At the opening night of the Lower East Side Film Festival

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The Lower East Side Film Festival started last night with the opening feature, "The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick." 

The screening of the off-beat horror indie in the Jaffe Art Theatre at Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue featured a post-film Q&A with the cast and crew, among them director Pete Ohs, and stars Zoë Chao, Jeremy O. Harris, Callie Hernandez and James Cusati-Moyer. (Per RogerEbert.com: "'The True Beauty of Being Bitten By a Tick' grooves with an improvised and charmingly undefined tempo. You can't help but be enamored by its horrific, claustrophobic spell."

Here are a few scenes from the evening, including the post-screening party inside the theater's lobby at 12th Street...

Find festival info here. It runs through Monday. 

Read our Q&A with festival founders (and East Village residents) Tony Castle and Roxy Hunt at this link.