L.E.S* Film Festival | Lower East Side Film Festival

  • ‘Your Monster’ and ‘Love and Work’ Win Top Prizes at Lower East Side Film Festival 2024

    2024 Lower East Side Film Festival award winners
    (Photo credit Alex Mendoza)

    Caroline Lindy’s Your Monster took home Best of Fest and Pete Ohs’ Love and Work received Best Feature Film at the 2024 Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF).

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  • ‘Your Monster’ Starring Melissa Barrera Opens 14th Lower East Side Film Festival Lineup

    Your Monster directed by Caroline Lindy
    Your Monster (courtesy LESFF)

    Caroline Lindy’s debut feature film Your Monster starring Melissa Barrera opens the 14th Lower East Side Film Festival (“LESFF”) taking place Thursday, May 2 – Monday, May 6 at Village East Cinema and DCTV Firehouse Cinema in New York City.

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  • Lower East Side Film Festival 2022 Announces Winners – ‘Bacon N’ Laces’ Wins Best of Fest

    Winners of awards at 2022 Lower East Side Film Festival
    Bacon N’ Laces directed by Stephen Michael Simon

    The 12th Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF) announced the winning films awarding Best of Fest – Prix D’or to Bacon N’ Laces directed by Stephen Michael Simon; and Best Feature Film prize to I am Gen Z directed by Liz Smith.

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  • NYC’s Lower East Side Film Festival 2022 Announces Lineup + Ukrainian Films Showcase

    Hallelujah Anyway, Anyway directed Neil Goldberg - 12th Lower East Side Film Festival lineup
    Hallelujah Anyway, Anyway directed Neil Goldberg

    The 2022 Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF) revealed the feature film and speciality short showcase lineup for in-person (at Village East Cinema, July 7th-11th) and virtually (July 7th-17th).

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  • NY Premiere of Shaina Feinberg’s SENIOR ESCORT SERVICE to Kick off Lower East Side Film Festival

    SENIOR ESCORT SERVICE
    SENIOR ESCORT SERVICE

    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.”

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  • “HAVING YOU,” and “HOW TO FOLLOW STRANGERS” Awarded Top Honors at 2013 Lower East Side Film Festival

    HAVING YOUHAVING YOU

    “HAVING YOU,” and “HOW TO FOLLOW STRANGERS” were awarded top honors at the 2013 Lower East Side Film Festival (L.E.S* Film Festiva), which ran June 13 – 23 in New York City.

    Prix D’or Winner, “HOW TO FOLLOW STRANGERS” is directed by Chioke Nassor and stars Broad City’s Ilana Glazer. There is a true story of a woman who died in her apartment and it took people a year to find her body decomposing in a crisp Chanel suit. A young man becomes obsessed with this urban tragedy and disappears, wondering if anyone will notice. A young woman who shares his commuting schedule DOES notice…

    Best Feature Winner, HAVING YOU, is directed by Sam Hoare and stars Golden Globe Nominated Anna Friel, Golden Globe and BAFTA Nominee Romola Garai, and BAFTA Nominee Phil Davis. Jack has finally managed to propose to his infertile girlfriend when his life is turned upside down by the arrival of an old one-night stand that introduces him to his seven year old son.

    The Full List of Winners are:

    PRIX D’OR – Best of Fest – How To Follow Strangers. Dir. By Chioke Nassor
    BEST FEATURE – Having You. Dir. By Sam Hoare
    AUDIENCE AWARD – i hate myself 🙂 Dir. By Joanna Arnow
    BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT – The Caretaker. Dir. Lauren Lillie
    BEST DOC SHORT – Wright’s Law. Dir. By Zack Conkle
    BEST ANIMATION – Fear of Flying. Dir. By Conor Finnegan
    L.E.S* NEIGHBORHOOD AWARD – The Birdman. Dir. By Jessie Auritt.

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  • L.E.S* Film Festival to Kick off First Weekend With Block Party & Drive In

    The L.E.S* Film Festival is partnering with ZipCar to kick off its first festival weekend with a FREE old fashioned Block Party & Drive-In. Food, film and surprise performances.  The 3rd annual L.E.S* Film Festival will run June 13th – 23rd, 2013.

    The schedule of events:

    June 13th – Opening Night – How To Follow Strangers dir. by Chioke Nassor feat. Ilana Glazer

    June 14th – Sneak Peek Night – Joanna Arnow’s documentary i hate myself 🙂

    June 15th – Mind F*ck Night- A series of shorts that will definitely F*CK with your mind.

    June 16th – Zipcar Presents L.E.S* Drive-In – FREE with music by DJ’s AndrewAndrew, food, and live performances, 6pm – 9pm.  Parking Lot at 88 Ludlow St (and Broome).  ZipCars reserved exclusively for ZipCar members. To book a car email:nycmarketing@zipcar.com or tweet at  @ZipcarNYC 

    June 17th – Animation Night and WGA East Chat: Writing the Real

    June 18th – Shorts Showcase Sponsored by The Low Down and  IFP Presents: Digital Distribution Panel

    June 19th – Twisted Love and Doc Night Sponsored by VIMEO

    June 20th – Gay Night Sponsored by LOGOTV

    June 21st – Award Ceremony & Having You

    June 22nd – Special Screening – History of Future Folk

    June 23rd – Best of Fest

    VENUES

    Films will be shown at Sunshine Cinemas, Anthology Film Archive, The Crosby St. Hotel and downtown spaces Casa Mezcal and Katra Lounge.

    JUDGES

    Sundance Winning writer and director Rebecca Miller, SAG Award winner and comedian Judah Friedlander, Academy Award Nominees Dan Janvey (“Beasts Of The Southern Wild”), Travis Knight (“ParaNorman”), David France (“How To Survive A Plague”), producers Lars Knudsen and Jay VanHoy, (“Beginners”), Emmy Winner Jerry Kupfer (“30 Rock”), Bladimiar Norman of The Weinstein Company, Jason Janego of TWC Radius, documentary filmmaker Mark Becker, cinematographer Clyde E. Bryan and DJ’s AndrewAndrew.

    L.E.S* CHATS

    FREE!

    June 17th: WGA at WGA East (250 Hudson St).

    June 18th: IFP Presents :Digital Distribution Chat” moderated by Chris Rovzar of Vanity Fair. Panelists from A24, Filmbuff, Starz and VHX, 6pm at Casa Mezcal’s Obra Negra (80 Orchard St).

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  • “How To Follow Strangers” Set to Open 2013 L.E.S* Film Festival

    “How To Follow Strangers” directed by Chioke Nassor and starring Ilana Glazer, co-creator/star of the cult web series, Broad City, will open the 2013 L.E.S* Film Festival on June 13. 2013. The L.E.S* Film Festival shows low budget independent films in all categories: features, shorts, documentaries, experimental, foreign and animation.

    “How To Follow Strangers” is the true story of a woman who died in her apartment and it took people a year to find her body decomposing in a crisp Chanel suit. A young man becomes obsessed with this urban tragedy and disappears, wondering if anyone will notice. A young woman who shares his commuting schedule DOES notice. And when he resurfaces, she decides to follow him setting of a chain of events that may eventually bind them together…

    The L.E.S* Film Festival runs June 13 – 23rd at Landmark Sunshine Cinemas, Anthology Film Archives, The Crosby St Hotel and other Lower East Side venues in New York City. 

    How to Follow Strangers: Trailer from Chioke Nassor on Vimeo.

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