BAMcinemaFest 2012

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 19 June 2012 17:50

Written by Renzo Adler

From June 20 to July 1, 2012, the BAMcinemaFest film festival returns to Brooklyn.

The opening night feature is the New York premiere of comedian Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk With Me, introduced by Birbiglia and co-writer Ira Glass, followed by a BAM-wide party for ticket holders.  

This autobiographical film stars Birbiglia as a bartender at a Park Slope comedy club who moves in with his long-term girlfriend (Lauren Ambrose). Struggling with his relationship and his stand-up career, he also battles an extreme form of sleepwalking where he acts out his dreams -- even going so far as to throw himself out of a second story window.

And to best make use of the wonderful summer weather, there will be an outdoor rooftop screening and New York premiere of Rick Alverson’s The Comedy, staring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! fame. The film has been described as “A darkly affecting satire of our current anesthetized generation.”

There will be a Q&A with Heidecker after the screening.

One of the great things about BAMcinemaFest is that many of the films being screened include Q&A sessions with writers, directors, and members of the cast.

Such films include:

• Tchoupitoulas (Q&A with Bill and Turner Ross)
• Beasts of the Southern Wild (Q&A with Benh Zeitlin and cast)
• Gayby (Q&A with Jonathan Lisecki, Jenn Harris, and Matthew Wilkas)
• Francine (Q&A with Melanie Shatzky and Brian M. Cassidy)
• The Imposter (Q&A with Bart Layton)

As a break from the slew of art films and contemplations on the ennui of this generation, there will also be a special block of family films featuring:

• Take Me to the Balloony Bin
• Crazy & Theif
• The Adventures of Prince Achmed

The Adventures of Prince Achmed stands out because it is a 1926 German animated film from the silent era, and features music from founding members of the ambient Irish rock band 3epkano.

As an added attraction for this film festival, the BAMcinemaFest Lounge is open most nights starting at 6 pm and features musical acts, post-screening conversations, and even a little ping-pong.

Bands performing include:

• Il abanico
• Silver Apples
• Sam Prekop & Archer Prewitt
• pILLOW tHEORY

This summer’s slew of film festivals is relentless, but BAMcinemaFest offers some truly unique films and cool events as well.

To learn more, go to: http://www.bam.org

BAMcinemaFest
June 20 – July 1, 2012

BAM Rose Cinema
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

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