Special Screenings
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The Rochester MFA presents the best variety of independent films from around the world at the Rochester Opera House. The series is designed to bring people together in a relaxed environment through the love of film.
The Rochester Opera House is a magnificent theatre with stunning architectural details, a horseshoe balcony, grand proscenium, intricate stenciling, and near-perfect acoustics. The theater is also equipped with a unique mechanism that raises the auditorium floor at an incline for amphitheater seating or levels the floor for dancing. Past films include La Camioneta: The Journey of one American School Bus, Everyone's Going to Die, The Colors of I, The Time Machine, Fears, Borrowed Time, Cellegratonia, Wayne the Stegosaurus, Procrastination, Wander With Me, Fetch, and Butterfly Circus. |
Rochester Opera House, 31 Wakefield Street, Rochester NH, 03867
Box Office: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 10:00am-5:00pm |
ROCHESTER INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL JUNE 24 & 25
The Rochester Public Library and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts are coming together to host the first ever Rochester Independent Film Festival at the Rochester Opera House on the weekend of June 24 & 25.
The weekend long festival will feature award-winning independent films from around the globe. Featured films include: In the Heat of the Night, Raid on Rainbow Lounge, The Third Man, The Messenger, Gold, Broke, Sea Monsters, Road North, and T-Rex. There will also be a surprise midnight screening of a classic horror film on Saturday. The film will not be revealed to audiences until the midnight screening.
The films will be streamed from a service called IndieFlix, an online streaming video site offered to card holding patrons of the Rochester Public Library. The purpose of the event is to highlight the benefits of the program and to entice card-holders to utilize the free service. Non-members of the library are welcome to attend the event.
The public is at liberty to view as many or as few films as they choose. Each attendee will be given a pass with voting instructions. A full schedule of events can be found on the museum’s website. There is no formal admission fee although there is a suggested donation of $10 to help offset event costs.
The weekend long festival will feature award-winning independent films from around the globe. Featured films include: In the Heat of the Night, Raid on Rainbow Lounge, The Third Man, The Messenger, Gold, Broke, Sea Monsters, Road North, and T-Rex. There will also be a surprise midnight screening of a classic horror film on Saturday. The film will not be revealed to audiences until the midnight screening.
The films will be streamed from a service called IndieFlix, an online streaming video site offered to card holding patrons of the Rochester Public Library. The purpose of the event is to highlight the benefits of the program and to entice card-holders to utilize the free service. Non-members of the library are welcome to attend the event.
The public is at liberty to view as many or as few films as they choose. Each attendee will be given a pass with voting instructions. A full schedule of events can be found on the museum’s website. There is no formal admission fee although there is a suggested donation of $10 to help offset event costs.
Schedule of Events SATURDAY
The Messenger
The Messenger (10am) The New York Times called this "One of the decade's most beautifully acted films." The story of Will (Ben Foster), a returned Army soldier, who is paired up with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) on the Casualty Notification Team in order to deliver casualty notifications to soldiers' families. The reaction of a new widow, Olivia (Samantha Morton) presents Will with emotional danger nearly as dangerous as his time spent in Iraq.
Broke
Broke (12:15pm) Set in a pawnshop, this cinéma vérité masterpiece tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a cynic pawnbroker and his sweet but psychopathic assistant. "Broke" is a complex, powerful cinéma vérité account of day-to-day life in a pawnshop. The documentary gives us an intimate glimpse into a world most of us luckily do not have to know. Although often as funny and surprising as a sitcom, it bluntly points to the hardships and desperation of the marginalized. As the pawnbroker states: "You don't see it in your rarefied living conditions, you don't see how the poor people live, unless you come here. Tragic, some of it."
Raid of the Rainbow Lounge
Raid of the Rainbow Lounge (2pm) RAID OF THE RAINBOW LOUNGE is a feature length documentary recounting the widely publicized and controversial 2009 police raid of a Fort Worth, Texas gay bar that resulted in multiple arrests and serious injuries. The raid occurred on the 40th anniversary of the raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York City, which is regarded by many as the birth of the modern gay rights movement in the United States. Following sordid allegations and outrage, many changes occurred in the city and Fort Worth became a leader in LGBT equality. However, the changes did not happen overnight and without controversy. The audience will witness history unfold as this film documents that journey from the perspective of witnesses, activists and politicians who helped changed the city. The film is narrated by Emmy nominated actress, Meredith Baxter (Family Ties, Family).
Gold
Gold (4pm) Twelve years ago, Ray left town after his childhood sweetheart, Alice, dumped him, taking their daughter away from him. Now he must return home at the request of his ailing father, who wishes to see his granddaughter before it's too late. But things take a turn for the absurd when Ray realises his daughter and her mother have built a new life with his former P.E. teacher, a controlling and regimented figure who is the direct opposite of Ray. Set in an affluent suburb in south County Dublin, this offbeat comedy and unconventional love story delights in the hilarity of everyday life.
