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July 18, 2020 By Allie Griffin
The annual Greenpoint Film Festival will be taking place next month and the organizers will be holding it outdoors for the first time at venues in Brooklyn and Long Island City.
The festival, which is in its ninth year, is adopting a drive-in concept. The first screenings will be in Long Island City — on Aug. 1 and 2 — at The Foundry, located at 42-38 9th St. Organizers will kick the festival off by playing “Chuck Berry,” a documentary about the rock ‘n roll legend.
The festival then heads across Newtown Creek to a parking lot at 211 Meserole Ave. in Greenpoint from August 5 through August 9.
The seven-day event will showcase eight feature films and 27 short films — a mix of documentary, environmental, animated, experimental and narrative movies — to a drive-in audience. The line-up was selected from thousands of film submissions in various categories by a panel of judges.
Films include the short film “American Marriage” from Academy Award-winning Call Me By Your Name writer James Ivory; a NYC isolation feature titled “Locked Alone”; the feature documentary “Microplastics Madness” that follows a group of young Brooklyn students taking on plastic pollution; and the world premiere of “before/during/after” written by and starring Finnerty Steeves of Orange is the New Black.
The full line-up and schedule can be found on the Greenpoint Film Festival website.
Academy Award-winning guest speakers will also host panel discussions on select films during the drive-in experience and an award ceremony is slated for the final day of the festival.
The festival is accessible to New Yorkers who don’t own cars as well. Organizers will arrange a row of parked, stationary cars for visitors without their own. The cars will be consistently cleaned and disinfected before and after each screening.
“At a time when people are eager to connect and convene again after months-long social distancing, we’re excited to bring film-makers and film lovers in Brooklyn together to showcase and celebrate their work in a safe environment,” said festival organizers Anthony Argento and Ricardo Vilar.
Food trucks and bathrooms are also available for attendees, who must wear masks when leaving their vehicles.
Tickets cost between $20 and $40 per film screening and can be purchased online. Front-line workers can contact Greenpoint Film Festival for complimentary tickets.
