Starring: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn
In a small, unnamed country, there is an area called the Zone. It contains the Room, where in it is believed wishes are granted. The government has declared The Zone off limits and has sealed off the area with barbed wire and guards. But this does not stop people from attempting to enter the Zone. A writer, who wants to use the experience as inspiration for his writing, and a professor, who wants to research the Zone for scientific purposes enter the Zone with their guide, the Stalker.
One of the most important artists of our era, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a prolific career spanning over four decades. From techno-pop stardom to Oscar-winning film composer, the evolution of his music has coincided with his life journeys. Following Fukushima, Sakamoto became an iconic figure in Japan’s social movement against nuclear power. As Sakamoto returns to music following a cancer diagnosis, his haunting awareness of life crises leads to a resounding new masterpiece. RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA is an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man.
Starring: Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Gruter-Andrew, Tiera Skovbye, Rich Sommer
Summer, 1984: The perfect time to be 15 years old and free. But when neighborhood conspiracy theorist Davey Armstrong begins to suspect his police officer neighbor might be the serial killer all over the local news, he and his three best friends begin an investigation that soon turns dangerous.
*** ONE SHOW ONLY – LIMITED SEATING ***
A “Greatest Hits” show from the long-running video variety series KEVIN GEEKS OUT, Nitehawk’s multi-media comedy event that’s been an editor’s pick in The New York Times and Scientific American.
Each KEVIN GEEKS OUT show features one condensed movie or TV show. In 5 – 10 minutes, the audience gets a curated cutdown, “The Kindest Cut” if you will.
The July show collects the best supercuts from the last 10 years of shows, featuring:
* Kung-fu wizards
* An environmental monster movie
* An under-seen slobs-vs-snobs prep school comedy
* The ultimate 1990’s women’s wrestling epic
* A made-for-tv movie from a master of horror
* and a few films or tv shows that THE AUDIENCE WILL CHOOSE DURING THE EVENT!
Join comedian Kevin Maher and his special guests for this one-of-a-kind multi-media extravaganza that will caulk the gaps in your pop culture knowledge.
With Special Guests:
John Beaman (Documentary photographer)
M. Sweeney Lawless (writer, Euphobia comedy group)
John Cribbs (Head Writer, The Pink Smoke website)
“One of the best shows in NYC” – Hy Bender, BestNewYorkComedy.com
“Kevin Maher is a mad genius.” – SyFy.com
Starring: David Bailey, Manolo Blahnik, Hamish Bowles, Susanna Brown, Leslie Caron, Peter Eyre. Narrated by Rupert Everett.
Oscar-winning set and costume designer, photographer, writer and painter Cecil Beaton was not only a dazzling chronicler, but an arbiter of his time. From the Bright Young Things to the front lines of war to the international belle monde and the pages of Vogue and then onto the Queen’s official photographer – Beaton embodied the cultural and political changes of the twentieth century.
In this tender portrait, director Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict) blends archival footage and photographs with voice over of Beaton’s famed diaries to capture his legacy as a complex and unique creative force. Dynamic and lyrical, LOVE, CECIL is an examination of Beaton’s singular sense of the visual, which dictated a style that set standards of creativity that continue to resonate and inspire today.
Once a thing of science fiction, robots are slowly being introduced into society. But what if these machines we’ve created to help us begin to gain sentience? Can a robot love? These short films from DUST explore the future of humanity’s relationship with robots.
ABE
Directed by Rob McLellan | 7 mins, 30 seconds
A self-aware robot seeks out love and meaning with horrifying results.
DONNY THE DRONE
Directed by by Mackenzie Sheppard | 10 mins, 21 seconds
The world’s first sentient machine goes on stage to accept a prestigious “Person of the Year” award as an auditorium of humans are confronted with his emotional and controversial story. Featuring the voice of Guy Pearce.