Seamonsters
Sea Monsters (6pm) A coming of age story set in a quiet English seaside town. A group of boys seek adventure and excitement. When a girl drifts into their lives the boys compete for her affection which leads them down a path that threatens to change their lives.
T-Rex
T-Rex (8pm) This is an intimate coming-of-age story about a new kind of American heroine. For the first time ever, women’s boxing is included in the 2012 Olympics. Fighting for gold from the U.S. is Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, just 17 years old, and by far the youngest competitor. From the hard knock streets of Flint, Michigan, Claressa is undefeated and utterly confident. Her fierceness extends beyond the ring. She protects her family at any cost, even when their instability and addictions threaten to derail her dream. Claressa does have one stable force in her life. Coach Jason Crutchfield has trained her since she was just a scrawny 11-year-old hanging out at his gym. Jason always wanted a champion, he just never thought it’d be a girl. Her relationships with her coach and her family grow tense as she gets closer to her dream. But Claressa is fierce and determined. She desperately wants to take her family to a better, safer place and winning a gold medal could be her only chance.
Schedule of Events Sunday
This Way of Life
This Way of Life (10am) Against the isolated New Zealand mountains, Peter and Colleen Karena struggle to raise their six children on the thin edge between freedom and disaster. Peter hunts, trains wild horses, and works to instill the values of independence and courage in his children, while an escalating struggle with his own father has profound consequences for the entire Karena clan. In a precipitous existence that is equal parts glorious abandon and painful suspense, Peter and Colleen set up a series of makeshift camps while their brood of fearless kids ride bareback across the wild New Zealand landscape. Ultimately, this complete immersion in another way of life reveals that the price of freedom is well worth paying.
Road North
Road North (11:40am) A father who was absent for 30 years of his son's life returns and wants to bond with his son, on a road trip to the north.
In the Heat of the Night
In the Heat of the Night (2pm) African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger), the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.
The Third Man
The Third Man (4:05pm) Set in postwar Vienna, Austria, "The Third Man" stars Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, who arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime (Orson Welles), only to find him dead. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Maj. Calloway (Trevor Howard) and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna (Alida Valli).
Short Films Jun 18, 2016 7pm
The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts is proud to announce official program selections for the third edition of SHORTS, an evening comprised entirely of award-winning short films from around the world. The event will take place at the Rochester Opera House on Saturday, June 18th, 2016 with a cocktail hour starting at 7pm. Tickets only $8. This celebration of movie-making excellence brings together film enthusiasts, filmmakers, and artists, to discover the best in contemporary cinema. Some of the evenings highlights will include:
Silver Creek
Silver Creek — Silver Creek tells the tale of a young band of outsiders, isolated and teased in their community, who one day discover the magic of their own creativity and imagination. The kids find solace and support in their celebration, though the moment is short-lived, and others try to break them apart.
The Magician
Bus Stop — He just lost his job. She just got dumped. These two strangers meet at a bus stop right when they needed each other the most. In an impromptu attempt to cheer each other up they go on an tour of his home town however before the tour is over reality bumps into them. "I absolutely loved this. Top notes on everything. Loved the characters, great acting, lovely writing, very well paced, great ending!" - Ryan Connolly, Film Riot/Triune Films.
Ma’agalim
Twins Days — Twins Days is a festival for biological twins that has taken place every summer since 1976, in Twinsburg, Ohio. It’s the largest annual gathering of twins in the world. In this film, twins discuss what it’s like to have an identical other half, and the joy of being surrounded by thousands of other twins, if only for a few days.
Bad Day at the Office
Wasteland — Escapism at its best comes in the form of Wasteland Weekend: an annual four-day post-apocalyptic festival held in the Southern California desert that attracts thousands of people from around the country. It’s basically a giant celebration of end-of-the-world culture, where “people can do whatever they want.” This includes everything from hand-to-hand combat to burlesque to bonfires that set the night sky ablaze. But most of all, people come to Wasteland for the cars — DIY war machines that look as though they’ve rolled right out of Fury Road.
Oma
The evening will feature many more short films such as: A Tale of Momentum & Inertia, Tabula Rasa, Wilbert, Dandekar Makes a Sandwich, Ma’agalim, Bad Day at the Office, Oma, The Magician, Cycle, Dotty, TRoPiCooL, Trashonauts, Escargot, The Present, and Carol has Never Been Kissed.
The museum will host a repeat event on Saturday, August 6, 2016 at the Rochester Opera House. The evening will feature audience favorites from past screenings.
The RMFA film series, at the Rochester Opera House, is supported in part by Rochester Main Street, NH State Council On The Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Purchase tickets at the box office, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 10am to 5pm, and two hours before the event. Cash bar. Age 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Call (603) 335-1992 or visit RochesterOperaHouse.com for more information. The Rochester Opera House is located in City Hall, 31 Wakefield Street, Rochester NH.
