JUNE 1-10: The Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF), the first international competitive film festival in New York, is proud to announce the 2007 film line up. The competitive, 10-day event will be held in multiple Brooklyn communities. Highlights of the films to be shown are:

MADE IN BROOKLYN / World Premiere
[Dir: Alosio, Angela, Mazzola, Tabb, Palanca, United States, 88 min, 2007, Feature]
The picture captures the essence of Brooklyn, its people, hangouts, smells, life, irony and the comedy of a bunch of wise guys. Made In Brooklyn was shot on location in NYC, Brooklyn and upstate NY. Sopranos Star Sharon Angela (Rosalie Aprile) makes her directorial debut; Other Sopranos cast members include Richard Portnow, Vince Curatola, Michael Rispoli, John Enos and Danny Grimaldi, who join the rest of the cast: Peter Dobson, Joe Tabbanella, John Enos, Costas Mandylor, and Katherine Narducci.
FORFEIT / East Coast Premiere
[Dir: Andrew Brendan Shea, United States, 84 min, 2006, Feature]
FORFEIT explores the human traits of greed, obsession, and revenge. This clever and engaging heist flick tells the story of a man hell-bent on exacting vengeance on the people who have wronged him. Frank O’Neal (played by Billy Burke) appears to be readjusting to life back in his old neighborhood, including reconciliation with his ex-girlfriend. We quickly learn however, that his motives are not entirely what they seem. Andrew Shea’s taut thriller features an impressive cast, including Sherry Stringfield (ER), Gregory Itzin (24) and Wayne Knight (Seinfeld).
ARRANGED / NY Premiere
[Dir: Stefan Schaefer & Diane Crespo, United States, 89 min, 2007, Feature]
Two young women – one an Orthodox Jew, the other Muslim – meet and become friends as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common, not least of which is that they are both going through arranged marriages.
NICKY’S BIRTHDAY CAMERA / East Coast Premiere
[Dir: Andrew J. Traister, United States, 93 min, 2006, Feature]
This remarkably original little film takes you from a world you think you know so well, into one you hope you never come close to. What if YOUR best home video, became your worst nightmare? 12-year-old Nicky Hanson got a video camera for his birthday, and proceeded to make a little home movie about his family, friends, and his seemingly idyllic life on Little Secret Lake. Where this movie goes and what it uncovers is truly amazing and stunning. This film stars Airplane’s Robert Hays.
HOUNDED / US Premiere
[Dir: Angelina Maccarone, Germany, 87 min, 2006, Feature]
In an obsessive sexual encounter with a sixteen-year-old boy Elsa is exposed to the relentless revelation of her own desires. Elsa Seifert is a successful probation officer, completely immersed in her work. She lives with Raimar, the father of their daughter Daniela. Triggered by the fact of her daughter leaving the parental home, cracks start to appear in Elsa’s daily routine. Compromises, which, for decades, had stood the test of time, no longer seem to occur to her, she is no longer prepared to toe the line.

BODY/ANTIBODY / World Premiere
[Dir: Kerry Douglas Dye & Jordan Hoffman, United States, 98 min, 2007, Feature]
Kip Polyard (Robert Gomes) suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and hasn’t left his Manhattan apartment in 10 months. When the beautiful Celine (Leslie Kendall) moves in next door, Kip is compelled to finally open his door  to romance. But when Celine’s ex-boyfriend Andy (Frank Deal) shows up, Kip realizes he’s let in more than he bargained for.
WAKE UP WORLD
[Dir: Carlo Nero, England, 31 min, 2006, Documentary]
Includes exclusive interviews with Kofi Annan (Secretary-General of the United Nations); Ann Veneman (UNICEF Executive Director); UNICEF Ambassadors Ralph Fiennes, Angelique Kidjo, Liam Neeson and Vanessa Redgrave; Stephen Lewis, The UN Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa; and Sir Richard Jolly, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Wake Up World highlights what UNICEF can and must do to meet the desperate needs of children and teenagers all over the world. The film was produced by Vanessa Redgrave who, together with Director Carlo Nero will be available for Q&A after the screening.
SUSAN FOR NOW / East Coast Premiere
[Dir: Robin Franzi, United States, 54 min, 2007, Documentary]
The narrator of this first person documentary is in her forties, a finance professional with a Masters Degree who had been celibate for ten years while raising her only child and working. The husband and child now gone in separate directions; she replaces the empty nest syndrome by reclaiming her sexual freedom. This film seeks to dispel the myth that all forms of BDSM (Bondage, Domination, and Sado-Masochism) and fetishes are inherently deviant.
CHILDREN OF THE WAR / NY Premiere
[Dir: Alexandre Fuchs, England, 81 min, 2006, Documentary]
"Hijos de la Guerra" tells the story of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), an international Hispanic street gang founded by Salvadoran civil war refugees which the U.S government singles out as the fastest-growing and most violent gang in the country. The film explores the root personal reasons for gang membership, the ensuing explosion of fratricidal violence.

