Starring: Ryan Wuestewald, Hans Christopher, Nikki DeParis
The FOFIF presents a Brooklyn screening of its new release, Yana Alliata’s debut feature Reeling, as part of its THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project. The Tuesday screening includes a Q&A with Alliata and cast members and the weekend brunch screenings include special introductions. To make an additional $10 donation to The Future of Film is Female, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Reeling, the striking debut feature by Yana Alliata, is a lyrical and emotionally charged exploration of memory, trauma, and belonging set against the idyllic family property on Oahu’s windward side. After a life-altering accident, Ryan returns to his family’s homestead for a birthday luau, attempting to reconnect with old friends and relatives who now feel like strangers. As the pig roasts slowly in the imu pit and the atmosphere turns festive, buried tensions simmer beneath the surface as Ryan uncovers the secret of when things took a tragic turn.
Executive Produced by the singular Werner Herzog.
Part of The Future of Film is Female’s THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project.
Pre-party in Lo-Res 7-9pm with DJ Rok One
A journey into the past and the future of Italo Disco music through the stories of the original 80’s heroes and cult DJs and the voice of a new generation of artists, radio broadcasters and fans ready to carry on the Italo Disco Legacy.
Featuring rare and original 80s footage, live takes and interviews with Fred Ventura, Rago & Farina, Flemming Dalum, Steen Gjerulff (Body Electric), The Hacker, DJ Hell, Alexander Robotnick, Scotch, Albert One, Ken Laszlo, Martinelli, P. Lion, Koto, Brian Ice, Fancy, Brand Image, Marcello Catalano, Linda Jo Rizzo, Italove, Surf Dancer, Roberto Turatti, Sandro Codazzi, Daniele Baldelli, Beppe Loda, Marcello D’Azzurro, I-F, Otto Kraanen (Bordello a Parigi), Intergalactic Gary, David Vunk, Alden Tyrell, DJ Overdose, Tero & Kristiina Männikkö, Gwen De Bats (Radio Stad Den Haag), Mark du Mosch, Black Devil Disco Club, Francisco, Lorenzo Cibrario (Red Gallery London).
New York premiere
Heavy Healing dives into the worlds of metal, hardcore punk, and underground hip-hop to reveal how loud music scenes become lifelines for people navigating disability, illness, trauma, and mental health challenges. Through raw, personal stories from musicians, fans, and industry voices, the film pushes back against clichés of “aggressive” music and spotlights community care, creative survival, and the deep bonds forged in packed rooms where volume becomes connection. Featuring voices linked to Bowling for Soup, Killswitch Engage, Sick of It All, Agnostic Front, and more, the film reframes heavy music as a space of resilience, belonging, and shared healing.
Starring: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen, Tully Marshall
4K restoration
It should have been a dream collaboration: a glamorous world-famous movie star (Gloria Swanson) and her financier lover (Joseph P. Kennedy) hire a celebrated director (Erich von Stroheim) to make a groundbreaking masterpiece. Instead, Queen Kelly was canceled mid-production and became the most infamous unfinished film in cinema history. Von Stroheim’s baroque and obsessive drama opens in a European country ruled by a mad Queen (Seena Owen) obsessed with her feckless fiancé, “Wild” Prince Wolfram (Walter Byron). The dissolute prince falls for an innocent but flirtatious convent girl, Patricia Kelly (Swanson), kidnaps her, and brings her to his rooms. When the Queen discovers the lovers, she horsewhips the girl. Returning to the convent, Kelly receives a telegram, summoning her to German East Africa, where her dying aunt begs the girl to wed the syphilitic owner, Jan (Tully Marshall) of the seedy brothel. Basing his reconstruction on von Stroheim’s original scripts, Dennis Doros has employed multiple techniques to recreate the film’s lurid dénouement. Featuring a new orchestral score by Eli Denson.
This is the story of 7 graff hunters, individuals addicted to photographing and sharing graffiti in NYC and the world. Relentless and passionate about their obsession, they discuss why they do it, and why they can’t stop.
Pasha Talankin is an unlikely hero—a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the transformation of his school and community, he struggles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower.
