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.

बाटो | BAATO

Thu, Sep 22, 2022

STORYSCREEN | 445 Main St. | Beacon, NY

Screening at 7pm / Doors at 6:30pm

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Every winter Mikma and her family travel by foot from their village deep in the Himalaya of Nepal to sell local medicinal plants in urban markets.  This year, construction of a new highway to China has begun in their roadless valley, and things are never going to be the same. Partially complete, the highway project will transform this roadless Himalayan valley permanently and open up a direct transport route between Nepal and China – bringing new challenges, new opportunities, and ultimately a new way of being to those who live along its path.

This documentary film is a deep dive into a way of life that is in the midst of a slow and chaotic, yet inexorable transition. Through the subjects’ experiences, a document of a time and place emerges – one that details life in the Himalayas before a new highway forever transforms this mountain landscape.

Film website: https://baatofilm.com/

Ticket Price: $12

Q&A with film co-directors Kate Stryker & Lucas Millard to follow screening.

Tickets are limited, so buy yours here, or visit the StoryScreen box office.

Once you’ve completed your purchase, your name will be added to the admissions list. You can arrive at the theater once doors have opened to claim your ticket.

BATTLEGROUND

Thu, Oct 20, 2022

STORYSCREEN Theater | 445 Main St. | Beacon, NY

Screening at 7pm / Doors at 6:30pm

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This June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, ending 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion in the United States. How have we arrived here, when 7 in 10 Americans support access to legal abortion? 

‘Battleground’ follows three women who lead formidable anti-abortion organizations in their single-minded quest to overturn Roe v. Wade, as they face down forces equally determined to safeguard women’s access to safe and legal abortions.

Who are anti-abortion people? What are they driven by, what do they believe, how do they operate and what are their goals? ‘Battleground’ gets inside the anti-abortion movement as never seen before to answer these questions, with many surprises: they are women, young people, even Democrats. With close access, the film shows how the anti-choice movement is strategizing and organizing, and their determination to overturn Roe at any cost. As their power and influence propels the Supreme Court sharply right, and states race to enact unconstitutional abortion bans, the film also depicts those on the front lines of the fierce fight to maintain access.

In the wake of Roe, 26 states stand poised to ban abortion, catalyzing unprecedented legal, medical and social upheaval. ‘Battleground’ is required viewing for anyone with a stake in the future of abortion in America.

Film website: https://battlegroundfilm.org

Ticket Price: $12 (tickets are limited – we recommend purchasing ahead of the screening)

Q&A with film producer Rebecca Stern and Aura Lopez Zarate (Planned Parenthood) will follow the screening.

DEVIL PUT THE COAL IN THE GROUND

Thu, Nov 17, 2022

&

Fri, Nov 18, 2022

 

STORYSCREEN Theater | 445 Main St. | Beacon, NY

Screening at 7pm / Doors at 6:30pm

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“Devil Put the Coal” is holistic look at the impact of this legacy and the ravages of extractive industry and corporate power, as it has affected the people, communities and the environment of West Virginia. Consciously eschewing exploitive filmmaking around the opioid epidemic or poverty, the film focuses on its people – all linked by the love of their home state and desire to stay put against all odds. Structured upon personal storytelling from native West Virginians, the film draws upontheir rich experiences and diverse perspectives in order to create an informal “People’sHistory of West Virginia”. These individuals run the gamut – from recovering opioid addict, to environmental activist, to U.S. Congressional candidate, to town judge, to recovery center nurse, to corporate environmental lawyer, to struggling local business owner – all of whom, despite their differences, remain linked by the love of their home state and the challenges that threaten their survival, and way of life.

Uniquely paced and stylistically arresting, the film marries personal narrative with cinematic aerial footage, rare archival photography from DOCUMERICA luminary Jack Corn, bespoke animation and an original score that features the music of Steve Earle & Iris Dement– at once a meditation on the mystique of coal culture, a people’s resilience and deep connection to the land, and elegy to a vanishing Appalachia.

Film website:  https://www.devilputthecoalintheground.com/

Q&A with film co-director and producers Lucas Sabean and special guest.

THE TERRITORY

Tue, Dec 6, 2022

STORYSCREEN | 445 Main St. | Beacon, NY

Screening at 7pm / Doors at 6:30pm

 

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WINNER: Sundance 2022 Audience Award + Special Jury Award
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– – – Q&A with editor CARLOS ROJAS to follow the screening – – –

 

THE TERRITORY provides an immersive on-the-ground look at the tireless fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers in the Brazilian Amazon. With awe-inspiring cinematography showcasing the titular landscape and richly textured sound design, the film takes audiences deep into the Uru-eu-wau-wau community and provides unprecedented access to the farmers and settlers illegally burning and clearing the protected Indigenous land. Partially shot by the Uru-eu-wau-wau people, the film relies on vérité footage captured over three years as the community risks their lives to set up their own news media team in the hopes of exposing the truth.

Film website: https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-territory