The event is co-hosted by the Embassy of the United States of America and American Film Showcase. Independence American Film Festival (AIFF) brings the best and newest American independent films to Ukrainian viewers.
Photo: Independent Film Night Facebook page
The AIFF strives to introduce to the Ukrainian audience the American directed narrative and documentary feature films which were created with a truly independent spirit. Independent films are projects written and directed by filmmakers in a grass-roots fashion. They also encompass films produced by the independent label divisions of major Hollywood studios.
Photo: shutterstock.com
Most films selected for the AIFF may not have the opportunity to be distributed or screened in Ukraine otherwise. The organizers are proud to bring these films to Ukrainian viewers.
The list of the second Independence Film Night will traditionally consist of documentary movies shown in English with Ukrainian subtitles. All movies are award-winning films, participants of Sundance, Tribeca, and other prestigious film festivals.
Read: Lviv Outdoor Summer Cinema
The Last Patrol
USA/ 2014/ 78’
Whether fighting or documenting the realities on the ground as a journalist, how does the context of war transform a person’s identity? What happens to that identity when soldiers return home? Sebastian Junger, war journalist and author of The Perfect Storm, explores these questions on a soul-searching journey with three comrades-in-arms.
Truck Farm
USA/ 2011/ 48'
Truck Farm tells the story of a new generation of quirky urban farmers. Viewers are trucked across New York to see the city’s funkiest urban farms, and to find out if America’s largest city can learn to feed itself. Blending serious exposition with serious silliness, Truck Farm entreats viewers to ponder the future of urban farming, and to consider whether sustainability needs a dose of whimsy to be truly sustainable. Featuring Chef Dan Barber, nutritionist Marion Nestle, explorer Henry Hudson and a very lonely seagull. With musical narration by The Fishermen Three.
If You Build It
USA/ 2013/ 85'
If You Build It documents a year in an experimental high school classroom of the architectural program “Studio H.” The film tracks the program’s pioneers, Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller, as they build the innovative studio from the ground up. They work tirelessly to give the teens of a crumbling rural town a chance to build a better future for themselves and their community.
Overnighters
USA/ 2014/ 100’
In the tiny town of Williston, North Dakota tens of thousands of unemployed hopefuls show up with dreams of honest work and a big paycheck when hydraulic fracturing in that region unlocks a vast oil field in the nearby Bakken shale. Upon arrival, however, busloads of newcomers step into the sad reality of slim work prospects and nowhere to sleep - the town lacks the infrastructure to house even those who do find gainful employment. Over at Concordia Lutheran Church, Pastor Jay Reinke is Hell-bent on delivering the migrants some dignity. Night after night he converts his church into a makeshift dorm and counseling center, opening the church’s doors to allow the “Overnighters” – as he calls them — to stay. As broken men continue to arrive in droves, the congregants sling criticism, neighbors get suspicious, and the City Council threatens an ordinance to shut the Overnighter’s program down. When the Williston Herald gets wind that sex offenders are among Reinke’s church guests, and a mounting controversy peaks within the clergyman’s personal life, even the Pastor’s supernatural determination and heartfelt quest for humanity can’t stop things from spiraling enormously out of control.
Independence Film Night is introducing exciting, new and thought provoking work of independent American filmmakers to a Ukrainian audience. Check all the details on Independence Film Night Facebook Page.
Read: Rooftop Cinema at Lviv Film Center
It is worth adding outdoor movies to your list of budget-friendly interesting things to do in Kiev this summer. With aromatic mug of coffee and a warming blanket you are perfectly prepared for a great movie night.
Address: 16, Illinskaya street, Art Courtyard, Kiev.
