Local nonprofit showcases a host of films about, for, and inspired by D.C. lives
By Anna Storm
Production still from the Our City Film Festival film, "One Punch At a Time" (Photo courtesy of Yachad)
The Sundance Film Festival may have just wrapped its 10-day run of parties, press junkets, and a film screening or two, but local cinephiles here in our nation’s capital will soon be given new, homespun reason to rejoice. Thanks to the efforts of housing nonprofit Yachad, Februray’s “Our City Film Festival” will be bringing the indie spirit – if not the altitude – of Park City, Utah, to “our” very own D.C. streets.
The fifth-annual outreach effort is a cultural extension of Yachad’s mission of ‘togetherness’ (the Hebrew meaning behind the organization’s name), providing a platform for those filmmakers looking to explore what it means to be part of a distinctly D.C. community. Both documentary and narrative films either set in or about Washington, D.C., will be featured in a series of weekend screenings scheduled for February 11th-12th. Covering a broad range of subjects – “from athletes to inmates, to the mentally ill, to art teachers, to musicians and graffiti artists,” according to Film Festival and Yachad Program Director Kendra Rubinfeld – the festival looks to emphasize the breadth of issues affecting modern, and diverse, District residents.
Given the thematic scope, “Our City’s” offerings will be divided into five screening blocks: Our Docs-in-Progress, Our Body, Our Mind, Our Heart, and Our Soul, each to be followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers. Individual tickets can be purchased online for $10, or an all-access VIP pass for $100. Door prices for last-minute attendees will be sold for $12. Be sure to save your stubs: All ticketholders are invited to attend the Opening Night Party Saturday, February 11th, at Sixth & I Synagogue, a welcome bash featuring local bands, brews from Chocolate City Beer and Baying Hound Aleworks, and cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (in addition to lots of filmmaker-schmoozing).
Still looking for more D.C. independent cinema? Check back here at the beginning of March for coverage of the upcoming D.C. Independent Film Festival.
For more information about Yachad, and the festival, click here.
A scene from the film, "The Vigil" (Photo courtesy of Yachad)
