The 9th Lower East Side Film Festival will open on June 6th with the New York Premiere of Shaina Feinberg’s Senior Escort Service written & directed by Shaina Feinberg and starring Chris Manley, Shaina Feinberg, Chris Roberti (High Maintenance, Broad City), Jeff Seal, Mona Chalabi, and Drae Campbell. “After the sudden death of her father, filmmaker Shaina Feinberg goes on a tour of grief in this genre-bending feature film. Blending archival footage with a series of journeys – both real and imagined – Senior Escort Service is a funny and sad meditation on loss.”
Opening Night will kick off with a short preceding the Feature; the World Premiere of Nighty Night written & directed by Matt Porter (the Chris Gethard Show) and starring Chris Gethard (The Chris Gethard Show, Parks and Recreation, Inside Amy Schumer, The Office, Broad City) and Zach Cherry (Crashing, You, Spider Man: Homecoming).
Closing Night on June 10th at Village East Cinema will feature two documentaries and shorts: The Sweetest Land, The Last Pig, This Is America Shorts Showcase, and Best Buds Shorts Showcase. The Sweetest Land, directed by Jeffrey B. Teitler is a powerful documentary investigating the real story of violence through the eyes of the midnight surgeons, the victims of violence, the beat cops and prevention organizations. The Last Pig is a lyrical meditation on what it means to be a sentient creature with the power to kill. Set against the stunning backdrop of upstate New York, this deeply immersive film is a poetic snapshot and a contemplation on the value of life.
LESFF is “super thrilled” that this year, 50% of The Lower East Side Film Festival’s programming (Features and Shorts) are created (produced and directed) by women, and they will be partnering with Refinery29 and The Writers Guild of America East for Crafting the Female Protagonist — a night of storytelling and discussion at the East Village’s Bathhouse Studios.
LESFF will host the New York Premiere of feature film This Is Our Home; a romance turned horror film directed by Omri Dorani about a struggling couple’s weekend getaway that goes awry when a child arrives in the middle of the night claiming to be their son. Starring and produced by Simone Policano and Jeff Ayers, and written by Rob Harmon.
Shorts Highlights at LESFF 2019 include:
Legal Smuggling. After making a name for himself as ‘Hanksy,’ Tom Hanks/Banksy mashup street artist, Adam Lucas, found himself meeting his idol: Tom Hanks. During the meeting, Adam is forced to question whether his ‘Hanksy’ monicker is doing more bad than good.
La Bruja. The Daily Show’s Eliza Cossio will present a bilingual dark comedy about a Mexican American Woman who goes through a breakup, then meets a witch who offers to help.La Bruja is written & directed by Eliza Cossio (HBO’s Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, The Daily Show) and stars, Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show, Crazy Rich Asians), Sophie Zucker (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Other Two), andAndy Bustillos(HBO’s Girls, Divorce).
Too Long At the Fair. Written & Directed by Jessie Barr and Lena Hudson and starring Jessie Barr, Lena Hudson, and Chris Messina (Sharp Objects, The Mindy Project), Too Long at the Fair follows best friends and owners of a fledgling Princess Party business in Los Angeles. After a mishap at an important client’s party the two find themselves in the hole and desperate for funds. They meet a charming divorcee (Chris Messina), and what begins as a provocative yet seemingly harmless adventure takes a downward turn that will alter their lives forever.
The Chair. Written by Eric Ledgin (Writer — Superstore, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia)& Kelsey Ledgin and directed by Eric Ledgin, The Chair stars Stephen Schneider (Bumblebee, Broad City) and Odette Annable (Cloverfield, Supergirl) and follows two recent exes who try to peacefully divide up their shared belongings.
LESFF Judges include Rosario Dawson (Kids, Rent, Daredevil, Jane The Virgin), Joe Quesada (Chief Creative Officer at Marvel, Executive Producer Cloak & Dagger, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones), Matt FX (Music Supervisor — Broad City, Difficult People, In The Mix with Matt FX), Tamra Simmons (Producer — Surviving R. Kelly, Growing Up Hip Hop),Sam Levy (Cinematographer — Jerry Before Seinfeld, LadyBird, Frances Ha).
Short showcases this year include: Mind F*ck Night — short films that festival programmers promise will f*ck with your mind, This is America Shorts, and New York Filmmaker Shorts, among others.