Short Films Jan 9, 2016
The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts is proud to announce official program selections for the second edition of SHORTS, an evening comprised entirely of award-winning short films from around the world. The event will take place at the Rochester Opera House on January 9th, 2016 with a cocktail hour starting at 7pm. This celebration of movie-making excellence brings together film enthusiasts, filmmakers, and artists, to discover the best in contemporary cinema. Some of the evenings highlights will include:
The Butterfly Circus is the story of the showman of a renowned circus who leads his troupe through the devastated American landscape during the Great Depression. Along the way, they discover a man without limbs being exploited in a carnival sideshow; but after an intriguing encounter with the showman, he becomes driven to hope against everything he has ever believed.
The Butterfly Circus is the story of the showman of a renowned circus who leads his troupe through the devastated American landscape during the Great Depression. Along the way, they discover a man without limbs being exploited in a carnival sideshow; but after an intriguing encounter with the showman, he becomes driven to hope against everything he has ever believed.
The Butterfly Circus
The film features Eduardo Verástegui from Bella and Doug Jones who played the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth, the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four-Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Abe Sapien in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The film was the Grand Prize winner of The Doorpost Film Project. Butterfly Circus also won Best Short Film at the Method Fest Independent Film Festival and The Feel Good Film Festival, in Hollywood.
Sausage
Sausage, the multi award winning and Oscar long-listed animated short film. This retro animation introduces us to two artisan stallholders who's idyllic world is invaded by a devious fast-food vendor. The ferocious turf war that follows provokes life changing events that result in one delicious discovery!
Sausage was awarded Best Animation by The UK Film Fest, Promax Short Film Fest, Amsterdam Film Fest, Mexico Int. Film Fest, Croatia Food Film Festival, and NYC Indie Film Fest.
Double Trouble
Double Trouble is a short time-travel comedy starring Emelia Hansson, Mattias Thernström Florin, Marcus Thernström Florin, Jonny Blomkvist, and Karen Helene Haugaard. It's the story about a shy young man who misses the opportunity to talk to the girl of his dreams. When he finds a mysterious pocket watch that can turn back time, he gets a second chance…
Danny and the Wild Bunch
Danny and the Wild Bunch is the story of a children’s book author that is told her latest manuscript needs to be darker in order to appeal to a more contemporary audience. When her revisions anger the characters in the book, they come back to make some changes of their own. Danny and the Wild Bunch is the winner of "Best Short Film" by Las Vegas Film Festival, Catalina Film Festival, Asheville Film Festival, Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, and LA Underground Film Festival.
Sober
Sober is a short documentary about facing your worst fears head on and becoming a stronger version of yourself. Sober has achieved international attention online, toured the UK with the Recovery Street Film Festival, was screened at Addaction's Recovery Conference, and continues to engage at risk groups of people around the globe.
"At Addaction, we are serious about putting our service users in control of their lives. We want people to be inspired and motivated to achieve bigger and greater things in their own recovery. The film Sober, made by Gareth Bowler, brilliantly conveys a message that recovery is an aspiration that can be achieved. The National Recovery Conference represents the beating heart of our organization, and we are delighted to be able to feature this film at the event." - David Badcock, Head of Recovery Engagement, Addaction.
Runaway
Runaway is a charming story about a misunderstanding between a man named Stanley and his treasured 1950's refrigerator, named Chillie. Set in present day, a sad event sends Chillie into a whirlwind of emotional turmoil, and as a result, he runs away. Runaway is a student animated film by Huen Sin Yung, Emily Buchanan, and Esther Parobek of Ringling College of Art and Design.
97%
In 97%, Bert is looking for love via a dating app and discovers that a 97% love match is near. Will he find her before the subway reaches the end of the line? 97% (the dutch submission for the Academy Awards in 2014) has been selected for more than 70 international film festivals including Aspen Shortfest, Sapporo International Short Film Festival and the Asiana International Short Film Festival, winning numerous awards along the way.
The evening will feature many more short films such as: Fears, Borrowed Time, Cellegratonia, Wayne the Stegosaurus, Procrastination, Wander With Me, Fetch, and Shattered. More films will be added throughout December. Check back for updates.
The RMFA film series, at the Rochester Opera House, is supported in part by Rochester Main Street. Purchase tickets at the box office, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 10am to 5pm, and two hours before the event. Cash bar. Age 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Call (603) 335-1992 or visit RochesterOperaHouse.com for more information. The Rochester Opera House is located in City Hall, 31 Wakefield Street, Rochester NH.
