7 Must-See Brooklyn Trailers From The Upcoming Katra Film Festival
Tomorrow may be your last chance to grab tickets for the Katra Film Series Grand Finale, an acclaimed international short film festival featuring some gorgeous films shot in Ditmas Park, Park Slope, Sheepshead Bay, and Greenpoint.
The Katra Film Series, now in its fifth year, was started in 2012 by writer, director, and producer Geoffrey Guerrero to promote independent cinema from around the world. The program showcases films monthly, the best of which get to compete in the grand finale event. The winners will be chosen by a panel of industry judges and awarded more than $5k in prizes.
The festival will be held Wednesday, January 25 at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in Downtown Brooklyn. But don’t wait — ticket sales end January 20, so get yours here.
This year’s excellent finalists include works by a number of local filmmakers, and a few are set entirely in Brooklyn. Some are even made by our very own neighbors!
Watch our favorite trailers below (the first two had us doubled over laughing!)
THE 2016 FINALISTS:
Other People’s People – directed by James Fauvell
This ensemble comedy is about the intersecting and competing loves, lies, and indiscretions of three couples in Ditmas Park, and features a few neighbors!
From the reviewers: “To us, Other People’s People is…about choosing which version of yourself is the true you and the very funny and very real journey we all take in learning how to define ourselves inside of relationships and out.”
47 Secrets to a Younger You – directed by Ryan Blackwell
A comedy series about 40-something working moms in Brooklyn, set entirely in Park Slope. The New York Times loved it:
“Two of the most amusing moms found lately are on ’47 Secrets To A Younger You”, writes Neil Genzlinger. “These installments, each five minutes or so, are sketches of motherhood in hipster land, droll and kind of bittersweet.”
Chocolate Cake – directed by Benjamin Shweky
Based on a poem by Michael Rosen, this is a sweet, nostalgic tale about a boy who doesn’t quite fit in and finds all the company he needs in his mother’s delicious chocolate cake. Shot entirely in Sheepshead Bay.
Notes from Liberia – from Flatbush Pictures, directed by Judd Ehrlich (Ditmas Park) & Ryo Murakami.
From the producers: “This deeply affecting short film is crafted from hours of footage shot by the late Japanese-American cinematographer Ryo Murakami on the Firestone Tire and Rubber Plantation in Liberia.
Under the cover of night, Ryo trespasses onto the plantation grounds and enters a scarcely seen world, where coercive living conditions and labor practices have changed alarmingly little since the plantation opened in 1926. Ryo’s footage is a rare independent vision of the lives of plantation workers that stands outside of the official Firestone account.”
Solace – directed by Marvin Van Buren
A college dropout forms an unlikely bond with a homeless man after an encounter with violence. Shot entirely in Greenpoint.
27 Dimensions – directed by Cass O’Meara
Miriam and Lenny are frustrated online daters who have finally found their perfect mates, at least on paper. Another one shot in Park Slope.
The Bear – directed by Avtandil Chachibaia
A moral fable about a revenge-seeking bear who nobly forgives the humans for their wrongdoings. Directed by Brooklyn College Alumni and former Brooklyn Resident.
Want to watch more? Here’s a list of the other finalists, not based in Brooklyn but definitely worth watching:
- Fortress – directed by Amir Arison
- Kelly & Jason – directed by Bidemi Akanbi
- Three Fingers – directed by Paul D. Hart
- Uncanny Valley – directed by Federico Heller – (Argentina)
- Redheads Anonymous – directed by Daniel Seth
- Stitched – directed by Heather Taylor
- All I Want – directed by Venika Mitra – (India)