ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York Lifts Voices Onto the Screen

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 21 April 2023 15:37

Written by Brad Balfour

Pushing Boundaries

Since 2007 ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York has grown to become the largest festival in the United States dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. Now in it’s 15th annual installment, ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York will be running April 27 to May 3 as an in person and online festival. 

The opening night celebration, held at Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (334 Amsterdam Ave) honors 2022’s Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor, Troy Kotsur (CODA) as the recipient of the ReelAbilities 2023 Spotlight Award. On April 28th is the Remembering Judith Heumann spotlight event, celebrating the life and legacy of the notable disability activist, who passed away earlier this year with film excerpts and personal stories The second annual Industry Accessibility Summit features industry professionals discussing topics of inclusion, representation, and accessibility in the film industry and performing arts. 

Films being screened include the documentary Being Michelle, the story of a woman who survived incarceration in a system that refused to accommodate her needs as a deaf person with autism. Michelle’s trajectory changed when she met Kim Law, a blind life coach who teaches in the prison. A story of redemption, this award-winning film is about the bonds between two women committed to thriving in a broken system and forging a path to healing. Pushing Boundaries follows the Ukrainian Paralympic National Team  who lose their training base due to the Russian annexation of Crimea. The film tracks the team’s fight to qualify for the upcoming games under poor training conditions as they push themselves to the limit against a backdrop of global political turmoil. Along with feature films the fest includes shorts and animated works from filmmakers around the world.

“Disability arts is experiencing a revolution, and we are proud to help amplify the need for equity along with the Mayor’s Office for Media and Entertainment, who are taking a leading role in planning our Industry Summit,” said Isaac Zablocki, Director and co-founder of ReelAbilities Film Festival. “ReelAbilities takes us beyond the films and dives deeper into the themes of the festival through conversations and artistic presentations. We pride ourselves in raising the bar on accessibility and leading the art world's standard for inclusivity.”

To learn more, go to: https://reelabilities.org/

ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York
April 27 - May 3, 2023

Screened online and at

Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10023

Cinema From Around the World at Venice Film Festival Presents: Next Generation

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 18 April 2023 15:33

Written by Brad Balfour

For 10 years, the Biennale College Cinema has nurtured emerging directors and low budget films from around the world. Now, the “Venice Film Festival Presents: Next Generation” series offers a sampling of the Biennale’s work over the past decade raising cinema. Screened at New York’s Paris Theater (4 West 58th Street), the festival runs from April 20th to the 23d and features six films:

• Beautiful Things (dir. Giorgio Ferrero)
• The Cathedral (dir. Ricky D’Ambrose)
• The Fits (dir. Anna Rose Holmer)
• Hotel Salvation (dir. Shubhashish Bhutiani)
• Our Father, the Devil (dir. Ellie Foumbi)
• This is not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (dir. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese)

The screenings include in-depth discussions pairing new filmmakers with established directors, producers, and writers. The festival showcases cinema from around the world including India, France, Italy, the United States, and more with a combination of comedy, documentaries, and heart wrenching drama.

To learn more, go to: https://www.paristheaternyc.com/series/venice-film-festival-presents-next-generation/

Venice Film Festival Presents: Next Generation
April 20 - 23, 2023

The Paris Theater
4 West 58th Street
New York, NY 10019

10th Old School Kung Fu Fest Slashes the Silver Screen With Sword Fighting Heroes

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 17 April 2023 15:05

Written by Brad Balfour

Subway Cinema has done much to bring cult and classic Asian cinema to NYC, and that continues with the tenth installment of the Old School Kung Fu Fest. Running April 21 to the 30th, the theme of this year’s fest is Sword Fighting Heroes, showcasing Taiwanese cinema and wuxia warriors with 12 movies being screened at the Metrograph theater (7 Ludlow St, New York, NY) and three films that will be streamed online.

Festival highlights include the US premiere of The King of Wuxia, a documentary about King Hu, the revolutionary filmmaker who re-invented wuxia movies and turned them into high art, plus three of his films —  A Touch of Zen, The Valiant Ones, and The Fate of Lee Khan.

An fascinating work of action animation, The Legend of the Sacred Stone is an all-puppet wuxia from the Huang family, master puppeteers who owned Taiwanese airwaves with their po-te-hi puppet storytelling in the 1980s.

See sword fighting ladies in four films starring actress Hsu Feng (A Touch of Zen, The Fate of Lee Khan, The Valiant Ones,  A City Called Dragon), four starring Polly Shang-kuan (Swordsman of All Swordsmen, Ghost Hill, Grand Passion, The Bravest Revenge), and one starring Josephine Siao Fong-fong (The Daring Gang of Nineteen From Verdun City) in which she’s only 12 years old.

The Old School Kung Fu Fest is shaping up to be more fun than a warehouse full of fake swords.

To learn more, go to: https://www.subwaycinema.com/

10th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Sword Fighting Heroes Edition
April 21 - 30th, 2023

Metrograph
7 Ludlow Street
New York, NY 10002