BAMcinématek announces special events, shorts, and full schedule for fifth annual BAMcinemaFest, Jun 19—28 New York premiere of Peaches Does Herself, a documentary about the cult synth-punk performer presented on the Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater, followed by a live performance by the artist at BAMcafé New York premiere of Ben Nabors’ SXSW Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner William and the Windmill added to BAMcinemaFest main slate Live performance by acclaimed country-soul artist Kim Taylor following the screening of Matthew Porterfield’s I Used to be Darker The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor of BAMcinemaFest, BAMcinématek, and BAM Rose Cinemas. Brooklyn, NY/May 24, 2013—BAMcinématek announces the full schedule for the fifth annual BAMcinemaFest (Jun 19—28) including special events, an added film to the main slate, guests, and shorts programs. On Tuesday, June 25, BAMcinemaFest presents the New York premiere of Peaches Does Herself, starring the cult synth-punk musician and performance artist, on the Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater. Known for her audaciously foul-mouthed lyrics and gender-bending persona (as well as high-profile collaborations with everyone from Iggy Pop to Christina Aguilera), the Canadian electroclash star directs herself in this no-holds-barred rock opera, which tells the loosely autobiographical tale of her rise to stardom and romance that ends in heartbreak. This filmed version of her epic stage performance in Berlin bursts with nudity, pink underwear, and shocking cameos by stripper Sandy Kane and transsexual porn star Dannii Daniels, bringing Peaches’ unique brand of post-feminist, shock-rock cabaret to shameless cinematic life. Following the screening, Peaches performs live at BAMcafé with guest performer Kane. Ben Nabors’ SXSW Grand Jury Prize winning documentary William and the Windmill is the 23rd New York premiere in this year’s main slate, screening Saturday, June 22 at 1:30pm. Out of bottle caps, bicycle parts, and other scraps of junk, a Malawian teenager too poor to afford school tuition pulls off a miraculous feat of engineering: constructing a bare-bones power-generating windmill he hopes will pull his family out of famine and poverty. This eye-opening documentary dives into the aftermath of his inspiring achievement, as he becomes a hero and a symbol of hope across the globe—and is forced to cope with the increasingly heavy burden of his ingenious creation. Nabors will appear in person for a Q&A following the screening. Following the New York premiere screening of I Used to Be Darker, Matthew Porterfield’s (Putty Hill, BAMcinemaFest 2010) lo-fi chronicle of a family’s dissolution, on Friday, June 21 at 6:45pm, country-soul musician Kim Taylor performs live at BAMcafé. Taylor makes her film debut in Porterfield’s film as Kim, a bohemian singer-songwriter on the verge of divorce when her runaway niece shows up unannounced and seeks refuge in their dysfunctional home. Drawing comparisons to Cat Power and Loretta Lynn, Taylor has released five acclaimed studio albums and has been called “the next great troubadour…a great talent coming into her own” (Caroline Klibanoff, Paste). BAMcinemaFest also hosts two shorts programs: a Narrative Shorts Program on Thursday, June 20 at 9:30pm and a Documentary Shorts Program on Thursday, June 27 at 9:30pm, featuring 14 films with 10 New York premieres and one world premiere. Highlights of the narrative program include: the New York premiere of Dustin Guy Defa’s (Family Nightmare, BAMcinemaFest 2011) Lydia Hoffman, Lydia Hoffman, shot by talented indie DP Sean Price Williams (Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Color Wheel) and starring I Used to Be Darker’s Hannah Gross as a woman who invites a vagabond into her home; the New York premiere of the Rockaway Beach-set The Sun Thief, by Jason Giampietro (editor of BAMcinemaFest main slate world premiere Hellaware), which features indie music talent Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio) and Alejandra Deheza (School of Seven Bells); and When We Lived in Miami, Amy Seimetz’s (Sun Don’t Shine) latest film, which she directed, wrote, and stars in, about a woman dealing with unresolved feelings for her ex while cooped up during Hurricane Isaac. The documentary program features the New York premiere of Century, acclaimed avant-garde filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson’s 16mm ode to a Buick Century meeting its fate; Sergio Oksman’s A Story for the Modlins, a speculative portrait of hermetic Rosemary’s Baby extra Elmer Modlin, who withdrew from society with his wife and child and spent 30 years alone in a dark apartment, leaving only a box of evocative mementos behind; and the New York premiere of Michael Almereyda’s (Hamlet, Nadja) chronicle of a small fishing village, Skinningrove, which won the Short Film Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance. The full