Last Tuesday evening was our fourth screening in our 7th year of IndieWorks! After a recent decision to stick with Sanger Hall as our monthly home moving forward, we were excited to settle into the space and get back to a consistent flow for the night. Despite a slightly smaller crowd than anticipated (being up against IFP Week in Brooklyn wasn’t ideal for scheduling), the night went super smooth and was an overall success. The 25 attendees in house were very engaged and had great comments throughout the evening. The first half of the lineup featured a couple of moving dramas about family and dealing with loss. The second half featured a pair of zany comedies about modern struggles and the friends who offer tough love. The films were thoughtful and relatable. We'd like to say thank you to the filmmakers and the audience for coming out to spend the evening with us. We hope all enjoyed the films, as well as the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We hope some collaborative connections were made!

We also hope to see YOU at our October screening, which is our annual Halloween Special on the 29th! Come out (in costume, if you’d like) for a spooky and spectacular evening of horror shorts! We feel confident that we’ll get back to the fuller crowds that we’ve grown used to over the years in the coming months as our regulars learn about our charming new space and the potential patrons who live in the neighborhood discover our presence.

See photos from the evening:

The Films of the night:

Jane (Written & Directed by Joey Schweitzer)
Jane is determined to get her father ready for the day.

End of Summer (Written & Directed by Serena Kuo)
On the way to college, Dawn's life is flipped upside down when her father is struck by a heart attack in the middle of the desert.

Canceled (Written & Directed by Jimmy Caputo)
Two girls attempt to console their friend who is mourning the loss of her favorite TV series.

MissUnderstood Monster (Written & Directed by Lindsay Serrano)
Life is hard enough without your "monthly monster." A driven thirtysomething woman struggles to endure a visit from her Menstruation Demon while juggling a career, dating, an active social life, and her monster junk food cravings...

Watch our Q&A Recap. *Please know there are some film spoilers - feel free to look for an opportunity to catch the films at a festival or computer screen near you & then come back to watch!

http://www.congestedcat.com/blog/2019/7/2/indieworks-august-recap The Films of the night: ¡Hola Kitty! (Directed by Daniel Burity) The film addresses the challenging issues of Latino illegal immigrants in the US. The main subject is a Latino immigrant who works in New York City in a Hello Kitty costume; a popular Japanese fictional character. Reflections at 29 (Directed by Tanmaya Shekhar) Tanmaya looks back on his life on the eve of his 29th birthday. Neighborhood (Directed by Ben Garchar) The lives of three strangers—a pigeon keeper, a webcam model, and a man haunted by ghosts—intertwine mysteriously amidst the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying Bushwick. As One (Written & Produced by Tawny Sorensen, Directed by David Spaltro) Jill must put one foot in front of the other to move through her grief, and with connection she discovers that every mile has a story. Closet Supes (Written & Directed by Kesav Wable) Two East-Indian step-brothers, one straight and the other queer, host a podcast where they discuss queer innuendo in their favorite comics growing up. When a mysterious listener confronts one of them after an episode covering Hindu religious comics that were popular in 1980s India, the duo are taken on an unexpected journey.

The awards go to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for both Audience Choice Award & Silver Whiskers Award. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance, and the Silver Whiskers Award is judged by the CongestedCat Team based on a rating system of 8 categories: Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originality. The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen again at our end of year Best of Fest screening next April.

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and 50% off 4MileCircus' post-production audio cleaning service for a future project.

Teaser trailer for "End of Summer," a film by Serena Kuo Now in festivals

The September 2019 winning films were:
Audience Choice: MissUnderstood Monster
Silver Whiskers Award: End of Summer

Join us for our Halloween Special on October 29th!