- Screenings of Skate Kitchen, Mid90s and a debate on Skateboarding și Urban Culture, in FOCUS Teens
- Directors Paul Schrader and Kent Jones to talk with the audience following the screenings of their most recent films
The third edition of the American Independent Film Festival begins on Friday, April 12th at Cinema PRO with the Opening Gala, followed by the premiere screening of The Sisters Brothers, at 8:00pm, in the presence of director Jacques Audiard, one of the special guests of the festival.
At Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, The Old Man and The Gun, will be screened on opening night, starting at 6:00pm. The film, directed by David Lowery, marks star Robert Redford’s last film of his career as an actor. The Romanian premiere of Puzzle will follow at 8:30pm.
Over the weekend, premiere screenings continue at Cinema PRO with the spectacular Vox Lux, starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law – with an introduction by critic Cristian Tudor Popescu. McQueen, the story of the controversial but fabulous young fashion designer who revolutionized the industry, will follow.
On Saturday, at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, director Jacques Audiard will hold a talk with the audience, following the screening of The Sisters Brothers, on cinema, screenwriting, the experience of having filmed in Romania, and about working with mainstream Hollywood stars. The screening is programmed at 4:30pm.
Bogdan Tănasă, founder of humanitarian project Casa Share, will be present and will speak about the initiative to help those in need, on April 13th, preceding the screening of First Reformed, at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului. The film, nominated this year at the Oscars and starring Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried, will be followed by a Q&A with director Paul Schrader via Skype.
On Sunday, at Cinema PRO, director Kent Jones, special guest of the festival’s 2018 edition, will hold a talk over Skype with the public, at the premiere of his debut feature Diane, starting at 8:00pm.
Skate Kitchen, by Crystal Moselle, and Mid90s, the directorial debut by Jonah Hill, make up part of the section FOCUS Teens, and will be accompanied, on Sunday, by a debate entitled Skateboarding and Urban Culture, at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului.
Special section FOCUS Teens brings to the forefront recent films about adolescence and about the urban culture of skateboarding. Skateboarding, the underground sport which has become a global phenomenon, has transformed the way we have come to perceive the city structure in the past 30 years. The city has become a playground, strongly influencing the fashion and lifestyle of teenagers today. In reality, skateboarding shares principles with hip-hop, in terms of expressing rebellion, the constant fight between individual liberty and artistic expression, as well as credibility and authenticity within rigid and exclusive social settings.
“Skateboarding is more than just a board with which you leave to explore the city, to deeply feel every curve, every tired crack,” and Crystal Moselle, the director of Skate Kitchen, explores the world of skateboarders in an hybrid indie drama in which Camilla, an introverted teen from Long Island gets the courage to meet with a group of skater girls from New York, after having followed them on Instagram for some time. The film starts trap artist Jaden Smith, the son of famous actorWill Smith.
Actor Jonah Hill directs Mid90s, starring young Sunny Suljic as Stevie, a 13-year-old teen on the edge of going wild, who discovers the Motor Avenue skate shop. This coming of age is made dynamic by the hip-hop music of the 90s, as well as the relationships Stevie solidifies with a crew of skaters much older than he, in Mid90s.
Cinephiles and skaters are awaited to participate at an open talk about Skateboarding and Urban Culture, which will take place on Sunday, at 6:30pm, at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului. Special guest speakers will be Uscat a.k.a. Cristian Benescu, the godfather of Romanian skateboarding, Andrei Gonguțu, a faithful fanatic of the urban sport, and Andrei Mihail, anthropologist at SNSPA, in a discussion moderated by festival programmer Andrei Tănăsescu.
Sunday’s screenings in the special section will be followed by a raffle. Crăci Movement is offering two t-shirts following the screening of Skate Kitchen, while Boarder’s Store is offering a skateboard following Mid90s.
From Monday until Wednesday, director Roberto Minervini will present indie films playing in American Perspectives by Roberto Minervini section: The Intruder (Roger Corman), Tchoupitoulas (Bill & Turner Ross) and Wanda (Barbara Loden). Minervini will hold a masterclass on directing on Tuesday, April 17th, starting at 10:15pm at Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, following the screenings of his films: The Other Side and What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?
From Monday until Wednesday, also at Cinema Muzeului Tăranului Român, conferences on creative writing and screenwriting will take place, generated by the contest Write a Screenplay for Sebastian Stan. Entry is free of charge as long as seating is available.
Continuing to support humanitarian projects, this year, the American Independent Film Festival is donating all proceeds from ticket sales to CASA SHARE. Buy a ticket to any screening, and you will be contributing to the completion of Casa Share nr. 20, as well as to the construction of an educational Day Center for children coming from families who live under the poverty line.
Tickets to films screening in the program can be purchased through Eventbook.ro.
The full screening program is available on the filmedefestival.ro website.
Information on ticketing and purchasing are available here:
The American Independent Film Festival is organized by Asociația Cinemascop, with the support of Catena. Supported by McDonald’s. A project financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Identity and the National Center of Cinematography. Official Car: BMW. Partners: Athenee Palace Hilton, PepsiCo România, UPS România, American Chamber of Commerce in Romania – AmCham Romania, Boarder’s Shop, Crăci Movement, CinemaPRO, Muzeul Țăranului Român, Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, Voodoo Films, Eventbook, Lokal. Main media partners: Pro Cinema, Radio Guerrilla. Media Partners: Radio România Cultural, Agerpres, Zile și Nopți, Decât o Revistă, AList Magazine, Cinemagia, Newsweek, Business24, Nine O’clock, Senso TV, Glamour, The Institute, Ziarul Metropolis, Liternet.ro, Ziare.com, IQads, Smark, Film Menu, Films in Frame, ADFR – Asociația pentru Dezvoltarea Filmului Românesc, AaRC – All about Romanian Cinema, CineFan, Cineghid, Movienews.ro, News.ro, Scena 9, Verbs Describe us. Communications Partner: PiArt Vision.