NO-A
Directed by Liam Murphy | 5 mins
A battle of massive machines. Bullets ricocheting, metal mashing, glass shattering, buildings crumbling. Stuck right in the middle of chaos with no explanation. But no explanation is needed.
NUMBER 13
Directed by Steve Petersen | 3 mins
Based on the DARK HORSE comic, NUMBER 13, a young cybernetic amnesiac, wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland searching for a father he can’t remember.
PROPAGATION
Directed by Karrie Crouse & Will Joines (music by Com Truise) | 4 mins, 27 seconds
After discovering her own User’s Manual, a docile A.I. housewife becomes self-aware and takes her inevitable revenge.
ROBOT & SCARECROW
Directed by Kibwe Tavares | 12 mins, 23 seconds
When a robot pop princess flees her keeper she runs straight into the arms of a lonely scarecrow desperate for adventure. They spend an incredible night together, caught in a heady vortex of music and magic.
SEAM
Directed by Rajeev Dassani & Elan Dassani | 19 mins
In the not-too-distant future, a tenuous peace between humans and remarkably humanlike “machines”—some don’t even know they’re not real—is tested when synthetics begin spontaneously exploding. A military-led search for these unwitting suicide bombers begins, sending a terrified machine woman and her human partner on the run.
SINNER
Directed by Stash Capar | 12 mins, 39 seconds
In a dystopian future where the world has devolved into a pre-industrial state, the Purists rule supreme. The Purists blame technology for all the world’s past ills, and have deemed it to be inherently sinful. A handful of Companions, human-like artificial intelligence, have managed to make it through the apocalypse. They survive the only way they can –by hiding in plain sight.
TEARS OF STEEL
Directed by Ian Hubert | 10 mins
When Thom broke up with his girlfriend Celia to follow his dreams and become an astronaut he didn’t realize it would lead her to use her robotics skill against all of humanity. Now he must try to heal her broken heart and save the world.
HUM
Directed by Tom Teller | 7 mins, 45 seconds
A solitary dish washing robot living out his life in the back room of a restaurant is enlightened to the world that exists beyond his four walls, with the help of a small friend he breaks free of confinement to pursue his dream of exploration.
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DUST is the first multi-platform destination to experience stunning visions of the future from filmmakers of
tomorrow. We feature the best sci-fi short films, series, and innovative content that cuts through the present to invite the future. With vivid special effects, complex characters, and captivating plots, prescient themes are explored and tantalizing questions asked. Whether it’s a utopia worth striving for, an apocalypse to avoid, or a truth about the ways technology is changing the human experience – we amplify the voices and visions that will shape the future through imagination.
Join curator Willy Hartland for this sun-filled sampler of animated films set at the beach.
Program
1. Michaela Müller “Miramare” 2010 8 mi
2. Dave Fleischer “Betty Boop’s Lifeguard” 1934 6 min
3. Malcolm Sutherland “Tourists” 2002 7 min
4. Willy Hartland’s “Wham Blam Thank You Clam!” 1982 2 min
5. Bill Plympton’s “Deep End” 2014 4 min
6. Bill Plympton’s “Summer Bummer” 2012 1:49 sec
7. Kirsten Lepore’s “Hi Stranger” 2016 2:43 min
8. Xeth Feinberg’s “Bulbo in Surf n Turf” 2004 1 min
9. Xeth Feinberg’s “Our pal Bulbo in Back to Nature” 2004 1 min
10. Anthony Gross & Hector Hoppin’s “LA JOIE DE VIVRE” 1934 9 min
11. Louis Netter “Paradise Beach” 2009 2:11 min
12. John Morena “Piss & Vinegar” 2017 30 sec
13. John Morena “Home: A Portrait of New York City” 2017 30 sec
14. Bruno Bozetto “Mister Rossi at the Seaside” 1964 10:35
15. Kirsten Lepore’s “Bottle” 2011 6 min
16. Pes “The Deep” 2010 1:34 sec
