A Girl Like You With A Boy Like Me (Scene clip) from ruben amar on Vimeo.
SynopsisWith Anchovies Without Mamma - Trailer from Thomas Justino on Vimeo.
Synopsis
Cosimo Lechesi’s world was torn out from under him when his dear old “Mamma” suddenly died due to a slip up at a local pizzeria. What was to be a plain cheese pizza shared for supper between mother and son, turned into a fatal mistake by an inattentive pie guy. An unfortunate anchovy lurked with the clinched hand of fate. Mamma was gone. Her physical aversion to the fish was too much to overcome.
Following Mamma’s death, Cosimo found his existence consumed by feelings of guilt and confusion. Each day that passed, new questions haunted him. Pushed to his limits by these feelings, Cosmio decided he was going to seek retribution for his loss. On the anniversary of Mamma’s passing, an order was placed at the pizzeria responsible for the incident. LARGE PIE WITH ONE ANCHOVY...to be delivered.
Scott Conti, a down on his luck delivery boy, would quickly realize that his luck was about to get much worse. What had begun as just one of those run of the mill “bad nights”, thin tips and bottom rung runs, would soon become a nightmare the likes only experienced by Dante during his descent through the Inferno. The Large Pie with one anchovy, his delivery and his bloody cross to bear. Scott arrived at the house to find himself staring down the barrel of a wild west pistol and into the eyes of a man who was lost, and desperately seeking closure.
Master crime writer Cecil Garret prepares to weave these events into a tapestry of hard boiled prose, as the incident is analyzed by those that were affected by this fateful night. With Anchovies...Without Mamma is an investigative look at love, loss, pizza and the depth of circumstance.
~ErLu
In 2003 Mark Henderson was one of eight backpackers taken hostage whilst trekking in the Colombian jungle. What had started as an innocent tourist adventure, ended up as 101 terrifying days of captivity and uncertainty about his future. Eleven months after his release Mark received an email from Antonio, one of his kidnappers, and one of the other hostages received a facebook friend request from Antonio’s girlfriend, another of their captors. That email was the start of a five-year correspondence between hostage and kidnapper that eventually drew Mark back to the one part of the world he thought he’d never see again and face to face with the man who had once held the key to his freedom.
My Kidnapper is an emotional journey into a kidnapping, told from all sides. This deeply personal, authored documentary follows Mark and three of his fellow hostages as they return to the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern Colombia, the place where they lived out their worst nightmares. As they travel deeper into the jungle, they discover the truth behind what happened to them, come to understand how they all dealt with the ordeal and finally have the chance to confront two of their kidnappers.
~ErLuA JOKE - TRAILER from Andy Brown on Vimeo.
Synopsis
Bryce and Nadia have been dating for about 3 months when Bryce decides to bring her to his favorite sledding hill. After a little persuasion, Nadia agrees to ride with him down the steepest slope on the hill. As they are barreling down the hill, Bryce leans in and whispers 'I Love You' into Nadia's ear. When they reach the bottom of the slope, Nadia is not sure if she heard Bryce's whisper or not. And Bryce is not giving her any clues. They continue to go sledding together for the rest of the winter. Each time they descend the slope Bryce chooses the most treacherous moment to lean in and whisper into Nadia's ear. Come springtime, they must part ways because Bryce is leaving to study abroad. Years later Bryce returns to sledding hill and reveals why he had only spoken those words to her while speeding down the slope.
~ErLuThis is the definitive story of the rise and fall of pinball as told by the fans, collectors, designers and champion players from across the globe. A game, a sport, a lifestyle – pinball takes this eclectic bunch of self-confessed ‘pinheads’ back to their youth as they open up passionately pinpointing the attractions of the ‘world’s funnest toy’.
Archive footage of former US news anchorman, Dan Rather, opens the film from a 1977 ‘60 Minutes’ segment on pinball.
‘I spent an incredible amount of time at gas stations, honky tonks and other off the beaten path places trying to appear cool...while obsessively following the descent of a steel ball down the playing surface of a garishly lit machine...a pinball machine.’
Dan Rather captures a past time repeated by thousands across the world. ‘I used to steal pop bottles to get dimes’; ‘it was the place where parents told you not to go’; ‘my parents used to think I was going to church Sunday...but I’d be at the corner store playing pinball’; ‘all the back lot ma and pa store’s had a machine’. Pinball was everywhere. Simply everywhere.
Now pinball is virtually nowhere. Kids don’t even know what a pinball machine is. People stay home for their entertainment and kids hang out online, not at the arcade or corner store. The fate of pinball seems decided yet there exists a passionate sub culture keeping the dream alive. Whether it’s down at their local bar for a game, or choosing which game to play from a basement collection, pinball is a reality trip to a universe in a box. The ball is wild and can’t be controlled, but the challenge to tame it never stops. It’s a world that’s special when lit.
Roger Sharpe, tells the story of Pinball’s early rise to prominence in the Depression era, its banning by the US Government for 30 years, its comeback in the 1970s, and eventual defeat to video games. Living through the industry ups and downs, legendary game designers Steve Kordek, Steve Ritchie and Pat Lawlor reveal the inner workings of a game that fuses the mechanical and electrical ages. Starting with a primitive steel ball rolling around on a flat piece of wood, designers craft a game based on the simple premise - easy to play, but hard to beat.
