Singular storytelling. Emerging talent. Unique voices. Join us for the 24th Annual Columbia University Film Festival, and experience some of today’s most important new filmmaking. Don’t miss this annual showcase of thesis work from the school’s advanced MFA students. To read more about the individual films, go to cufilmfest.com. To purchase tickets to a show, simply click on the program name.

Click on a program name to purchase tickets.

Monday, April 25 at 5:30pm

Film Program A

Rolling on the Floor Laughing, 20 min

Written and Directed by Russell Harbaugh

Produced by Michael Prall

The Strange Ones, 15 min

Written and Directed by Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein

Produced by Joonhan Lee

Try A Little Harder, 14 min

Written and Directed by Antonia Grilikhes-Lasky

Produced by Rammy Lee Park

Tymbals, 8 min

Directed by Filippo Conz

Written by Jon Haller

Produced by Geoff Quan

Jumping Jack, 10 min

Written and Directed by Baldvin Kári

Produced by Mira El Koussa

A Viagem (The Trip), 18 min

Written and Directed by Simão Cayatte

Produced by Elisa Lleras

Monday, April 25 at 8:00pm

Film Program B

Off-Ramp, 14 min

Written and Directed by Natasha Johns-Messenger

Produced by Chanelle Elaine

I Am John Wayne, 17 min

Written and Directed by Christina Choe

Produced by Esra Saydam

Green Plastic Sandals, 11 min

Written and Directed by Stephanie Wu

Produced by Gerry Kim

Counterfeit, 17 min

Written and Directed by Geoff Bailey

Produced by Jason Wood

Nain Rouge, 22 min

Written and Directed by Jasmine Rivera

Produced by James J. Yi

Motherland, 15 min

Directed by Shariq Siddiqui

Written by Shariq Siddiqui and Graham Mason

Produced by Sarita Khurana

Tuesday, April 26 at 5:30pm

Film Program C

Be Still, 18 min

Written and Directed by Karrie Crouse

Produced by Gilana Lobel

Youkali, 14 min

Directed by Sandra Beltrao

Written by Sandra Beltrao, Rhiannon Haseltine

Produced by Sandra Beltrao and Esha Gupta

Exposure, 14 min

Written and Directed by Larin Sullivan

Produced by Nicole Havre

Tidy Up, 15 min

Written and Directed by Satsuki Okawa

Produced by Young Chun

Snowball, 13 min

Written and Directed by Mary Gillen

Produced by Ed Blythe and Kristie Lutz

Crossing, 18 min

Written and Directed by Gina Atwater

Produced by Veronica Nickel

Tuesday, April 26 at 8:00pm

Film Program D

Lucky Duck, 16 min

Written and Directed by Colin Elliott

Produced by Andrew J.D. Hauser

Spooky Warms the Heart, 26 min

Directed by Jaime Iglehart

Written by Jaime Iglehart and William Gerard

Produced by Gregg Conde and Bryan Parker

Silent Night, 4 min

Directed by Bryan Parker

Written by Matthew Tyler

Produced by Julie Buck

Prima Donna, 12 min

Directed by Laurie Thomas

Written by Laurie Thomas and Levi Casey Schroen

Produced by Carmen Jimenez

This is Poetry, 14 min

Written and Directed by Brian Quist

Produced by Connor Kirsch

Revolution Reykjavik, 19 min

Written and Directed by Isold Uggadottir

Produced by Snorri Thórisson, Isold Uggadottir

Wednesday, April 27 at 5:30pm

Film Program E

First Match, 15 min

Written and Directed by Olivia Newman

Produced by Ken Murphy

Cabby, 19 min

Written and Directed by Xiaocao Liu

Produced by Yige Sun

Fat Girls Can’t Dance, 13 min

Written and Directed by Beth Cannon

Produced by Elisa Lleras and Maura Malloy

Alger, Alger, 17 min

Written and Directed by Aaron Walker

Produced by Julie Buck

Tick Tock Time Emporium, 17 min

Written and Directed by Morgan Faust

Produced by Kristie Lutz

The Runner, 15 min

Written and Directed by Ana Lazarevic

Produced by Luka Popadic

Wednesday, April 27 at 8:00pm

Film Program F

Under, 20 min

Directed by Mark Raso

Written by Jake Crane and Mark Raso

Produced by Jean-Marceau Secheret

In the Dark, 8 min

Written, Directed, and Produced by Biljana Ilic

Meet Lenny, Meet Caroline, 15 min

Written and Directed by Rammy Lee Park

Produced by Katie Brinn

Faith, 12 min

Written and Directed by Erik Pagan

Produced by Erik Pagan and Laura Scherling

Flappy Hands, 13 min

Written and Directed by Robert L. Poole

Produced by Christina Kim

Salar, 19 min

Written and Directed by Nicholas Greene

Produced by Julie Buck

Thursday, April 28 at 7:00pm

Film Program G

The Recorder Exam, 27 min

Written and Directed by Bora Kim

Produced by Zoe Sua Cho

High Maintenance, 17 min

Written and Directed by Shawn Wines

Produced by Brigitte Liebowitz

Mum’s Not In, 6 min

Written and Directed by Claire Fowler

Produced by Andrew J.D. Hauser

Hatch, 19 min

Directed by Christoph Kuschnig

Written by Christoph Kuschnig and Karl Goldblat

Produced by Martin Maier

The Basement, 11 min

Written and Directed by Eric Scherbarth

Produced by Vadin Lum You

Jiboia (Boa), 18 min

Written and Directed by Rafael Lessa