VENUES & SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
June 1 / Steiner Studios: 7:30pm (party follows opening night screening)
June 2-10 / Cobble Hill Cinema: 1, 2, 3:30, 4:30, 6, 7, 8:30, 9:30pm
June 5 & 6 / Brooklyn Heights Cinema: 8pm
June 7 & 8 / Galapagos Art Space: 7:30pm (parties follow)
June 3 & 9 / kidsfilmfest at Brooklyn Children’s Museum: 1, 3pm

For more information and screening locations, visit www.brooklynfest.org or contact Lisa King at lisa@wbff.org and Serena Maerna at serena@wbff.org.

A reader had some good advice for Luke, a victim of the Pizza Plus fire:

He might want to check with The Actors' Fund - they help all people  
in the entertainment industry.  He should call them during business  
hours at 212-221-7300 and ask to speak to some "in intake."

louise_crawford@yahoo.com

Everyone wants a list of the bloggers at Blogfest. I haven’t gotten around to that yet. Still recovering from a crazy week.

All I can say is this: If you were at Blogfest, please email me so that I have your email. There were many more people than those who signed the guest book with Listen Missy.

Dope on the Slope wants to set up a monthly “social” — so he needs emails for invites.

HERE’S WHAT WE DID ON MOTHER’S DAY 2005. Diaper Diva was Mamainwaiting then. My, how things have changed.

What did the women of Park Slope do on Mother’s Day 2005?

I caught my downstairs’ neighbor hiding out on a bench outside the
Mojo reading "New York Magazine," while her husband prepared a Mother’s
Day feast. She looked blissed out and serene. "I’m afraid to go
home," she said. "Afraid there will be something I’ll have to do."

A mother I know dug joyfully into the dirt of her Third Street stoop
garden planting geraniums and flats of other annuals. There was dirt
beneath her fingernails and a  look of utter contentment on her face.

Wherever
I went, women wished one another, "Happy Mother’s Day," looking pleased
that some attempt was being made to indulge them, to give them a break
from the usual routine.

We had a late mother’s day  brunch at
the Stone Park Cafe, where more than one table had a young baby
strapped onto a dad while a mom ate her brunch undisturbed — happy to
be allowed to finish her food without stopping to appease baby.

There were many multi-generational parties: toddlers, mothers,
grandmothers, even great grandmothers smushed together at tables in
that crowded restaurant that recently earned two stars from the New
York Times.

The staff looked exhausted, eager for the day, considered by many to
be one of the busiest restaurant days of the year, to be done. The
restaurant was chaotic with loud rock ‘n roll blaring: the music an
obvious ploy to get people to eat quickly and leave.

At our table, a fast fight broke out between my mother and sister:
something silly, no doubt. Probably a perceived slight. It threatened
to escalate like wild fire but something intervened: god, the universe,
common sense. Maybe it was just the drink order. Civility was restored
before everyone was even aware of what had gone on.

Mamainwaiting appreciated my gift of a newly revised version of Dr.
Spock’s famous, "Baby and Child Care:" a little light reading before
her trip next week to Russia, when she and her husband will meet their
nine month old baby girl for the first time.

When Teen Spirit saw the book he thought it might have something to do with Spock from Star Trek.

Bro-in-Law  made a toast to all the mothers at the table,
including Mamainwaiting,  "The mother to-be."  To which my mother added:
"Mamainwaiting, as the blog says!"

Here, here.

