Northside Festival, Brooklyn’s answer to SXSW, isn’t just music. There will also be over fifty films shown around Williamsburg and Greenpoint, including multiple world premiers starting today! If you want to see movies about couch surfing (Wisdom Teeth), a Christian transgender teen living in the rural South (Radical Love), the theories of Ray Kurzweil told through cinematic tweets in a satirical sci-fi pop musical (#PostModem), the sociological evolution of pet-owning (FUREVER), a boy who breaks into slaughterhouses to rescue chickens (Skin and Bones), the story of an aging puppet seeking its lost love (Unstrung), the enigmatic life of plants and the people who love them (Other Voices), a superhero who, after vanquishing his nemesis, finds himself directionless after the action is over (Epilogue), then Northside Film Festival is for you.
Here are five must-see films premiering at the Northside Festival this week:
1. A Teacher
When: Monday, June 17th at 7:30PM
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
Trailer: here
About: Monday night will be the New York premiere of Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher. The films charts the relationship between an Austin, Texas high school teacher and her teenaged student. The psychologically complex film follows the increasingly complicated and dangerous affair as it spins out of control. There will be a Q&A with the director and lead actress Lindsay Burge after the screening.
2. All the Light in the Sky
When: Tuesday, June 18th at 9:45PM
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
About: Another New York premiere, All the Light in the Sky stars Jane Adams as an aging actress with a fading career who lives on the beach in Malibu. Her niece, a young Hollywood hopeful, comes to visit her for the weekend, and the two compare careers, bodies, men, fears, and their lives. Directed by Joe Swanberg. There will be a Q&A with actress Sophia Takal after the screening.
3. Ape
When: Tuesday, June 18th at 9:15PM
Where: Williamsburg Cinemas
Trailer: here
About: In Grand Rapids, Michigan, failed comic, sociopath and arsonist Trevor Newandyke lives an absurd, directionless life. The low-budget movie follows Trevor as he practices his jokes in the mirror, mixes up Molotov cocktails, and makes a deal with a man dressed as the devil. It is the New York premiere of this “nightmarish, nihilistic tale,” and there will be a Q&A with director Joel Potrykus after the screening.
4. Go Down Death
When: Tuesday, June 18th at 7PM; Thursday, June 20th at 7:30PM
Where: Nitehawk Cinema; Williamsburg Cinemas
Trailer: here
About: The World Premiere of Aaron Schimber’s Go Down Death will be this Tuesday. The film adapts the folktales of (fictitious) writer Jonathan Mallory Sinus for the screen. These interwoven stories take place in an abandoned warehouse in Greenpoint, which becomes a strange new universe. The stories are of a diseased village haunted by ghosts, a child gravedigger, soldiers lost in the woods, and a tone-deaf cabaret singer, among others. The black and white 16mm cinematography and the innovative narrative construction makes this one a must-see. The premiere will be on Tuesday, June 18th at 7 at the Nighthawk, with a Q&A with the director after the screening and an after-party at the Nighthawk downstairs bar. It will be shown again on Thursday, June 20th at 7:30 at Williamsburg Cinemas.
5. Maniac
When: Wednesday, June 19th at 7PM
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
Trailer: here
About: Elijah Wood stars in this remake of the 1980 cult horror classic Maniac. Frank is the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store who discovers his desire to stalk and kill after befriending young artist Anna. Described as “a 21st century Jack the Ripper set in L.A.,” this suspenseful, psychologically complex film follows Frank as he becomes increasingly obsessed. Directed by Franck Khalfoun. There will be a Q&A with Elijah Wood after the screening.
The badges for the film festival are sold out, but you can still buy tickets for the individual screenings! The full schedule of films is available here.