for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com AUGUST 27, 2015 • times 23 QUEENS Bushwick Film Festival previewed at Borough Hall BY FARAZ T. TOOR [email protected] Lights, camera, action—for Brooklyn. Filmmakers hit a different sort of set at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Thursday, Aug. 13, as part of a welcoming cocktail reception ahead of the 2015 Bushwick Film Festival. The festival’s reception led into two panels that debated how to prevent developers from forcing filmmakers out of the borough, as well as the economic benefits local film festivals provide. About 50 people attended the reception, including filmmakers from around the city, country and globe who had entered their documentaries, feature narratives, shorts, feature-length films and web series for awards for the October festival. “As an artist, to get recognition and become part of a community is a hugely motivational force in your life,” said south Park Slope resident Billy Schultz, who directed “The Red Gloves,” which is a candidate for best Art House film. “This is a good catalyst for new work. People can exchange ideas.” The Bushwick Film Festival, which started in 2007, exhibits domestic and international independent films and new media projects, and helps develop filmmakers’ talents. The group’s sta ff organized the reception and said it was meant to be a support ground for the filmmakers. But once the receptionended, the festivities shifted into the Historic Common Council Chamber and Courtroom for two panels. City Councilman Antonio Reynoso, who represents Bushwick, Williamsburg and Ridgewood, spoke in the first panel, which delved into the need for ethical building developments so Brooklyn’s creative minds are not gentrified out of the neighborhoods. “We lose a lot of the creative people here,” said Kweighbaye Kotee, founder and CEO of the festival. “There are a lot of new developments happening, and I just want to make sure that as filmmakers and creative people come here, we are not transient….I’d like to make developers more conscious of how they are spending their money.” To that end, Kotee said she instituted the panels so filmmakers and developers in attendance could start a dialogue with each other. “It would be great to start working with financers so we do not have to leave,” she said. The festival will be Oct. 1 to 4 in multiple locations in Bushwick and will feature screenings and events. The award winners will be announced on the final day. The second panel’s speakers (from left to right): Rosa Valado of the Greenpoint Film Festival, Kweighbaye Kotee (Bushwick Film Festival), Daniel Stedman (Northside Film Festival) and Marco Ursino (Brooklyn Film Festival). Maspeth’s Knockdown Center to premiere opera about Hurricane Sandy victims BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] @AngelaMatua Nearly three years after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of south Queens, music collective thingNY will be using a unique art form to explore the reactions of individuals affected by the superstorm. The opera “This Takes Place Close By” will premiere at the Knockdown Center in Maspeth on Sept. 24 to 27 and will follow the lives of six individuals whose lives are completely changed Photo courtesy of Steve Conrad of the Bushwick Film Festival 130: after the natural disaster. Formed in 2006, thingNY is a group of composer-performers who combine electronic and chamber music with opera, improvisation, theater, text, song and installation. The collective’s latest opera will take the audience through five scenes that include a woman crushed under a building, a FEMA executive experiencing victimhood, a musician in the process of holding a relief concert and a shop owner who continues to rebuild storm after storm. The collective hopes to address issues such as voyeurism, the anxiety of privilege and the emotional distance humans keep between themselves and disasters in the 50,000-square-foot space. “This Takes Place Close By” will be directed by Ashley Tata and performed by Gelsey Bell, Andrew Livingston, Paul Pinto, Erin Rogers, Dave Ruder and Jeffrey Young. The opera takes place at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24, and 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, through Sunday, Sept. 27. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. To purchase tickets online, visit the Knockdown Center website. Photo courtesy of Anna Groth Shive Music collective thingNY will be premiering a new opera “This Takes Place Close By” on Sept. 24.
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