Short Films May 23, 2015
Wildlife Crossing
We are proud to announce the official program selections for the latest edition of our independent film series. The bi-annual celebration of movie-making excellence brings together film enthusiasts, filmmakers, and artists to discover the best in contemporary cinema. The museum will screen 16 short films highlighting filmmakers from around the globe.
The museum previously screened two feature length films, La Camioneta: The Story of One American School Bus and the critically acclaimed Everyone’s Going to Die. This is the first event comprised entirely of short subjects. Some of the evenings highlights will include:
Wildlife Crossing is a computer animated short by Anthony Wong and Noro Držiak. Držiak is an artist, animator, and director living in Prague. Anthony Wong started as a computer engineer. He worked for Disney feature animation as a character animator (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Hercules, Fantasia 2000, Tarzan, Emperors New Groove, Treasure Planet, and Home on the Range), and is currently working for Pixar Animation Studios.
Oh Willy
Oh Willy is a stop-motion short by Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels. De Swaef and Roels had already worked together on several short films such as the short live-action film A Gentle Creature. But also on Emma’s graduation film Zachte planten. The puppets and sets of Oh Willy are made of wool, felt and other fabrics, from fine llama fleece to old couch stuffing. This gives the film a soft, tactile atmosphere that complements its strange and touching story.
Prospect
Prospect is a live-action coming-of-age story of a teenage girl on a toxic alien planet. She and her father hunt for precious materials, aiming to strike it rich. When the father is attacked by a roving bandit, the daughter must take control. Prospect premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival. “Our goal was to capture a piece of what makes 2001, Blade Runner, and the original Star Wars so awesome: texture. Prospect will be real and tactile, building a robust world with custom props and costumes, rather than digital effects.”
Swimming Pool
The evening will include many other innovative and award winning indie shorts such as The Artists, The Black Hole, Life is Beautiful, Clinic - Bubblegum, Much Better Now, Living with Jigsaw, (Notes on) Biology, The Camera, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, The Swimming Pool, Nothing Special, Drop, and Angel Fish.
Purchase tickets at the ROH box office (603) 335-1992, Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 10am to 5pm and two hours before the event. Cash bar. Age 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Visit RochesterOperaHouse.com or RochesterMFA.org for more event information. The Rochester Opera House is located in City Hall, 31 Wakefield Street, Rochester NH.
Everyone's Going To Die Jun 7, 2014
The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts and the Rochester Opera House join together to present Everyone’s Going to Die, a debut film by British Collective Jones. The event, at the Rochester Opera House on Saturday, June 7, begins with a cocktail hour at 7 p.m. with entertainment by the folk band Badfellows. The screening is set up as an informal forum to enjoy a film. Your host is Matt Wyatt, president of the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts.
Everyone’s Going To Die is a modern British story about two lost souls and one last chance. Melanie’s life in a seaside town is going nowhere until she meets Ray, back in town with a shady job to do. A moment’s escape becomes a chance to save themselves, and each other, coming home, getting by and the redemptive power of feeling you’re not alone. A story where the past is laid to rest, two lives are changed and nobody, finally, is going to die.
Hollywood Reporter Steven Neish describes Everyone’s Going To Die as a “film packed to the brim with new and emerging talent. Funny, poignant and brilliantly offbeat, this is the sort of pleasant surprise that film festivals thrive on, and a film that perhaps paradoxically deserves both mainstream success and a long life as a cherished cult classic.”
Purchase tickets at the ROH box office (603) 335-1992, Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and two hours before the event. Cash bar. Age 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Visit RochesterOperaHouse.com or RochesterMFA.org for more event information. The Rochester Opera House is located in City Hall, 31 Wakefield Street, Rochester NH.
La Camioneta Sep 21, 2013
Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States on a southward migration that carries them to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. Since 2006, nearly 1,000 camioneta drivers and fare-collectors have been murdered for either refusing or being unable to pay the extortion money demanded by local Guatemalan gangs. La Camioneta follows one such bus on its transformative journey: a journey between North and South, between life and death, and through an unfolding collection of moments, people, and places that serve to quietly remind us of the interconnected worlds in which we live.
Mark Kendall is a Student Academy Award-nominated director from Ardmore, Pennsylvania. His short film, The Time Machine, was a National Finalist at the 2011 Student Academy Awards, recipient of the CINE Special Jury Award and CINE Golden Eagle Award, and winner of 11 additional festival awards. Kendall was a Fellow at the 2011 Sundance Institute Creative Producing Summit and one of several filmmakers selected to participate in the first annual "Emerging Visions" program developed by IFP and the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the 2011 New York Film Festival. La Camioneta his critically-acclaimed feature directorial debut, had its World Premiere in the "Emerging Visions" section at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival, received the David L. Wolper Award from the International Documentary Association, and earned him a spot as “a name to watch” in Variety. Kendall has a B.A. in Anthropology and an M.A in Latin American Studies from Vanderbilt University, as well as an M.F.A. in Social Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts.
