Rooftop Films full feature film slate for 2013 was released today and it includes more than 45 new independent films, including two special sneak preview screenings co-presented with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Rooftop Films and the Academy will present a free screening of “Twenty Feet from Stardom,” which premiered at Sundance. The film, which opens June 14th, shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. Rooftop and the Academy will also partner to present “Short Term 12”, the feature film debut of Destin Cretton. Cretton was a 2010 Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship winner, and “Short Term 12” went on to win the 2013 SXSW Grand Jury Award in March.

The 2013 Rooftop Films Summer Series begins on May 10th and continues through the summer, with screenings each weekend in a variety of outdoor locations in New York City.

Rooftop Films 2013 Summer Series Feature Films Line-up

12 O’Clock Boys (Dir. Lotfy Nathan) NY Premiere 

Pug, a young boy growing up on a combative West Baltimore block, finds solace in a group of illegal dirt bike riders known as The 12 O’Clock Boys. Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (Dir. David Lowery) 

“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” tells the tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Courtesy of IFC Films.

Awful Nice (Dir. Todd Sklar) NY Premiere

Estranged brothers Jim and Dave must travel to Branson together when their father dies and leaves them the family lake home. A series of hilarious mishaps and costly misadventures follow as they attempt to restore the house and rebuild their relationship.

Belleville Baby (Dir. Mia Engberg) NY Premiere

A long distance call from a long lost lover makes her reminisce about their common past. She remembers the spring when they met in Paris, the riots, the vespa and the cat named Baby. A film about love, time and things that got lost along the way.

Bending Steel (Dir. David Carroll, produced by Ryan Scafuro) 

A remarkable and intimate documentary exploring the lost art of the old time strongman, and one man’s struggle to overcome limitations of body and mind.

Brasslands (Dir. Meerkat Media Collective) NY Premiere

Devoted American musicians, Serbian brass heavyweights, and a Gypsy trumpet master collide at the world’s largest trumpet festival.

Brothers Hypnotic (Dir. Reuben Atlas) NY Premiere

Brotherhood, whether biological or ideological, is never easy. “Brothers Hypnotic” is a coming-of-age story—for eight young men, and for an ideal.

The Central Park Five (Dir. Sarah Burns, Ken Burns, Dave McMahon)

Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, “The Central Park Five” tells the story of how five lives were upended by the rush to judgment by police, a sensationalist media and a devastating miscarriage of justice. Courtesy of Florentine Films.

Crystal Fairy (Dir. Sebastián Silva) Special Sneak Preview

A hilariously unpredictable comedy about a self-involved young American searching for a secret hallucinogenic cactus in the desert of Chile. Courtesy of IFC Films.

Cutie and the Boxer (Dir. Zachary Heinzerling) 

This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of renowned “boxing” painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role of assistant to her overbearing husband, Noriko seeks an identity of her own. Courtesy of RADiUS-TWC.

The Dirties (Dir. Matt Johnson) NY Premiere 

Matt and Owen are best friends, who are constantly bullied by a group they call The Dirties. When an assignment goes awry, the friends hatch a plan to enact revenge on their high school tormentors.

Domestic (Dir. Adrian Sitaru) NY Premiere 

Wonderfully surreal, painfully real, this is the story of children, adults and animals who live together trying to have a better life, but sometimes death comes unexpectedly. In the bittersweet comedy “Domestic” it is all about us, people who eat the animals that they love and the animals that love people unconditionally.

Drinking Buddies (Dir. Joe Swanberg) NY Premiere 

Luke and Kate are co-workers at a Chicago brewery where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They’re perfect for each other, except that they’re both in relationships. But you know what makes the line between “friends” and “more than friends” really blurry? Beer.
Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Elena (Dir. Petra Costa) NY Premiere

Intimate in style, “Elena” delves into the abyss of one family’s drama, revealing at once the inspiration that can be born from tragedy.