Produced by Colin Elliott

Thu at 8:00 — dir in person! Slamdance 2011 Grand Jury Prize Winner and Audience Award Winner

BHOPALI documents the experience of second generation children affected by the Union Carbide gas disaster of 1984, the worst industrial disaster in history, and subsequent contamination of groundwater by Union Carbide Corporation (an American company now owned by Dow Chemical, the second largest chemical company in the world). It follows several children as they and their families cope with the ongoing medical and social disaster, as well as their memories of that traumatizing night that shocked the world and changed Bhopal forever. Set against the backdrop of vehement protests for the 25th anniversary of the disaster, the Bhopalis continue to fight for justice, proving to be anything but victims.

Tonight at 7:00pm! Provocative French auteur Catherine Breillat (Fat Girl, Romance, The Last Mistress) in person to present and discuss a personal favorite, Elia Kazan’s steamy 1956 drama BABY DOLL.

“Elia Kazan was not known for his drolleries, although his sometime collaborator Tennessee Williams had a taste for the absurd. Together, these two giants of the post–World War II stage (and screen) concocted an outrageous comedy about a Mississippi Delta child bride (Carroll Baker) who refuses to allow her glad-hander, cotton-gin proprietor husband (Karl Malden) to touch her, and then gets herself seduced (maybe) by his hated, ultra-ethnic rival (Eli Wallach).

“Released in the Year of Our Elvis 1956, this mad Actors Studio farce—complete with one of Hollywood’s first rock-and-roll scores (mainly Smiley Lewis chanting ‘Shame, Shame, Shame’)—was publicized with one of the largest posters in the history of Times Square: the unforgettable icon of a nightie-clad Baker curled up in a rumpled crib, sucking… her thumb. BABY DOLL was instantly condemned by the Legion of Decency. Two days before it opened, New York’s Catholic Archbishop, Francis Cardinal Spellman, made his first pulpit appearance in the seven years since excoriating the Hungarian Communists who jailed Cardinal Mindszenty, informing his flock that seeing BABY DOLL was in itself a sin: The movie was ‘evil in concept . . . certain to exert an immoral and corrupting influence on those who see it’—not to mention the entire nation. (Joseph Kennedy refused to have it shown in his theater chain.)” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice

INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING: The Atelier Ludwigsburg – Paris

Thursday, December 16 at 8 pm

How to produce/coproduce independent films with small budgets?

How do graduates of the Masterclass Paris-Ludwigsburg succeed in Venice, Berlin and other film festivals?

How do young European producers build up their professional networks?

The Masterclass Paris-Ludwigsburg brings together young producers AND young directors at an early stage of their professional development. Students are working in France (Paris), Germany (Ludwigsburg) and England (London). Their final project, a short film, 8:30 min long, reflects the 3-country production process. For example and part of the program: a young Spanish producer makes a film about Germany shooting in France!

Participants:

Jan Schütte (DFFB, Berlin), Falk Nagel (executive producer: Takva), Christophe Bruncher (producer: L’Intouchable), Kamal Aljafari (Filmmaker Port of Memory), Anthony Bregman (producer and professor film production, Columbia University), Ira Deutchman (producer and professor film studies Columbia University)

Moderator: Anthony Kaufman, Film Journalist

Tonight at 7:00pm! We’re proud to welcome critically acclaimed director Peter Sillen Tuesday December 14 discussing his works with Filmmaker Magazine Editor-In-Chief Scott Macaulay. Sillen will present screenings of a number of his short films, including Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt, Grand Luncheonette, Branson: Musicland U.S.A., and a short working cut of his upcoming feature length documentary on the Masonic Order in America, Free and Accepted. Sillen’s new feature-lenth documentary I AM SECRETLY AN IMPORTANT MAN opens on Wednesday, December 15.

Peter Sillen is a New York based documentary filmmaker. Best known for his low-tech approach and sensitivity to his subjects and their environment, Sillen’s previous works include Benjamin Smoke (2000). Sillen received grants from the Jerome Foundation and Creative Capital for his work on I AM SECRETLY AN IMPORTANT MAN and has screened his films at a wide array of festivals and venues including the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, South By Southwest, Slamdance, the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music and San Francisco’s Castro Theater.