Collectors who feed off the designer’s devilish imagination, all crave one thing - more space. ‘It starts with one...’ is the opening line from any collector. Ron Shuster built another house for his games, Steve Keeler built more sheds and Sam Harvey shares his bedroom with his. For Sam, who works on his collection full-time, pinball is ‘like an extension of my arm...I wake up and do it everyday.’ A walk around Sam’s house reveals meticulous games, schematics, images, and spare parts...all catalogued in his pinball bibles, handwritten, as Sam doesn’t do computers yet. And Frenchman, Raphael Lankar, owner of the Paris Pinball Museum, admits he would never sell any of his 350 pristine games, ‘They are like my children...but of course I like some of my children better than the others.’
But pinball is a game with a score. And where there are scores to settle there are competitions. ‘The Storm’, a stockbroker from New York City, confesses that you have to ‘build up your pinball muscles’ to compete at the highest level. From the European championships in Amsterdam and Sweden, to the World Pinball Championships in Pittsburgh, and a smattering of amateur backyard tournaments in between, we share the tension, dreams and disappointments of pinball’s tournament players. Rick Stetta, former World Champion, entertains with his flamboyant playing style, while current legend Lyman Sheats counters with ice-cool precision. Each in a contest that is as much a mental game as physical battle.
It is the story of former arcade owner, Steve Epstein, who ran the famous Broadway Arcade in midtown New York City, that draws the inevitability of pinball to a close. A man who ‘had a lot of life wrapped up in’ pinball saw his arcade close in 1997. Describing pinball as ‘a lot like life - you never know what is around the corner’, Epstein took the arcade closure hard and struggles knowing those days are gone forever. As Professor John Broughton from Columbia University describes, ‘the machine knows when you should go home’.
~ErLu
The Scavenger: Trailer from Erik Spink on Vimeo.
Synopsis
The Scavenger is the story of Joseph Garagalo, a WWII veteran who was in the 121st Battalion,
~ErLu
Mark your calendars...The 8th Annual Bronx International Film Festival is coming to Lehman Stages/Lehman College June 17th - 19th! You'll find all the preliminary info you'll need below. Please stay tuned for more info regarding specific films which will be screened, as well as the chance for one lucky reader to win two complimentary passes to the festival!!~ErLu
The Bronx Stage & Film Company presents the 8th Bronx International Film Festival (BXFF) on June 17 - 19 at Lehman Stages/Lehman College showcasing new narrative and documentary films and filmmakers from around the world. Responding to the international evolution of the festival over the last several years, the Bronx Independent Film Festival is officially adopting the name Bronx International Film Festival to better represent the range of films and talent. Visit http://bronxfilmfestival.com for developing festival information. The reservation and information line is 718.907.0079. BXFF is also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BronxFilm and on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bronxfilm. Lehman Stages is conveniently located on the CUNY campus of Lehman College at 250 Bedford Park Blvd West near the #4 and D lines and just minutes away from Westchester and the GW Bridge.
Background on the Bronx International Film Festival
A century ago The Bronx was home to two well-known silent film studios, The Edison Studios on Decatur Avenue & Oliver Place (a few blocks from the location of the Film Festival) and Biograph Studios a.k.a. The Gold Medal Studios at 807 E. 175th Street.
Edison Studios’ notable contributions to cinema included one of the first horror films, “Frankenstein,” released in 1910, and the first serial film, "What Happened to Mary" released in 1912. The 14-minute “Frankenstein,” starring Charles Ogle, took an entire week to film. This was a highly unusual schedule for the time. Silent movies were usually filmed in one day. "What Happened to Mary" began a series of 12 episodes starring Mary Fuller. The silent film studio closed in 1918, but the Terry Brothers reopened the space in 1935 to start Terrytoons, employing Bronx artists to hand paint the first animated color cartoon films.
Biograph Studios launched many silent film careers including director, D.W. Griffith; cameraman Billy Bitzer; and actors Mary Pickford, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Harry Carey, Lionel Barrymore. Some twenty years after the sound stage closed, Martin Poll restored Biograph Studios and reopened it as the Gold Medal Studios (the largest film studio outside of Hollywood) where TV’s “The Naked City,” “Car 54 Where are You?” and movies like “Odds Against Tomorrow,” “A Face in the Crowd,” “The Fugitive Kind,” “Pretty Boy Floyd,” and “Butterfield 8” were filmed. Mr. Poll worked to simplify NYC filming permits and had the distinction of being sworn in as the Commissioner of Motion Picture Arts (precursor to the NYC Film Commissioner) on July 21, 1959 by then Bronx Borough President Lyons.
The Bronx International Film Festival was established to honor and revitalize the history of film in The Bronx and provide a new opportunity for filmmakers to submit work and a hub for audiences to appreciate it. The Festival places special emphasis on film submissions with an urban appeal; however, all filmmakers with a visual story to share are encouraged to participate. BXFF showcases short and feature narrative, documentary, animation and experimental submissions from all over the world.
The Bronx International Film Festival is made possible with public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the support of Lehman Stages, Bronx News Network, BronxNet and Made in NY.