As the school’s videographer, Pasha documents intimate and revealing footage of Putin’s regime, capturing the rise of militarized children’s groups, repressive laws, fervent nationalism, and the recruitment of graduating students to fight in the war. When he learns his own life may be at risk, Pasha is forced to plan a dangerous escape from Russia.
Directed by David Borenstein and co-directed by Pasha Talankin, this uniquely collaborative film is as captivating and joyful as it is eye-opening and sobering. Mr. Nobody Against Putin showcases rare footage that reveals the profound impact of Putin’s regime on the lives of everyday Russians, particularly its children.
A comeback story with grit and groove. New York’s 1980’s Dance pioneers Rockers Revenge reunite decades later to finally record their debut album, transforming nostalgia into a powerful journey of friendship, resilience, and unfinished dreams. From the frontlines of New York’s COVID crisis to the pulse of Black Lives Matter, their music channels loss, hope, and defiance.
Directed by legendary DJ and music producer Arthur Baker – whose collaborations with New Order, Afrika Bambaataa, Bruce Springsteen and Al Green defined an era – this film spans 30 years yet feels urgently of the moment – a testament to survival, second chances, and the unstoppable spirit of Rockers Revenge.
A story of defiance, creativity, and the search for freedom, and a cinematic portrait of Felix Leu, artist and patriarch of one of the most iconic and respected families on the international tattooing scene: the Leu Family, a bohemian clan that turned freedom and creativity into their way of life. Son of painter Eva Aeppli and assistant to Jean Tinguely, Felix grew up in Paris’s vibrant 1960s art world before embracing the revolutionary counterculture of the Beat Generation. In New York he met his lifelong partner, Loretta, and together they chose a nomadic path, raising four children while rejecting conformity and living with only time as their true wealth.
In the late 1970s, Felix discovered tattooing, first as a way to support their travels, then as a form of expression in which he became a pioneer, founding what would become the legendary Leu Family Iron. Loretta’s voice guides us through their extraordinary journey through hardship, love, and enduring commitment to artistic exploration. More than a film about tattooing, this is a meditation on independence, identity, and daring to remain true to one’s dreams.
This intimate portrait follows underground DJ Lee Burridge, whose lifelong goal has been to bring people together through music. Blending cinematic storytelling, rare archival footage and access to Burridge’s inner world, the film traces a 40-year journey from a small seaside village in Dorset to some of the world’s most iconic stages, from Fabric London to Burning Man and Coachella. Burridge’s story is one of persistence and passion, and also impermanence.
The DJ lifestyle demands sacrifice: communities fade, connections slip away, and the spotlight eventually moves on. As he reflects on these costs, Burridge creates a new sonic language rooted in beauty, longing and emotion. This sound becomes All Day I Dream – a global community, record label, and festival series that defines his legacy. More than just a music film, Sound of a Dream explores the magic of the dance floor and the universal human search for connection.
In the early 1980s, long before Brooklyn was synonymous with indie cool, a small dive bar on Prospect Avenue became the unlikely heart of a musical revolution. Lauterbach’s was no glamorous venue. Its low ceilings and makeshift stage were more grit than glamour, but what emerged inside its walls was extraordinary: a fiercely creative community of musicians inventing “The Brooklyn Beat.”
Before It Was Cool: The Brooklyn Beat from Lauterbach’s retraces this forgotten chapter of New York’s music history through the eyes of Rachel Cleary, host of Radio Free Brooklyn. While interviewing musicians for her show, she uncovers a hidden thread: band after band had roots in Lauterbach’s, a scene held together by passion, experimentation, and an almost family-like bond. Figures like Bob Racioppo of The Shirts and Chemical Wedding helped book shows and nurture the scene, while a constellation of indie, punk, and alternative bands turned competition into collaboration.
When Lauterbach’s abruptly closed for renovations, the scene teetered on collapse — but instead of vanishing, the artists carried their sound and spirit into the wider world. They proved that the bar was not the movement’s end, but its spark.
Through intimate interviews, archival footage, and vibrant animation, the film resurrects a scene that never sought the spotlight but left a lasting imprint on Brooklyn’s identity. This is not the story of overnight fame or commercial success, but a love letter to a borough before its reinvention. Before It Was Cool captures the beat of a time when art was survival, and community was everything.
