber of Commerce, and members Community Board 6.) Tickets
to Tuesday’s Fundraising Presentation on Cuba will cost $35.
To
purchase tickets and learn more information about the festival, please visit http://www.festivalofcinemanyc.com/.
2021 FESTIVAL OF CINEMA NYC OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
Drunk Bus
Dir.
John Carlucci & Brandon Laganke, USA, 100 min
Michael (Charlie Tahan) is a recent
graduate whose post college plan is derailed when his girlfriend leaves him for
a job in New York City. When the bus service hires a security guard to watch
over the night shift, Michael comes face to tattooed face with Pineapple, a
300-lb punk rock Samoan who challenges him with a kick in the ass to break from
the loop and start living or risk driving in circles forever.
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION
Moon
Manor Queens Premiere
Dir.
Erin Granat & Machete Bang Bang, USA, 102 min
With
advancing Alzheimer’s and a determination to do things his way, Jimmy’s decided
to throw himself a fabulous FUNeral before his intentional death, showing his
estranged brother, salt-of-the earth caretaker, sharp-witted death doula, a novice
obituary writer, a cosmic being, and the guests at his FUNeral — that sometimes
the art of living just may be the art of dying.