The 27th Black Maria Film Festival kicks off tonight in Jersey City and will include Bodega among its lineup of adventurous short films.
You can check it out tonight, some IC’s will be in attendance. Tomorrow the festival is in Newark then back to Jersey City on Sunday. This festival travels around to other points in Jersey and even makes it out to Pennsylvania and points as far as Georgia and Ohio. Check the film festival’s touring dates.
If it’s coming to your vicinity, please come out for some fun. Bodega is even more suave and delicioso on the big screen.
If you already know Bodega but want the rush of seeing it (a shortened version) on TV then tune into CNN’s Headline News network for their “News To Me” show which runs today at 12:30pm and 5:30pm eastern. A shortened version of Bodega closes out the show. Thanks to CNN who were kind enough to clear the usage of our video!
This past Friday, Internets Celebrities were in full effect at the Rooftop Films screening of Bodega in their New York Non-Fiction night. The response was huge - lots of applause and the biggest laughs we heard all night (okay there weren’t that many comedies in the lineup but we’ll take it). It was gratifying and even thrilling to sit among a crowd of 500 people enjoying our work.
The opening act was young emcee from Yonkers named Loer Velocity. Coincidentally Loer did a song with his very low-key hypeman Donnan Linkz called “The Hood Diet”. The subject matter was perfect with Bodega coming up.
There were a lot of good films that night. Highlights included: The Guarantee by Jesse Epstein, Bongo Barbershop by Charlie Ahearn, A Son’s Sacrifice by Yoni Brook and Toxic Brooklyn by vbs.tv
Afterwards we had a chance to speak to Wild Style director Ahearn who approached us shouting “Bo-De-Ga!”, announcing himself as a fan.
Cue Zoro’s brother “Is this being an Internets Celebrity what you’re gonna do with your life? Stop fucking around and be a man already. There ain’t nothing out here for you.”
Oh yes there is.
By the way you can catch Ahearn and Wild Style for free this coming Friday June 22 as part of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. And the big concert is Saturday June 23. The IC’s will be representing at both events.
The event starts at 8pm
350 Grand Street @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
F/J/M/Z to Essex / Delancey
In the event of rain the show is indoors at the same location.
Tickets - $8 at the door or $5 online HERE with code: RFJUNE Presented in partnership with - IFC.com, New York magazine & Open Road New York.
Bodega is a playful homage to the kind of corner store that we all grew up next to when we were kids in the city. As you grow older you come to realize that there are choices being made for you on a nutritional level due to your lack of options.
For some people the bodega represents the sole option of fresh foods in some communities. In the tragically impoverished Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point there are fenced off warehouses and wholesalers that distribute fresh food and fish to the entire city. Meanwhile the residents of Hunts Point are relegated to shopping at bodegas.
For thirty years New York City has started, stumbled, staggered and swaggered its way into the paradigm American metropolis. The Bronx? Not so much. New York City has less respect for the entire Bronx County than it does for Jersey City. Still the Bronx remains. Still the Bronx stands. Still ready 24-7. Just like the bodegas.