Late in the day, Mamainwaiting and I drank Chardonnay in her living room
and looked through a box of her photographs. There were pictures of my
son, now a big teenager, as a newborn, a toddler, at his sixth birthday (a
Beatles party), and my daughter, now eight, as a newborn, at her first
birthday, naked on a Cape Cod beach, and on and on…

"It all goes by so fast," I said sounding like every other mother in
the world. "Enjoy it while it lasts," again stating the obvious cliche.
But in that moment, clutching a handfull of fantastic memories, it felt
unbearably true.

These kind words from my friend, Mary Warren (aka Mrs. Cleavage). I published it last year but heck I can use it again.

Mothers… this love is for you who should be celebrated every day.

I want to wish you all a warm and wonderful Mother’s Day.  I don’t
know of any group of women who deserves to pat themselves on the back
more than you do, ladies.  Every single day you are in the trenches,
doing for your kids what they can’t do for themselves, sacrificing so
that their needs are met, and, in general, kissing the boo-boos and
making them all better, and keeping the bogeyman at bay.

This is not an easy task that we mothers must undertake.  Oh, no.
The instruction manuals were conveniently tossed out when our adorable
packages arrived in the delivery room.  What we got were crying, needy
and hungry babies who grew into sweet-faced tikes with potty mouths,
and tyrannical teenagers (some of us even have annoying adult children
who still won’t do what we tell them to).  But they were our kids and
like Play-doh, we got to shape them into whatever we wanted.  Of
course, that didn’t always take, but who’s stopped trying, right.

And let’s face it, kids are selfish. It’s what they do. I know.  I’m
a kid.  My mother has had to put up with my nonsense for some time
now.  I am sure she would be delighted if I’d grow up and quit causing
so much ruckus.  Some day I plan to grant her that wish.

The fact is my mother — just like you and just like me — wouldn’t
have it any other way.  She  loves me from the tip of my flawed head to
my toes.  And I am the better person for it.  I have learned so much
about goodness and truth from my mother; I only hope that i am
one-tenth of the mother to my son that she has been to me.  If so, my
son will be one lucky kid.

A mother has to wear so many hats and they all have to look good,
d*mnit.  A mother is chief cook and bottle washer.  She is a medic, a
banker and a handyman.  A mother is a mechanic, an artist, a technician
and a teacher.  She is a fixer-upper, a picker-upper and a
giddy-upper.  What can’t a mother do?

You, ladies, my friends, my sisters, my mothers, you are all that and a bag of chips.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

I love you all.  I’m proud to be one of your club.  And I hereby
commend you for doing your duty, doing it well, and doing it with love
in your hearts and smiles on your faces. You’re the best.

–Mary Warren

Nice piece in the Empire Zone, the New York Times’ blog by Sewell Chan about the Brooklyn Blogfest He included a abbreviated list of the new bloggers who joined the shout out and included their URLs. I met Chan briefly last night. There was another New York Times’ reporter there who said he’s working on a piece about Brooklyn Blogging.

I heard this morning that there was a fire at Pizza Plus, a favorite south slope pizza restaurant. The fire, which is on Seventh Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets, destroyed the restaurant and all the apartments in the building.

The restaurant has insurance, the renters did not. Pizza Plus is concerned about paying their ten employees during the time it takes for them to rebuild.

The owner and her daughter are overwhelmed by the show of support and kindness. The reality of the fire hit the owner at 2 a.m. this morning. It’s a pretty awful ordeal, as Fonda at Zuzu’s Petals can attest. Her Seventh Avenue store, along with Olive Vine and a Korean market, was destroyed by fire three years ago. Within a year, they opened a new shop on Fifth Avenue, thanks to the emotional and monetary support of this community.

Standing outside of Pizza Plus with Roz and her daughter, the smell of fire was disgustingly real. I was with a woman, a member of the Park Slope Civic Council, who suggested that Roz call Fonda, owner of Zuzu’s Petals. “She more than anyone will know what to do.”

One of the tenants was a writer and he/she lost all their work (hopefully it’s backed up somewhere). That really resonated with me. If anyone has more details please let me know. Maybe there’s something we can do for them, too.

When I got home there was already an email in my inbox from Fonda. Turns out she broke her leg and is staying home for a few weeks.