The Expedition to the End of the World (Dir. Daniel Dencik) NY Premiere

A real adventure film – for the 21st century. On a three-mast schooner packed with artists, scientists and ambitions worthy of Noah or Columbus, they set off for the end of the world: the rapidly melting massifs of North-East Greenland. 

Frances Ha (Dir. Noah Baumbach) 

Frances wants so much more than she has, but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. “Frances Ha” is a modern comic fable in which Noah Baumbach explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure, and redemption.  Courtesy of IFC Films.

F— for Forest (Dir. Michal Marczak) NY Premiere 

Berlin’s “F—“ for Forest is one of the world’s most bizarre charities: based on the idea that sex can change the world, the NGO raises money for their environmental cause by selling home-made erotic films on the Internet.

The Genius of Marian (Dir. Banker White, Anna Fitch)

An intimate family portrait that explores the tragedy of Alzheimer’s disease, the power of art and the meaning of family. “The Genius of Marian” follows Pam White in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease as her son, the filmmaker, documents her struggle to hang on to a sense of self.

i hate myself 🙂 (Dir. Joanna Arnow) NY Premiere

Nebbishy filmmaker Joanna Arnow documents her yearlong relationship with racially charged poet-provocateur James Kepple. What starts out as an uncomfortably intimate portrait of a dysfunctional relationship and protracted mid-twenties adolescence, quickly turns into a complex commentary on societal repression, sexuality and self-confrontation through art.

The Kings of Summer (Dir. Jordan Vogt-Roberts) New York Special Screening

“The Kings of Summer” is a unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenage friends – Joe, Patrick and the eccentric and unpredictable Biaggio – who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.  Courtesy of CBS.

Newlyweeds (Dir. Shaka King)

Brooklyn residents Lyle and Nina blaze away the stress of living in New York City, but what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry. Courtesy of Phase 4 Films.

North of South, West of East (Dir. Meredith Danluck) NY Premiere

North of South, West of East takes a scrupulous look at the American Dream through Hollywood tropes and conventional cinema. Working with a narrative structure this four-part 85 minute film takes the chronic existential crisis that is the American identity and turns it inside out, laying the typical components of comedy, thrill, violence, love and death (the ultimate reinvention) neatly side by side.

Our Nixon (Dir. Penny Lane) 

Throughout Richard Nixon’s presidency, three of his top White House aides obsessively documented their experiences with Super 8 home movie cameras. Young, idealistic and dedicated, they had no idea that a few years later they’d all be in prison. “Our Nixon” is an all-archival documentary presenting those home movies for the first time, along with other rare footage, creating an intimate and complex portrait of the Nixon presidency as never seen before. 

Short Term 12 (Dir. Destin Daniel Cretton) Special FREE Sneak Preview

“Short Term 12” follows Grace (Brie Larson), a young supervisor at a foster-care facility, as she looks after the teens in her charge and reckons with her own troubled past.

Tiger Tail in Blue (Dir. Frank V. Ross) 

“Tiger Tail in Blue” is about a young married couple, Christopher & Melody, that work opposite schedules to remain financially afloat as Chris bangs out his first novel while working nights as a waiter. Never seeing each other is taking its toll, as the two rarely get a chance to engage one another. Chris finds the attention he craves in the past and Brandy, a saucy co-worker.

Towheads (Dir. Shannon Plumb)

A harried New York mother struggling as an artist searches for a happy (if slightly unhinged) hybrid of the two. In her debut feature, Shannon Plumb’s charming Chaplin-like characters light up the screen with visual playfulness.

Twenty Feet From Stardom (Dir. Morgan Neville) Special FREE Sneak Preview

Meet the unsung heroes behind the greatest music of our time. Courtesy of RADiUS-TWC.

WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL (Dir. Ben Nabors)

William Kamkwamba, a young Malawian, builds a power-generating windmill from junk parts to rescue his family from famine, transforming his life and catapulting him on to the world stage. His fame and success lead him to new opportunities and complex choices about his future, distancing him from the life he once knew.