Rooftop Films announces initial 2016 lineup & opening events

The initial slate for Rooftop Films‘ 2016 summer series has been announced. The first round of programming will feature 50 outdoor screenings at 13 different venues around NYC, and as usual, all the screenings will have bands playing at them, though those won’t be announced until closer to the events.

The fun kicks off with an opening weekend lineup that starts on Wednesday, May 18 at Industry City with a screening of the new documentary Weiner. The doc, about disgraced former U.S. CongressmanAnthony Weiner, debuted to rave reviews at this year’s Sundance fest. Then on Thursday, May 19 at The Bushwick Generator there’s a program of short films called This is What We Mean By Short Films. Both of those feature live music before the show, a Q&A with filmmakers after the show, and an afterparty sponsored by Stella Artois. Tickets are available via members-only pre-sale right now. No word yet on when they’ll go on sale to the general public, so keep an eye on the Rooftop Films website for more info.

Other interesting movies abound at Rooftop Films this year. They’ll host the first announced NYC public screening of Goodnight Brooklyn: The Story of Death by Audio, a doc about the LA punk scene called Los Punks: We Are All We Have, and a Danny Brown concert film that doesn’t yet have a title, and a film about the making of Smokey & the Bandit. On the fiction side, there’s Taika Watiti‘s new film Hunt For the Wilderpeople and the buzzy Sundance provocation White Girl, among a bunch of other stuff on both the fiction and documentary side. Venues and details on those screenings are TBA.

Check out trailers for Weiner and Hunt For the Wilderpeople, along with the full lineup of currently-announced Rooftop Films lineup, below.

Rooftop Films 20th Annual Summer Series Opening Weekend
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Industry City, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Weiner
(Elyse Steinberg & Josh Kriegman | USA | 100’)
Sexts, lies, and Carlos Danger: watch the wildest political meltdown in recent history.
Presented in Partnership with: Sundance Selects

Friday, May 20, 2016
The Bushwick Generator, Bushwick, Brooklyn
This is What We Mean by Short Films
Celebrate our 20th anniversary with short films chock-full of the stuff of summer: dancing, swimming, and hanging with old friends.
THE FILMS: Stations (Roddy Hyduk); The Position (Black Eye Symphony pt. 1) (Steve Collins); METUBE 2 — August Sings Carmina Burana (Daniel Moshel); Avant Garde (Black Eye Symphony pt. 3) (Steve Collins); Temporary Color (John Wilson); Thunder P. (Black Eye Symphony pt. 4) (Steve Collins); The Hanging (Geoffrey Feinberg); Mining Poems or Odes (Callum Rice); AN ECSTATIC EXPERIENCE (Ja’Tovia Gary); Bad at Dancing (Joanna Arnow); Dr. Meertz (Black Eye Symphony pt. 4) (Steve Collins).

Feature Documentaries (more films, dates and venues to be announced soon)

The Bandit
(Jesse Moss | USA | 82′)
Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham recount the strange, wild making of Smokey and the Bandit.
Presented in Partnership with: CMT

Cameraperson
(Kirsten Johnson | USA | 102′)
Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson’s deeply poetic memoir, culled from footage shot for other films.
Presented in Partnership with: The Film Collaborative

Danny Brown Concert Documentary (Title TBA)
(Andrew Cohn | USA)
An intimate, behind-the-scenes adventure with Detroit-rapper Danny Brown during a hometown show.
Presented in partnership with: House of Vans

Don Juan
(Jerzy Sladkowski | Sweden/Finland | 92′)
A 4-sided love triangle, complete with autism & neuroses in the Russian city Nizhny Novgorod
Presented in Partnership with: IDFA and Swedish Film Institute

Goodnight Brooklyn – The Story of Death by Audio
(Matthew Conboy | USA | 82′)
The origins, influence and ultimate closure of one of Brooklyn’s best DIY music venues.

In Pursuit of Silence
(Patrick Shen | USA | 81’)
A contemplative meditation that explores our relationship with silence, sound, and the impact of noise on our lives. The film will be presented as a special silent screening, with the audience listening to the film on headphones.

Life, Animated
(Roger Ross Williams | USA | 91′)
A young man with autism discovers a way to make sense of world via classic Disney animated films.
Presented in Partnership with: The Orchard, in theaters July 8

Los Punks: We Are All We Have
(Angela Boatwright | USA | 79′)
All thrash, noise, and pits; meet the fans and bands of the thriving backyard punk scene in LA.
Presented in partnership with: House of Vans

The Music of Strangers: Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
(Morgan Neville | USA | 96′)
The extraordinary story of the renowned international musical collective which was created by famed cellist, Yo-Yo Ma.
Presented in Partnership with The Orchard, in theaters June 10

Tickled
(David Farrier & Dylan Reeve | New Zealand | 92′)
The shadowy world of competitive tickling is exposed in this stranger than fiction tale.
Presented in Partnership with: Magnolia Pictures

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
(Joe Berlinger | USA | 115′)
Go behind the scenes of renowned life and business strategist Tony Robbins in a revelatory cinema verite by renowned director Joe Berlinger.
Presented in Partnership with: Netflix

Fiction Feature Films

Donald Cried
(Kris Avedisian | USA | 85′)
Stranded in his hometown, a favor from Peter’s old friend becomes a long van ride into the past.

The Fits
(Anna Rose Holmer | USA | 72′)
A tomboy’s desire for a dance team’s acceptance warps when its members fall prey to mysterious spasms.
Presented in Partnership with: Oscilloscope Laboratories, in theaters June 3rd

Hunt For the Wilder People
(Taika Waititi | New Zealand | 101′)
Raised on hip-hop and foster care, a defiant city kid starts new in the New Zealand countryside.
Presented in Partnership with: The Orchard, in theaters June 24

Hunter Gatherer
(Josh Locy | USA | 85′)
A darkly comic tale of unlikely friendship with an indelible central performance by Andre Royo.

In the Treetops
(Matthew Brown | USA | 78′)
Driving all night, packed in a car, 5 high school friends avoid their final destination: home.

Jacqueline, Argentine
(Bernardo Britto | USA | 87′)
A playfully mysterious whistle-blower comedy from Film Fund Grantee Bernardo Britto.

White Girl
(Elizabeth Wood | USA | 88′)
A NYC college girl goes to wild extremes to get back her drug dealer boyfriend.
Presented in Partnership with: FilmRise and Netflix, in theaters this September