The Rooftop Films 2009 Summer Series

 
Venue: On the roof of the Old American Can Factory
Address: 232 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/ Park Slope, Brooklyn)
Directions: F/G to Carroll St. or M/R to Union Ave.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Live music presented by Sound Fix Records
9:00PM: Film
11:00PM–12:30AM: Reception in courtyard including free sangria courtesy of Carlo Rossi sangria
Tickets: $9-$25 at the door or online

Presented in partnership with: The International Film Festival of Rotterdam, Cinereach, New York magazine, & XØ Projects


No refunds. In the event of rain, the show will be indoors at the same locations. Seating is first come, first served. Physical seats are limited. This means you may not get a chair. You are welcome to bring a blanket and picnic.

MAP | SOUND FIX | OFFICIAL FILM WEBSITE | TRAILER


Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (Edwin | Indonesia | 77 min.) New York Premiere.

*Winner of the FIPRESCI Award for best film at IFFR 2009*

The debut feature from Indonesian director Edwin is a delightfully bizarre and original film that marks the coming of a major new international talent. Edwin (who uses only his first name) has crafted a movie that is filled with outrageous scenarios, but the emotions and messages are subtle—a mature balance that is surprisingly comic, sweet without being sentimental, and passionately disquieting without reverting to shock or melodrama.

The overarching metaphor for the film is, of course, the blind pig who wants not to see, but to fly—not the usual, but the unexpected. And yet the characters in the film, for all their strange talents and desires, with all their unusual personalities and unique perspectives, above all they want to fit in, to be like everyone else. In particular, the film is about the Chinese minority in Indonesia, who struggle with racism and sometimes violent oppression, who long for acceptance. But in general, the film is about anybody who suppresses the joy of their natural individuality for the banal sorrow of conformity, and the bitter fact that many people must make this sacrifice in order to survive.

In this quietly swirling, non-linear cinema, the characters themselves are dislocated in time, repeating scenarios with subtle changes that build humor and tension. There is the mother, an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and a former national badminton champion, who retired because fans couldn’t tell the difference between her and her arch-rival Chinese opponent. Now she quietly, painfully accepts her husband’s shifting ploys to gain acceptance—he’s a dentist who accidentally blinds himself in an attempt to make his eyes look wider and more “Indonesian,” will take on a new religion and a new wife in order to assimilate, and will even sell his sexuality for a green card.

The center of their story is their child, Linda, who tries to dispel evil spirits with firecrackers—tossing them at her tormentors as a child, eating them (on TV!) as an adult. Linda’s childhood best friend, Cahyono, desperately wants to be Japanese, or, when he grows up, “Anything but Chinese.” Separated as kids, Cahyono finds his old friend again as an adult while editing TV shows, blandly living vicariously through the dross and chaos of the world around him. Meanwhile, as further contrasts, Linda’s grandfather happily plays pool and accepts his fate, and two wealthy gay men explore and exploit the outer limits of their power and their desires using the other needy characters.

The only constant in the film is constant change, as the various repetitions highlight the various subtle differences, and each character struggles to shift into a newfound stability. The film is a puzzle, but not one that is necessarily meant to be solved. The wonder of Blind Pig are the themes and variations, not the specifics or plot. And the intelligence of Blind Pig is not rooted in a linear thesis, but floats in the evocative imagery and shifting desires of the characters. The film lands in a place between the surreal and the real, where a kind of mundane magic becomes achingly potent. At this intersection, it’s hard to tell what’s a fantastical metaphor and what’s a frightening fact. Vision is obscured, hearing becomes ritualized, taste a muted explosion, touch transferred to other bodies. At this juncture, we may not understand everything we experience, but the images of this dark comedy are sure to startle and delight, and the emotions will rattle our souls. We’re not sure if the blind pig will fly, but we feel what it feels.

Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization whose mission is to engage and inspire the diverse communities of New York City by showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers and musicians. In addition to our Summer Series – which takes place in unique outdoor venues every weekend throughout the summer – Rooftop provides grants to filmmakers, teaches media literacy and filmmaking to young people, rents low-cost equipment to artists and non-profits, and produces new independent films. At Rooftop Films, we bring the underground outdoors. For more information and updates please visit our website at www.rooftopfilms.com.