It really does seem like the team at Rooftop Films can do no wrong. And maybe they can’t. Along with offering a meticulously curated program of high-caliber indie films in some of New York City’s most spectacular settings, they are committed to helping the community of starving independent filmmakers. Their latest announcement - of an Equipment Grant to filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung (director of the acclaimed Munyurangabo, which is set to screen at Rooftop this Saturday — see more details here ) proves their continuing comittment to not only showcasing a new generation of talent, but actively aiding them.
photo by Sarah Palmer
PalmerChung will receive a fully-loaded lighting and grip truck for 30 days for his feature narrative Lucky Life. And of course, he is no stranger to Rooftop filmgoers, having screened his short film Sex and Coffee at Rooftop in 2006.

Munyurangabo, screened festivals including Berlin, Toronto, and Cannes, where Variety praised the film as “flat-out, the discovery of this year’s Un Certain Regard [section].” So run to the American Can Factory this Saturday and see it surrounded by stars (and half-built luxury condos). And here’s some details from the official press release:

In 2008, Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects, a film equipment rental house in Brooklyn, inaugurated an Equipment Grant, lending one Rooftop alumni filmmaker a two-ton lighting and grip package for 30 days, to be used on a feature-length film. Dozens of excellent filmmakers submitted their treatments and screenplays in the hopes of receiving the package, valued at approximately at $15,000.

Grant recipient Chung will use the grant for a drama entitled Lucky Life, about four friends on a poignant road trip. Mark and Karen are preparing for the birth of their first child, while Jason is coping with his recent diagnosis with terminal cancer. A meditation on life, death and spirituality, Chung says the film, which will begin production in September, was inspired by his trips to Spanish cathedrals, and the revelation of “cinema as a medium for creating spiritual space.” The title comes from a book of poetry by Gerald Stern: “Lucky life isn’t one long string of horrors / and there are moments of peace, and pleasure, as I lie in between the blows.”

Lucky Life will be Chung’s second feature film, following on the tremendous success of his debut Munyurangabo, which screened festivals including Berlin, Toronto, and Cannes, where Variety praised the film as “flat-out, the discovery of this year’s Un Certain Regard [section].”

Munyrangabo will screen at Rooftop Films on Saturday, August 23, at the Old American Can Factory, in Gowanus (near Park Slope), Brooklyn.