Louise…i just got a call from my shop that someone from the civic already second hand news just called to say there was a fire last night on 7th avenue between 10th and 11th.

The woman who owns it, roz, is a fabulous community minded person, hard working merchant of the mom and pop variety, and I was asked to contact her and offer some comfort or advice. If there is something the community can do to reach out to her…please confirm this to be true, as I aid, I have this second hand, but that is also called word of mouth.

Fonda now knows that there was indeed a fire at Roz’s pizza shop. And she’s already been in touch with her according to Lorraine, the manager of Zuzu’s Petals.

If you’d like to make a contribution to the employees fund at Pizza Plus please let me know. Louise_crawford@yahoo.com

Teen Spirit was at the Highline Arcade Fire concert at Radio City (organized by David Bowie for the High Line Festival). "The security people  were assholes," Teen Spirit told OTBKB. "One guard elbowed the crowd of people that tried to get closer to the stage." Turns out Gowanus Lounge was at the show. Here’s an excerpt from his account. There’s much more over at GL.

What they could do, it turned out, was rush you, jump you, beat you and drag you from Radio City in a headlock.
We apologize upfront for not having photos or video. (The photo below
is of security staff several minutes after the fisticuffs. We know the
woman on the right was not involved. The woman barely visible in the
background is a supervisor who arrived on the scene. We don’t know the
role for certain of the gentleman on the left.) There were people who
shot video and photos of the altercation. Perhaps someone will YouTube
it. The action kicked off between Rows AA and GG in the aisle between the 300 and 400 section of the orchestra
when someone took Mr. Butler at his word and pushed past ushers. This
is not a wise thing to do at Radio City. At that point, about a
half-dozen employees descended on him, trying to stop him. They pushed
him into the seats and we saw at least one (and possibly more) of the
Radio City security employees punching the concert goer.
The concert goer may have struggled with them–either to get to the
stage or to escape the beating–but that’s beside the point.

Amy Sohn in this week’s New York Magazine. Don’t miss her (or the momtini’s) at the Edgy Mother’s Day Event with other edgy moms: Smartmom, Susan Gregory Thomas, Alison Lowenstein, Tom Rayfiel, Michele Somerville Madigan, Judy Lichtblau, Sophia Romero (After-Hours Mom) and Mary Warren (Mrs. Cleavage).

In the frenzy to land a preschool spot, some parents have found God. Area churches and synagogues that offer early-childhood programs are swelling with new families that have joined to help gain priority school admission for their kids. Brooklyn Heights’ Plymouth Church, for instance, has had “a surge of growth in young families,” reports the Reverend David Fisher. “We’re not sure if there is a direct relationship between the school and our congregation’s growth—though we strongly suspect there is.”

Not that it always works. When one Manhattan mother applied to a Jewish preschool, she was urged to join the affiliated synagogue. She paid the $1,500 fee and attended the odd service, but her kid was wait-listed anyway. “Then we applied again, and he still didn’t get in,” she complains. On the other hand, a Carroll Gardens mother who volunteered at a Brooklyn church event will be sending her daughter there in the fall. “Now I am going to be more involved in the church because it could help with a kindergarten recommendation.”

Some institutions are growing wise to self-interested joiners. “I laugh when people tell me, ‘I joined Temple Emanu-El in June and I’m applying to the preschool in September,’ says Amanda Uhry, owner of Manhattan Private School Advisors. “I say, ‘Do you think Emanu-El isn’t hip to what’s going on?’” Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Day School prefers two years of membership and participation to be eligible for an admissions advantage, while the East Side’s Christ Church United Methodist limits preschool priority to congregants who actively worship and give money. “The Day School office sends to the church office the list of people seeking admission, and we go over it to make sure that the criteria are being met,” says Christ Church’s the Reverend Javier Viera.

Other religious leaders, though, are happy to see new faces—no matter what the reason. Andy Bachman, rabbi of Park Slope’s Congregation Beth Elohim, sees a membership bump in early November, when preschool applications are given out, and another in January, during tour season. That’s okay by him. “People approach affiliation from a variety of motivations,” he says. “The same people who say they joined just because of the preschool are the ones who can’t stop eating the chocolate-covered matzo at the children’s Seder.”