lineup with descriptions is below. Finally, BAMcinemaFest continues its yearly tradition of hosting an outdoor screening in conjunction with New York’s top outdoor festival, Rooftop Films, with Drinking Buddies, Joe Swanberg’s fresh and seductive romantic comedy starring Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jake Johnson, and Ron Livingston. The screening takes place on Thursday, June 27 at 8:30pm in the parking lot across from BAM on Lafayette Avenue and Ashland Place. In its first five years, BAMcinemaFest has presented the New York premieres of many high-profile American indies, including Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk With Me (2012), Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture (2010), Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson (2009), Andrew Haigh’s Weekend (2011), Alex Ross Perry’s The Color Wheel (2011), and many others, along with spotlight screenings of Academy Award-nominated films Armando Iannucci’s In the Loop (2009) and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012). This edition’s main slate showcases a total of 24 features, with 23 New York premieres and one world premiere; the full lineup and schedule are below. Press screenings to be announced For press information, please contact Gabriele Caroti at 718.724.8024 / [email protected] Lisa Thomas at 718.724.8023 / [email protected] BAMcinemaFest Schedule HT = Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater BRC = BAM Rose Cinemas Wed, Jun 19 7:30pm: Opening Night—Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (HT) Thu, Jun 20 7pm: This is Martin Bonner (BRC) 7:30pm: Spotlight Screening—The Spectacular Now (HT) 9:30pm: Short Narrative Program (BRC) Fri, Jun 21 6:45pm: I Used to be Darker—Followed by a live performance by Kim Taylor (BRC) 7:30pm: Spotlight Screening—Crystal Fairy (HT) 9:30pm: It Felt Like Love (BRC) Sat, Jun 22 1:30pm: William and the Windmill (BRC) 4pm: After Tiller (BRC) 6:45pm: Mother of George (BRC) 9:30pm: Hellaware (BRC) Sun, Jun 23 1:30pm: Remote Area Medical (BRC) 4pm: The Cold Lands (BRC) 6:45pm: Computer Chess (BRC) 9:30pm: White Reindeer (BRC) Mon, Jun 24 7pm: The Crash Reel (BRC) 9:30pm: Museum Hours (BRC) Tue, Jun 25 7:30pm: Special Event—Peaches Does Herself (HT)—Followed by a live performance by Peaches and Sandy Kane 9:30pm: God Loves Uganda (BRC) Wed, Jun 26 7pm: C.O.G. (BRC) 9:30pm: These Birds Walk (BRC) Thu, Jun 27 7pm: Northern Light (BRC) 8:30pm: Outdoor Screening—Drinking Buddies 9:30pm: Short Documentary Program (BRC) Fri, Jun 28 6:45pm: Continental (BRC) 8:30pm: Closing Night—Short Term 12 (HT) 9:30pm: Newlyweeds (BRC) Detailed film descriptions for BAMcinemaFest Most screenings followed by Q&As. Opening Night Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2012, US) 96min NY Premiere—Narrative Directed by David Lowery. With Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Brought to life with exquisite period detail and richly textured cinematography from talented young DP Bradford Young (winner of the US Dramatic Cinematography Award at Sundance for his work on this and Dosunmu’s Mother of George), the gritty landscape of 1970s Texas Hill Country serves as the backdrop for this mood-drenched collision of love and crime. After his pregnant wife (Mara) makes one false move during a bloody shootout, a bank robber (Affleck) faces a 25-year sentence that destroys his dreams of a family life. Shot through with the yearning and melancholy of a folk ballad, Lowery’s directorial breakthrough—one of the most acclaimed films at Sundance and a special Critics’ Week selection at Cannes—extends the Bonnie and Clyde tradition with its breathtaking meditation on the fragility and transience of love. An IFC Films release. Opens August 16. Wed, Jun 19 at 7:30pm Intro with David Lowery, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster Closing Night Short Term 12 (2013, US) 96min NY Premiere—Narrative Directed by Destin Cretton. With Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Stephanie Beatriz, Rami Malek. Sincere and emotional but never sentimental, this drama, based on the director’s real-life experience, follows a tenacious young counselor named Grace (United States of Tara’s Brie Larson, in a soul-baring breakthrough performance) who works with her long-term boyfriend Mason (John Gallagher Jr., The Newsroom) in a halfway house for troubled teens. More than just caretakers, they foster relationships with the at-risk patients that are far more therapeutic than their requisite treatments. With handheld camerawork by Brett Pawlak, this extension of the director’s award-winning 2008 short film of the same name is bracingly honest, refreshingly original, and a singular achievement. A Cinedigm release. Fri, Jun 28 at 7:30pm Q&A with Destin Cretton, Brie Larson, and Keith Stanfield Spotlight Screenings Crystal Fairy (2013, Chile) 98min NY Premiere—Narrative Directed by Sebastián Silva. With Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva.