Great independent films. Great conversations with the filmmakers.

Beacon Film Society presents…

LOCAL* SHORTS // BEACON OPEN STUDIOS

A special screening of documentary, fictional, and experimental films from Beacon, NY for Beacon Open Studios / Upstate Art Weekend.  This one-hour program features shorts by filmmakers David Sampliner & Rachel Shuman, Louise Bartolotta, Ophir Ariel, Reuben Hernandez and Mark Sanders.

12:30p | Saturday | July 22

KuBe Art Center Theater (1st floor old Beacon High)

211 Fishkill Ave Beacon NY 12508

Sponsored by Ethan Cohen Gallery and Beacon Arts.

4:30p | Sunday | July 23

The Cinehub

20 W Main St Beacon NY 12508

Filmmakers in attendance at both screenings. 

Q&A to follow.

tickets by donation (links below)

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FULL PROGRAM:  

Her Favorite Patient (2020)

narrative, 7 min.

Reuben Hernandez (director, producer)

After years of treatment, Fairfax decides to come clean to her therapist and reveal a sad, but not-so-dark truth.

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REUBEN HERNANDEZ is an adventurer who tells meaningful, visual stories through film, photography, and time-lapse. He’s touched down on all seven continents finding beauty in everything from the beaches of Southern California to the icebergs of Antarctica. Reuben’s work has been featured in BBC Travel, The New York Times, and Discovery Channel. He was named one of the “20 Emerging Artists to Watch in Film and Video” by PDN and Rangefinder Magazine, and was the director of photography for the award-winning documentary series Exposed.  Reuben’s short films include the documentary Antarctica and the award winning narrative short Maddie. Reuben is an active member of the Filmshop collective, and when he is not making movies you can find him hanging with his daughter, dancing (breaking and popping), or riding his blue bicycle.

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La Pastora (2020)

documentary, 14 min.

David Sampliner (co-director, cinematographer, producer)

Rachel Shuman (editor)

A young female biologist in Barcelona decides to leave behind her academic career to become a shepherd in the remote Catalan Pyrenees.  She confronts the challenges of entering a traditionally all-male profession and weathers the inherent hardships of the shepherd’s life.  But she faces her steepest hurdle when Laura’s mother refuses to support her new path.

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DAVID SAMPLINER is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and cinematographer whose films have screened at Sundance, Tribeca, and Full Frame, among others, and have been distributed by Netflix, the Sundance Channel, and Sony Pictures. David’s directorial work includes the documentary features My Own Man (2014) and Dirty Work (2004) and the short documentaries La Pastora (2020) and Brothers (2017). As a documentary cinematographer, he has shot on many acclaimed films, including Knock Down the House (2019), I Am Greta (2020), One Cut One Life (2014), and One October (2017).  His story Lucky Bastard is included as a StorySlam favorite on the Moth Radio Hour podcast. He grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, became a documentary filmmaker in Athens, GA, and now lives with his family in Beacon, NY.

RACHEL SHUMAN is a documentary editor and director based in Beacon, NY. Her recent film editing credits include the Emmy- and Peabody-nominated Storm Lake (2021), Omara (2021), La Pastora (2020) True Believer (2019), Five Seasons (2017), and One October (2017) which Rachel also directed.  Previously she co-directed The Guggenheim Museum: Art, Architecture, and Innovation and she directed the feature documentary Negotiations (2005).  Rachel is proud to be a board member of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship. Originally from Boston, Rachel received a BFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

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The Look of the Century (2020)

comedy sketch, 2 min.

Ophir Ariel (producer, actor)

A man in a cocoon emerges on the forefront of a global pandemic.  Filmed on March 8th, 2020 in NYC, The Look of the Century (directed by Tal S. Shamir) provides an alternate and altered view into life before lockdown.  

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OPHIR ARIEL is an Israeli-born and Beacon-based filmmaker. Ophir writes, directs and produces mostly narrative content. These days he’s in the midst of the post-production of a new documentary and he’s developing several new comedies. Together with the in-house team at Blend Pictures, and many collaborators, Ophir produces content mostly out of New York and also has strong ties with Montreal and Tel-Aviv. When free, Ophir does stand-up comedy and acts in strange videos “in order to embarrass myself in front of strangers.”

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Javelina (2021)

narrative, 9 min.

Louis Bartolotta (director)

The day before she starts middle school, science whiz Ellie becomes terrified of her new neighbors dog — or is it a dog? 


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LOUISE BARTOLOTTA is a filmmaker and producer from Poughkeepsie, now living in Astoria Queens. A graduate of the SUNY Purchase film program, Louise got her start as a video producer at the website Mashable and went on to direct music videos and short films that have played in festivals all over the world. She worked as a camera assistant for several years before pivoting to producing. Her short film, Javelina, was filmed in Beacon and funded by the HUDSY community content fund.  It won the award for best short at the Lavender Film Festival in New York.

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The Unemployment Sonata (2020)

experimental, 30 min.

Ayvas & Baller 

An abstract audiovisual composition in sonata form, each movement with its own character. The music, by Emanuel Ayvas and Gustav Baller, features classical music samples sourced from vinyl and layered with synthesizer, drums, and vocalized poetry. The video, by Baller, faithfully translates each sound and lyric using found footage from the public domain.

Everything you see is explicitly connected in some way to everything you hear. Certain types of noise are represented by certain types of video manipulation. A looped sound translates into a looped video. Lyric imagery enters through the ear and exits through the eye. Each movement has a stylistic theme, and every base image is carefully chosen according to that theme.

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Gustav Baller is the musical alter ego of MARK SANDERS, a multi-disciplinary artist and corporate middle manager. Mark was born in Nashville, studied Film and TV Production at NYU, and currently lives in Beacon with his wife and no children. If you know of any restaurant that sells doubles in the Hudson Valley, please let him know.