2020 Spring “Quarantine Quartet” Mini-Series
NARROWSBURG
Monday, May 4, 2020 @ 7PM
Guest Speaker recorded via Zoom: Martha Shane, Director, moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
In 1999, small town Narrowsburg, NY was poised to become the “Sundance of the East”—or so Jocelyne and Richard Castellano would have local residents believe. The organizers of the Narrowsburg Film Festival—a glamorous French film producer and her mafioso-turned-actor husband—promise to revitalize the town through film. As the duo secures local investment in a feature film production and convinces locals they can become stars, the stage is set for a stranger-than-fiction tale of Hollywood dreams, deceit and delusions.
Running Time: 84 minutes
SIDEMEN: LONG ROAD TO GLORY
Monday, May 11, 2020 @ 7PM
Guest Speakers recorded via Zoom: Scott Rosenbaum, Director and Scott Sharrard, lead guitarist for the Gregg Allman Band, moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB
SPECIAL EXTRA! Recorded concert with Scott Sharrard from our “sold out” screening of the film at the Long Island Museum.
SIDEMEN: LONG ROAD TO GLORY is an intimate look at the incredible lives and legacies of piano player Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and guitarist Hubert Sumlin, all Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf sidemen. The film captures some of the last interviews and their final live performances together before their deaths in 2011. The historic live shows are accompanied by performances and personal insights from many of the blues and rock stars these legendary sidemen inspired including; Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman, Derek Trucks, Shemekia Copeland, Robby Krieger, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Perry, Joe Bonamassa and Johnny Winter.
Running Time: 80 minutes
THE NEW NORMAL
Monday, May 18, 2020 @ 7PM Guest Speaker recorded via Zoom: Codi Barbini, Director, moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
One year after the horrific mass shooting on Feb 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 14 students and 3 administrators, students are still nav- igating this new reality. THE NEW NORMAL intimately follows five student survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Gabby, Nicole, Daniel, Brandon, and Kelsey, as they cope with finishing the school year and the year beyond. It is a testament to the resilience of youth and the trauma inflicted on too many students. Codi Barbini was the winner of the Emerging Artist Award at DOCUTAH 2019 Film Festival.
Running Time: 75 minutes
BORN INTO THE GIG
Monday, May 25, 2020 @ 7PM Guest Speakers recorded via Zoom: Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, Directors; Tamara Weiss, Producer and possibly some of “the kids”, moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
The subjects of Kate Davis and David Heilbroner’s new film were all born into music royalty. But when the offspring of James Taylor, Carly Simon, Bill Withers, Stephen Stills, and the Marleys set out to become singer-songwriters themselves, they walk a fine line between trying to live up to the success of their legendary parents and forging their own path. With candor, humor, and a lot of fantastic music, BORN INTO THE GIG demonstrates the challenges of pursuing the family business on a whole different scale.
Special Pre-season Event
SPECIAL ONLINE SERIES EVENT — MEMORABLE MUSIC AND A MOVING MOVIE!
Online Screening of the film ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND w/Mini Online Tribute Concert to The Band by Long Island Musician, Pete Mancini
Monday, April 20th @ 7:00PM
The Band got started as a group of musicians backing up Bob Dylan on tour, but grew into a legend in their own right, starting with the 1968 album Music from the Big Pink (recorded in Woodstock) and culminating in their 1976 farewell concert filmed by Martin Scorsese for The Last Waltz. Filmmaker Daniel Roher focuses on The Band’s founder Robbie Robertson and we hear other testimonies from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison and Scorsese (also the film’s executive producer) who decode the magic of The Band’s haunting songs such as “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Even for casual listeners, this film is eye-opening for its portrayal of the magical years when The Band shared a deep brotherhood and created music that left a lasting mark. Our guest speaker for the Q&A following the screening will be director, Daniel Roher and the Q&A will be moderated by Tom Needham, the host of The Sounds of Film on WUSB radio.
This special musical event is sponsored by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
Spring 2020 Season CANCELLED
BORN INTO THE GIG
Monday, April 20, 2020 @ 7PM
Comsewogue High School
565 Bicycle Path, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
Guest Speakers: Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, Directors; Tamara Weiss, Producer and Kori Withers, Subject in the Film
*Kori will also be singing a few tunes!
Moderator: Tom Needham, Host of THE SOUNDS OF FILM on Stony Brook University’s Own Radio Station, WUSB
Directed by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner
The subjects of Kate Davis and David Heilbroner’s new film were all born into music royalty. But when the offspring of James Taylor, Carly Simon, Bill Withers, Stephen Stills and the Marleys set out to become singer-songwriters themselves, they walk a fine line between trying to live up to the success of their legendary parents and forging their own path. With candor, humor and a lot of fantastic music, Born into the Gig demonstrates the challenges of pursuing the family business on a whole different scale.
Running Time: 81 minutes
BLESSED CHILD
Monday, April 27, 2020 @ 7PM
John F. Kennedy Middle School
200 Jayne Boulevard, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
Guest Speaker: Josh Alexander, Producer and Co-Writer
Directed by CARA JONES
More than a decade after leaving the Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church (the “Moonies”), through a trove of never before seen footage from within the church and extraordinary home videos of her family’s upbringing alongside Reverend Moon and his disciples, filmmaker Cara Jones attempts to finally break free from the religious cult which dominated her childhood. Blessed Child is one daughter’s attempt to unpack the legacy of the decisions her parents made while challenging assumptions – hers and ours – about cults and family. Where does that leave Cara’s relationship with her parents, who are still devoted members of the church? The documentary answers that question in a way that is testimony to how family ties can be complicated, but not broken, by religion.
