Buzz
Lower East Side Film Festival to bring
11-day festival online this week
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
The Lower East Side Film
Festival is bringing their
festival online for 11 days
starting tonight (Thursday).
This year, the festival is spotlighting
immigrant and 1st/2nd
generation filmmakers with
their 2020 fi lm line-up echoing
the ethos of The Lower East
Side itself, a neighborhood that
has been home to many of the
country’s immigrants. The festival
will run from June 18 through
June 29.
The festival will offi cially start
at 6 p.m. on June 18 when all of
the fi lms will be released online.
Viewers can buy features and
short showcases individually for
$10 each or get an All-Access
Festival Pass for $30. A full list
of fi lms is available on the Lower
East Side Film Festival website.
Films will be available for viewing
until June 29.
On June 19 at 6 p.m., the
PHOTO VIA WWW.LESFILMFESTIVAL.COM
Make Music Day to bring performers throughout
the world together online on June 21
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A live global music event is
bringing their programming
online for an accessible,
world-wide day of creating
and listening to music.
On June 21, musicians from
across the country and the world
will celebrate Make Music Day.
Make Music Day celebrates and
promotes the natural music
maker in all of us, regardless of
age, ethnicity, background or skill
level.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
the annual celebration
is going online. More than 85
U.S. cities and the entire states
of Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont
and Wisconsin will participate in
Make Music Day 2020.
A full schedule of events is
festival will host an “Inside the
Writers Room” Golden Globe
winner Ramy Youssef, followed
by an “I Love NY” Trivia Night
hosted by Festival Director
available on the Make Music Day
website. Highlights of this year’s
festival include Flowerpot Music
(music will literally emanate
from fl owerpots in New York
(NY), Hartford (CT), Chicago
(IL), Philadelphia (PA) and elsewhere),
live online lessons from
music teachers across the globe,
a global livestream, Track Meet,
where teams of four musicians
will race against the clock to
create brand new original tracks
in a creative relay, and so much
more.
All Make Music Day events are
free and open to the public. Viewers
and participants can follow
the offi cial hashtag #MakeMusicDay
for updates and highlights.
For more information or to
register for Make Music Day, visit
makemusicny.org.
Shannon Walker at 6 p.m. on
June 20. On June 21 at 6 p.m., the
festival will host a conversation
with Festival Alumni fi lmmaker
Shania Feinberg. Awards for
festival winners will be handed
out on June 22 at 6 p.m.
Judges for the fi lm festival
will include Indya Moore
(Pose, Queen & Slim, Saturday
Church), Samantha Bee (Full
Frontal with Samantha Bee),
Matt FX (MusicSupervisor —
Broad City, Diffi cult People,
In The Mix with Matt FX),
Laura Brownson (The Rachel
Divide, Lemon), Julie Cohen
(Oscar-nominated RBG), Sam
Levy (Ladybird, Jerry Before
Seinfeld, Frances Ha) Heather
Burns (Manchester by the Sea,
Miss Congeniality), and Shannon
Gibson (Executive Producer,
Refi nery29).
During the festival, new pilot
program will be announced
that fi nancially supports BIPOC
fi lmmakers through grants, submission
fee waivers, and access
to resources and partnerships
with the existing LESFF alumni
network to ensure that more of
their fi lms have the opportunity
for festival circuit visibility and
impact.
To buy tickets or for more
information, visit www.lesfi lmfestival.
com.
PHOTO VIA FLICKR/MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK
Make Music Day 2016.
22 June 18, 2020 Schneps Media
/makemusicny.org
/WWW.LESFILMFESTIVAL.COM
/www.lesfi
/www.lesfi
