Rooftop Films brings fresh movies to unusual places

By Sarah Sluis

As my companions and I grumbled on our way up the last flight of stairs at New Design High School on Manhattan's Lower East Side, volunteers cheered our arrival. Our hard work was rewarded. Though I'd passed by this neighborhood high school hundreds of times before, I was astonished by the size of the venue, which could hold at least three basketball courts and 1,000 people. In the distance, the Empire State Building shined in red, white, and blue for the Memorial Day weekend. Above, a couple of planets shone their way through the light pollution.

Rooftop Films, a non-profit that emerged more than a decade ago, is as much about the venue and the community as the film itself. Even people in the neighborhood may have no idea about the "big, fantastic, or unusual space" up above, program director Dan Nuxoll states. "Part of our whole ethos is to show people those spaces... It recontextualizes the city and the films." The screening I saw, Bad Posture, had some "recontextualize" moments. During a fight, I heard the sound of sirens in the background. Were the cops arriving in the movie, or the film? (Turned out they were in real life). As the friends in the film graffitied their house, my eyes drifted to the walls of the high school, which were also decorated in spray paint sketches.

Bad Posture, which screened on May 28th at the New Design High School, is an atmospheric tale of two friends with an appetite for delinquency set in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's the kind of film that fits squarely into Rooftop Films' selections. Nuxoll describes their programming as a focus on the "personal." A social action documentary, for example, might not make the cut if it isn't also a personal story. Nuxoll cites last year's Gasland, which went on a special tour (co-presented with help of the Fledgling Fund) to areas affected by fracking (the extraction of natural gas from rock), like Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a documentary that brought the filmmaker's personal story into the mix.

With so many New York City events plagued by long lines, waits, and a VIP atmosphere, Rooftop Films stands apart. Live music a half-hour before the show helps set the mood and encourages people to show up early to enjoy the rooftop ambiance. After the show, there's always an afterparty, often with complimentary drinks courtesy of an alcohol brand looking for exposure. Filmmakers show up to the afterparty, but you won't find them "caged off in a VIP section," Nuxoll notes. "You can approach them. They're part of the event. We keep everything very inclusive."

Rooftop Films no longer holds screenings just on rooftops, a decision that came pretty naturally to the organization, especially when there are unique venues on the ground. While in New York City they have the ability to grow "organically," since they have centralized staff and equipment, Rooftop Films has been dipping its toe into other waters, often through co-presentations. This summer there will be screenings in Philadelphia, and they have also had discussions about holding screenings in places like Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Los Angeles, among other places. New York City has plenty of occasions to see free movies in outdoor spaces, but Rooftop Films isn't about battling crowds for a chance to kick back on your picnic blanket with a hunk of brie. Instead, Rooftop Films is about making filmgoing a neighborhoody experience. "Going to the movies can be about escaping, leaving the community," Nuxoll says. "We want to keep people interacting with the environment."