Running Time: 74 minutes
HUMAN NATURE
Monday, May 4, 2020 @ 7PM
John F. Kennedy Middle School
200 Jayne Boulevard, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
Guest Speaker: Adam Bolt, Director
Moderator: Dr. Bruce Futcher, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SBU
Directed by Adam Bolt
HUMAN NATURE, a film directed by Adam Bolt, tells the story of CRISPER genome engineering with a gripping mix of science and heart and gives the audience a front row seat to a technological revolution that could reshape our planet and humanity itself. Considered the biggest tech revolution of the 21st century, this breakthrough has given us unprecedented control over DNA, the basic building blocks of life and opens the door to curing diseases, reshaping the biosphere and designing our own children.
This documentary is a provocative exploration of CRISPER’s far-reaching implications through the eyes of the scientists who discovered it, the families it’s affecting, and the bioengineers who are testing its limits. It explores the questions, how will this new gene-editing ability change our relationship with nature and what will it mean for human evolution? HUMAN NATURE, in beginning to answer such questions, presents a review of the distant past, and takes an educated look into perhaps, the not-too-distant future. HUMAN NATURE is the recipient of AFO ( Academia Film Olomouc) Audience Award, 2019, Czech Republic.
Running Time: 95 minutes
DESERT ONE
Monday, May 11, 2020 @ 7PM
John F. Kennedy Middle School
200 Jayne Boulevard, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
Guest Speakers: Barbara Kopple, Director;
Eric Forman and David Cassidy, Producers
Directed by Barbara Kopple
September 11, 2001 is considered to be the day that changed our world — but really, the day that changed our world was April 24,1980. That was when the United States, under the leadership of President Jimmy Carter, launched Operation Eagle Claw, the Delta Force mission (it was the very first Delta Force mission) that was designed to bring an immediate end to the Iran-hostage crisis by rescuing all 52 of the hostages who were being held at the U.S. Embassy and Foreign Ministry buildings in Tehran. Operation Eagle Claw ended in disaster and DESERT ONE vividly sets out the riveting story of that famously messed-up mission by interviewing a number of the participants: commanders, soldiers, American hostages, former President Carter. Two-time Academy Award-winning Director Barbara Kopple immerses you in the actual events using spectacular animated footage. You emerge from DESERT ONE understanding a vital chapter of our history with Iran.
Running Time: 107 minutes
OUR TIME MACHINE
Monday, May 18, 2020 @ 7PM
Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York 11777
Guest Speaker: S. Leo Chiang, Director (via skype)
Directed by S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun
Chinese artist Maleonn creates elaborate photo tableaus that blend the real and the surreal in ways that echo his own memories. He follows in the artistic footsteps of his parents: his mother was an actress and his father, Ma Ke, was a long time director of the Peking Opera Theater. Maleonn is excited to collaborate with his father on his new project, a theater production of an intricately-designed father and son machine puppet. His father, however, is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and slowly forgetting his past.
Through the lens of a father-son relationship, OUR TIME MACHINE is the story of what it means to be an artist in China in the 20th century and today. From the condemnations of the Cultural Revolution to contemporary financial and social challenges of putting on a complex and wholly original hybrid art performance, directors S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun probe the artistic impulse across generations. Using evocative imagery and with haunting, yet universal, moments, OUR TIME MACHINE is about the consolation and mystery of art against the ravages of time. OUR TIME MACHINE has won numerous awards, including the Best Cinematography in a Documentary Award at the 2019 Thribeca Film Festival and the Grand Prix Documentary Award at the 2019 Minsk International Film Festival.
Running Time: 80 minutes
THE NEW NORMAL
Monday, June 1, 2020 @ 7PM
Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York 11777
Guest Speaker: Codi Barbini, Director
Directed by Codi Barbini
One year after the horrific mass shooting on Feb 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 14 students and 3 administrators, students are still nav- igating this new reality. THE NEW NORMAL intimately follows five student survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Gabby, Nicole, Daniel, Brandon, and Kelsey, as they cope with finishing the school year and the year beyond. It is a testament to the resilience of youth and the trauma inflicted on too many students. Codi Barbini was the winner of the Emerging Artist Award at DOCUTAH 2019 Film Festival.
Running Time: 75 minutes
OLIVER SACKS: HIS OWN LIFE
Monday, June 8, 2020 @ 7PM
Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York 11777
Guest Speaker: Ric Burns, Director
Directed by Ric Burns
For decades, Oliver Sacks, M.D. captured the imagination of the public with his eloquently written case studies of cognitive disorders. Despite sharing with the world one revelation after another about the intricacies, idiosyncrasies, and amazements of the human mind, Sacks remained private for much of his life, specifically about his struggles growing up gay in the repressive England of the 1950s. In Ric Burns’s fascinating and intimate documentary, partly shot before Sacks’s death in 2015 and featuring extensive scenes with the man himself, we get to know Sacks, from his childhood years with a schizophrenic older brother, to his years as a champion bodybuilder and motorcycle aficionado, and to his remarkable accomplishments as one of our foremost neurologists. His groundbreaking work on patients with the sleeping sickness encephalitis lethargica became the basis for his book Awakenings, and the memorable, award-winning film, AWAKENINGS starring Robin Williams. Burns’s documentary is a fitting and moving tribute to a man who never stopped wondering what it was like to be in the head of another sentient being. OLIVER SACKS: HIS OWN LIFE was the recipient of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2019 Hamptons International Film Festival.
Running Time: 110 minutes
