Showing posts with label the Lower East Side Film Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Lower East Side Film Festival. Show all posts

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Closing night highlights at the Lower East Side Film Festival: 'The Big Johnson' makes NYC debut (and takes the top prize)

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The 15th edition of the Lower East Side Film Festival wrapped up on Monday evening with a closing night screening with strong local interest — the NYC premiere of "The Big Johnson." 

The documentary chronicling the life of Dean Johnson, the drag queen, rock star, and activist of the 1980s and 1990s East Village, took home the top prize for Best Feature.

   

Writer-director Lola Rock'N'Rolla's film, the closing night screening at the Village East by Angelika, is a mesmerizing, unapologetic dive into the chaotic brilliance of Johnson's world. It captures not just a person but an era — with all its danger, glamour, and defiant joy.
Here's Rock'N'Rolla with Festival directors (and East Village residents) Tony Castle and Roxy Hunt...
Downtown luminaries Michael Musto and Chi Chi Valenti (below) are both featured in the film. 

"Lola Rock'N'Rolla has done a heroic job of compiling and condensing miles and miles of interviews and archival footage into a brilliant examination of a changing city, scene and star — namely rocker/activist Dean Johnson," Musto told me. "Dean was always mischievously dangerous in a way that we needed. In fact, I always felt safer when he was around."
Elsewhere at the theater on Second Avenue at 12th Street...
Afterward, the party moved on to the Slipper Room on Orchard Street.
The entertainment included Peekaboo Pointe ...
The Festival, which included jurors Julia Fox, Rachel Dratch, and Sophie Thatcher, also featured the NYC premiere of the SXSW selection "The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick." 

With its mix of local stories and bold voices, the Festival once again proved why it remains a downtown staple 15 years in. 

Previously on EV Grieve

Friday, May 2, 2025

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 Zoƫ 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.

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Night 1 of the Lower East Side Film Festival

The 15th edition of the Lower East Side Film Festival is now underway at the Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue at 12th Street. (Other screenings are at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema on Lafayette.) 

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.

Monday, April 28, 2025

About the Lower East Side Film Festival: 15 years of keeping it reel

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy 

Billed as "five days of cinema, culture and chaos in the Lower East Side," this year marks the 15th anniversary of the Lower East Side Film Festival

I met with the festival directors, East Village residents, partners in life and work, Tony Castle and Roxy Hunt, plus their baby, Leo, and one-eyed dog, Zucchini, in Tompkins Square Park to discuss the upcoming screenings and events.
How did the Lower East Side Film Fest come to be? 

Roxy, myself, and filmmakers Damon Cardasis and Shannon Walker started LESFF in 2011 with a cheap projector, a bottle of whiskey, and a wild idea to screen indie films in a pop-up space on Norfolk Street. It was scrappy, messy, and completely DIY — but the room was packed, and the energy was undeniable. 

We knew we had something. From day one, it was about creating a space for bold, offbeat, underrepresented voices in film. 

How has it changed and evolved over the past 15 years? 

It's grown up in its own weird way. We've gone from folding chairs and extension cords to sold-out screenings at Village East and DCTV's Firehouse Cinema, but the soul of it hasn't changed. We’re still fiercely independent, still prioritizing filmmaker-first experiences, and still committed to showing work that makes people feel something — whether that’s laughter, discomfort, inspiration, or all three at once.

Has living in the neighborhood informed and affected your film selections, festival locations — and choice of judges? 

Absolutely. The East Village and Lower East Side have always had this raw, creative energy — it's punk rock and poetic at the same time. That vibe bleeds into the festival. We don't want films that play it safe. We want the weird ones, the honest ones, the ones that would feel out of place at a more buttoned-up festival. 

As for our judges, we love choosing people who feel connected to NYC's creative scene — folks who understand the hustle and chaos that often come with making something original.
We've heard that an EV Grieve post may have influenced a recent design choice? 

Guilty. We stumbled upon an EVG post that featured Kash from Village East Cinema putting up the week’s film titles on the iconic marquee on the front facade of the building, right at the same time we were developing the new brand identity with Champions Design.

Together, we had crafted a custom typeface based on the letters used on the marquee. It hit us right then — we should call the font: KASH.
Any favorite moments and memories of years past? 

Too many to count — but one that stands out is when we screened "Catfish" in our first year, before anyone knew what it was. Nev Schulman came out and did a Q&A in this tiny, packed pop-up space, and there was this buzz in the room like, "Oh, this thing is about to blow up."

We're actually bringing it back this year for a 15th-anniversary screening — which feels like a full-circle moment. We've also had so many iconic performances mixed into the festival that take the films beyond the screen — ninja-turtle-stilt-walkers, a drag Santa, aerialists, burlesque dancers, 70-year-old contortionists, brass bands, fire-breathing rappers, synchronized swimmers, amateur wrestlers, comedians, ghosts…. I could go on. This year is no different, but you'll have to come to see what surprises we have in store. 

Also, every single time we host our open beer, wine (and sometimes free weed) reception in Village East Cinema, it feels like something no other festival would get away with. And that’s exactly why we do it. 

What can people look forward to this year? 

A really wild, beautiful mix. Our opening film, "The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick," is surreal and hilarious. We've got docs that dig deep ("Not One Drop of Blood"), dramas that wreck you ("Mad Bills to Pay," "Battersea"), and shorts that get pretty unhinged ("Mind F*ck Shorts" is a fan favorite).

We've got parties, filmmaker mixers, and a lineup of jurors that includes everyone from Julia Fox to Rachel Dratch to Sophie Thatcher. It’s going to be loud, strange, and full of heart. 

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You can purchase tickets here and follow the festival on social media.

Village East by Angelika is on Second Avenue at 12th Street. DCTV's Firehouse Cinema is at 87 Lafayette St. between Beach Street and White Street.