When it comes to creating feature-length, documentary, and short films that are informative and use unique concepts — including cell phone filmmaking — the New York-based film company Owltainment has an excellent international reputation. Having recently been invited to show their film Enduring Legacy – China Story at the Chinese Cultural Foundation’s Annual Award Ceremony in New York this past December, the company has its films showing in a cavalcade of 2017 film festivals in the coming months.
Owltainment was founded by Yuanyuan Chen and Mingda Dong, two New York University students who decided to use their creative talents to bridge the gap between the United States and Chinese film industries. With a versatile approach, helping to introduce American film scholars to China and hosting lectures and seminars for Chinese students and filmmakers, the company has been taking a head-on approach to film education. As film festival organizers themselves, they also continually host, support, and implement activities — like the Honor Festival — for festivals both in the U.S. and China.
For more on the award-winning Owltainment, please visit www.owltainment.com.
Gogobot is an innovative planning tool that tailors recommendations for places to stay, eat and play to your specific tastes. It also allows you to share your great experiences with people who have the same interests as you; people in your “tribes.”
Gogobot’s GoGo This Week feature empowers you to discover and take advantage of great events, openings and exhibits throughout the city each week. Visit the website or download the app for more GoGo This Week upcoming events.
Here are some exciting events and sites to check out in downtown New York this week, courtesy of Gogobot.
Photo: Courtesy of Big Apple Film Festival
1. Big Apple Film Festival Village East Cinemas (East Village)
Tuesday, Nov. 1 – Saturday, Nov. 5
The Big Apple Film Festival showcases films from New York City’s lively independent film community. An intimate affair, BAFF celebrates NYC films and filmmakers, holds panel discussions and presents awards. Tickets start at $20.
2. Mah-Ze-Dahr Opens Shop Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery (West Village)
Monday-Friday 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM; Saturday-Sunday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery has opened its first brick-and-mortar location! The sweets from this little baked goods haven have garnered a serious cult (and celeb) following. We’d recommend their cheesecake — made with ricotta, it’s one of the city’s best. You should also grab a brownie or the brioche donut, as well as some of the bakery’s new savory treats.
Explore your dark and light sides under the cloak of night (and a rubber mask) at the Village Halloween Parade! As one would expect from New Yorkers, count on seeing crazy, one-of-a-kind costumes, floats and puppets that make personal as well as political statements. This year’s theme is reverie and we can’t wait to see what New Yorkers have dreamt up. FREE, with an official after party at Webster Hall where tickets start at $50.
4. Halloween Rat Race La Plaza Cultural Community Garden (Alphabet City)
Monday, Oct. 31 at 5:30 PM
The Haunted Adventure Garden and Rat Race Maze is a fun outdoor event that teaches kids and adults about the importance of community and how to avoid real life rat races, all while having a bit of a scare. FREE.
Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
5. New York Taste The Waterfront (Chelsea)
Tuesday, Nov. 1 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM
A carefully curated event by the food editors at New York Magazine, Taste brings together chefs and mixologists from over 40 top New York restaurants and bars for a night of decadent menus and innovative drinks. In attendance are celebrated chefs and mixologists from Bar Goto, Oiji, Marta, Maialino, Quality Eats and many more. Tickets start at $108.88.
Photo: Courtesy of the New York Comedy Festival
6. Comedy Fest Check website for complete list of venues
Tuesday, Nov. 1 – Sunday, Nov. 6
With over 60 shows at venues across the boroughs, New York Comedy Fest will feature stand-up, improv, sketch variety shows and raucous performances from mega comics like Bridget Everett, Tracy Morgan, Trevor Noah, Bill Maher and many more. Our can’t-miss events include Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, Trump Dump: The Last Rally with Anthony Atamanuik, and Bob The Drag Queen: Current F***ing Reigning. FREE and paid events.
For a night of 70s style and upscale glam, check out the new Clubstaurant VNYL. Multi-level, 7,000-square-foot VNYL is a vinyl shop, cocktail lounge, restaurant and dance space. It boasts fabulous retro furniture, killer signature cocktails, wood paneling throughout and plenty of disco balls — where are our platforms?
If you know of great events happening in your neck of the woods that might be a fit for a future GoGo This Week column, please send details about the event to events@gogobot.com.
· It Wasn’t Only Sandy Koufax explores the history of Jews in American sports and how being Jewish affected careers.
· Ink Bleeds History: The Art of Jewish Comics with leading graphic storytellers discussing how they subvert centuries of anti-Semitic depictions.
· The film Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, marking the 80th anniversary of the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic, tells the story of 18 African Americans who boarded a ship to Germany to represent the U.S., defying Jim Crow laws and Adolf Hitler.
Jewel’s Catch One tells the story of Jewel Thais-Williams and her popular Jewel’s Catch One nightclub, often called “the Studio 54 of the West.” It was a hub for cutting-edge fashion & music for over 42 years in Los Angeles before it closed last year. While Jewel opened her doors to everyone –- all races and sexual orientations –- the club became a target of racism & homophobia, especially during the AIDS crisis. She even turned her parking lot into a soup kitchen during that time, to make sure people could get care, when so many were being ostracized.
Jewel became a civil rights leader, and then ultimately a healer, who has now saved countless lives through her Village Healthcare Foundation. The documentary has been a labor of love for the last six years for filmmaker C. Fitz, who met Jewel after volunteering to direct a three-minute short for her charity and realizing there was a much greater story to tell.
The film is narrated by CCH Pounder and features exclusive interviews with Sharon Stone, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Thelma Houston, Sandra Bernhard, Bonnie Pointer, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Thea Austin, and Jenifer Lewis. It also features footage from Madonna’s 2000 album release party there; she is also rumored to have learned to “Vogue” at the club! It, also, features some of the best songs from the disco age.
Presented by Lava Girl Surf and LUNA Bar, the 4th Annual NYC Women’s Surf Film Festival (NYCWSFF) returns to town on Aug. 12. Following an opening reception at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club at 6:00 PM, film screenings begin at 9:00 PM.
“The level of excitement surrounding this year’s Women’s Surf Film Festival is greater than ever. We have such great filmmakers, artists and surfers coming from around the world to celebrate, inspire and connect with the women’s surf community. The films are curated from around the world and the surfer’s featured represent such a beautifully diverse mix of cultures, styles and influences.”
Davina Grincevicius
In addition to the opening reception and film screenings on Aug. 12, Davina is especially excited about a photographic exhibition taking place on that Friday:
“This year, the film festival is enhanced by a fantastic photography exhibition by Australian surf photographer Fran Miller. Fran is a regular contributor for WSL, The Inertia and Sunshine Surf Girls…and not least, a surfer. We are thrilled to combine her art exhibition with the film festival and introduce her work to the New York City surf scene.”
The NYC Women’s Surf Film Festival 2016 continues on Saturday, Aug. 13 with more screenings. More info can be found at www.nycwomenssurffilm.com.
Beyond the films showing at Long Beach Cinema 4 — I personally recommend Jesse Shapiro’s Nobody Walks In LA, which is receiving its East Coast premiere — there is lots going on for fans of live music and fine cuisine.
For those keeping the party going after they have enjoyed Taste On The Beach, there are short films showing on the beachfront by the Allegria Hotel from 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM. Immediately after 10:30 PM, there are the Filmmaker Awards on the Allegria Hotel’s Rooftop. The Closing Night After-Party begins at 11:00 PM on that same rooftop.
More details on the Long Beach International Film Festival can be found at www.longbeachfilm.com.