WHERE IS THE BLACK BEAST? is Simon Lee and Algis Kizys’s film interpretation of Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow by Ted Hughes. The film opens with a reading of Lineage, when Crow is born, a memorable mythic entrance.

Screaming for Blood

Grubs, crusts

Anything

Trembling featherless elbows in the nest’s filth

Lee pieces together hundreds of abandoned photographs into a film driven by Hughes’ epic cycle of poems. Kizys’compositions guide the piece, with original scores written for each reader: Nesbitt Blaisdell, Carla Bozulich, Julie Spodeck, Flaminia Genari, Eve Sussman, Simon Lee and Algis Kizys. There will be a brief Q&A with the filmmakers following the screening.

Jonathan Lethem in conversation with John Hodgman for a screening and discussion of John Carpenter’s classic THEY LIVE, in conjunction with the release of Lethem’s new book about the film. Lethem will do a book signing at IFC Center directly following the event.

Lethem’s Deep Focus: THEY LIVE offers a wholly original perspective on Carpenter’s paranoid satire. The pocket-sized collection of freewheeling essays, referencing everything from classic Hollywood cinema to the role of wrestlers in contemporary culture, is the first in a new film criticism series, Deep Focus, on sale now from Soft Skull Press. In THEY LIVE, Lethem explores the film’s mix of deliberate B-movie, sci-fi, horror, anti-Yuppie agitprop, calling Carpenter’s film, “howlingly blatant and obvious on many levels… [yet] marvelously slippery and paradoxical at its depths.”

A two-night program of rare screenings of the work of the famed writer and performer. Steven Soderbergh’s portrait of Gray, AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE, opens December 10.

Wednesday, December 8 at 7:30

The filmed version of the Tony Award-winning production of OUR TOWN (1989, Kirk Browning) a long-running Broadway hit staging of Thornton Wilder’s iconic American play, directed by Gregory Mosher and starring Spalding Gray as the stage manager. Other cast members include Eric Stoltz and Penelope Ann Miller. Mr. Mosher will discuss the film; other special guests include Kathie Russo, Gray’s widow and producer of AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE; and Amy Hobby, also a producer of the new film. Purchase tickets online

Thursday, December 9 at 7:30

Three rare screenings: TERRORS OF PLEASURE (1988, Thomas Schlamme), a 60-minute monologue written and performed by Gray; A LIFE IN PROGRESS (1985, Robbie Henson), a 30-minute portrait of the artist; and a special trailer for Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s BROTHER’S KEEPER that consists of a brief monologue performed by Spalding Gray. Joe Berlinger will appear to discuss working with Gray; Ms. Russo and Ms. Hobby will also be in attedance. Purchase tickets online

“The Elm Street kids are having the same bad dream in which a malicious bogeyman in a stripey jumper with a hideously scarred face is terrorising them with knives attached to his fingers. The dream becomes reality when Tina (Wyss) is cut to ribbons in the locked bedroom she’s sharing with boyfriend Rod (Corri). Nancy (Langenkamp) sets out to discover the truth by trying to draw the bogeyman out of the dream. Hard though it is to divorce the image of Fred Krueger (Englund) from the farrago of a franchise that we now know was to follow, there are some genuinely frightening dream sequences – and some throwaway black humour. ‘It’s dreadful up there. You need a mop,’ advises a cop after the fountain-of-blood scene in Glen’s (Depp’s) bedroom… it’s all good scary fun.” – Time Out (London)

Frederick Wiseman, the ground-breaking documentary filmmaker of Titicut Follies, High School, and La Danse will appear in person for a special screening of the Marx Brothers’ classic comedy DUCK SOUP as part of our ongoing guest curator “Movie Night with…” series. A personal favorite of Wiseman’s, DUCK SOUP (1933, dir. Leo McCarey) stars the four Marx Brothers — Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo — in an inimitable, take-no-prisoners, sidesplitting satire of statecraft, warfare and meaning itself. Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly, who’s named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale (the all-enduring Margaret Dumont). “I’ve always thought of DUCK SOUP as a documentary,” Wiseman says about his selection.

Wiseman is one of the most acclaimed voices in documentary filmmaking, hailed by critic Philip Lopate as “the greatest American filmmaker of the last 30 years.” For over forty years, he has created an exceptional body of work consisting of thirty-eight full-length films, devoted primarily to exploring contemporary life as it is expressed in institutions common to all societies (schools, hospitals, the military, police, prisons, courts, public housing, theater, ballet, and many other topics). His oeuvre is currently the subject of a yearlong retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. Following special presentations at the Cannes, Toronto and New York Film Festivals, his latest film, BOXING GYM, opens Friday, October 22 for an exclusive engagement here at the IFC Center.