Celebrating the 15th anniversary of its founding, the
Rochester High Falls Film Festival returns this week and continues its mission
of spotlighting the achievements of women in all aspects of filmmaking, both in
front of and behind the camera. Beginning on Thursday, November 10, the
festival will screen 15 narrative and documentary features as well as five
programs of shorts (including one dedicated to shorts shot on film, and another
highlighting work by female students from RIT’s School of Film and Animation).
All
screenings will be held at The Little Theatre (240 East Avenue). Tickets to the
opening night and spotlight films cost $12, while general admission tickets are
$10, and $8 for students and seniors. There’s also an all-access festival pass
available for $125 and a film-only pass for $90.
For a
complete schedule, visit the festival’s website at highfallsfilmfestival.com, where
you can also find a full list of all the screenings, parties, workshops, and roundtable
and panel discussions.
CITY took a
look at just a few of the highlights from this year’s lineup.
Are there
certain subjects that are never appropriate to joke about, or should nothing be
off limits when it comes to comedy? The entertaining, provocative documentary “The Last Laugh” examines this thorny topic by asking
audiences: “Can the Holocaust be funny?”
An
impressive roster of Jewish comedians — Mel Brooks, Carl and Rob Reiner, Sarah
Silverman, and Gilbert Gottfried among them — cultural experts, and several
Holocaust survivors themselves weigh in on the debate. The film digs into the
legacy of mining taboo subjects for humor — and what purpose such practices
might serve — as we consider where we draw the line between funny and
offensive. A Q&A session with director Ferne
Pearlstein will follow the feature. (Thursday,
November 10, 6 p.m., Little 1)
Tony-winning
actress Alice Ripley (“Next to Normal”) stars in “Sugar!,” a lively drama about Leslie, a middle-aged piano teacher who decides to re-form
the all-women rock band she once performed in with her closest friends. The
decision puts her at odds with her Congressional nominee husband — who says her
new hobby will be disastrous to his campaign — and her teenage daughter, who
says that it’s ruining her life. The script never makes it clear exactly why
singing non-threatening rock in dive bars is such a catastrophe, but I guess
otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a plot. Ripley and director Shari Berman
will take part in a Q&A after the film. (Friday,
November 11, 7:30 p.m., Little 1)
The stirring
“Left on Pearl” documents how a march
to honor International Women’s Day in Boston during the early 1970’s shifted
course in more ways than one when a group of women ignored the planned route
and turned left down Pearl Street. The detour was part of a predetermined plan
on the part of a faction of marchers to occupy 888 Memorial Drive, a
Harvard-owned former knitting factory they intended to take over as a women’s
center.
What ensued
was a 10-day standoff with local authorities as the women refused to back down.
The film offers a fascinating demonstration of intersectionality in action, as
the women’s cause meets up with the gay rights movement, as well as the push
for the university to build low-income housing to make up for the homes it had
demolished in the name of expansion. Ultimately, it offers a timely examination
into the power of protest to achieve some much-needed social change. Directed
by Susie Rivo. (Saturday,
November 12, 5:15 p.m., Little 1)
Filmmaker
Erica Fae writes, directs, and stars in “To Keep
the Light.” The film is about a lighthouse keeper’s wife
struggling to keep appearances up as she tends to her ill husband and perform
her duties in 19th century Maine. But when a stranger washes up on shore
claiming to be the survivor of a shipwreck, she finds herself faced with some
difficult choices. In telling her starkly beautiful tale, Fae suggests that the
obstacles faced by women back in 1870 aren’t too far removed from the
challenges they still endure today. (Sunday,
November 13, 1 p.m., Little 1)
In a lovely
Quaker wedding tradition, guests are asked to sign the marriage certificate,
offering their blessing on the newlywed’s nuptials. But the sweet and silly
romantic comedy “Quaker Oaths” considers what happens to that same couple if they choose to seek a divorce. To
end their marriage bond, exes Joe and Emily find themselves forced to head out
on the road, visiting each and every one of their wedding guests to request
that they cross off their signature and thus give their blessing to the
couple’s amicable split. Wacky hijinks — and some unexpected connections — ensue.
(Sunday, November 13, 4:15 p.m., Little 5)
Check back
on Friday for additional film coverage, including a review of “Certain Women,” directed by Kelly Reichardt.
This article appears in Nov 9-15, 2016.
