The Katra Film Series unveiled programming for its 11th installment propagating its commitment to underscoring evocative works from diverse and emerging storytellers from around the globe. Between April 19th and 20th, featuring over two dozen screenings, film fans can discover why the festival is top-rated by filmmakers at the new immersive Regal E-Walk 4DX & RPX theatre in Time Square. Proceeds will benefit Ukrainian refugees. Tickets range from $20 to $100 via katrafilmseries.com/tickets
Known as a premier showcase for the best new work from independent American and international filmmakers, it returns wielding a wide-ranging lineup of feature films, shorts, talkback and Networking Events, featuring riveting narratives.
An eclectic selection of retina and emotion rousing cross-cultural and cross-generational productions spanning the topics of sports, comedy, paranormal activity, music, identity, grief, sensuality, and social justice, affirm the festival’s notorious inclination for depth and creative disruption.
In addition to 24 short-form pieces viewable in theatre, guests can savor four feature spotlights virtually on XERB.TV–– Raised Up West Side by Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Brett A. Schwartz; Fighting for Daybreak by Jason Head; Alienation by Sam Coyle (Avocado Toast) and Sometimes I Dream Farsi by Pirooz Kalayeh.
Katra’s highly competitive award categories and exciting exhibitions like New Faces and New Voices attract burgeoning cinema artists. Its Documentary and multi-phase Screenwriting Competitions amplify distinct writers and their original and often debut feature projects.
The slate includes feature-length productions by established creators and rising voices with rotating works across networks like ESPN, Amazon, and Netflix.
Each 2022 Katra Film Series selection is eligible for a category-specific Audience Award. Over $10,000 in prizes, made possible by sponsors, and title sponsor Digital Ocean, an innovative technology company helping businesses and creators in over 100 nations do more with less complexity, will be awarded.
Organizers will name the winners during a ticketed closing night ceremony. Voting concludes at noon ET on Thursday, April 21.
Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Ukrainian refugees. “As a filmmaker from and still based in Brighton Beach Brooklyn, whose lens has been deeply inspired by growing up in a diverse immigrant community, providing a creative platform to uplift deserving voices has always been top-of-mind. Today, supporting those in times of crisis through the Katra Film Series platform is our intention and responsibility,” said Filmmaker, Educator, and Katra Film Series Founder, Geoffrey Guerrero. Adding “Their stories have yet to be fully expressed.”
Film fans can listen to and mingle with filmmakers, celebrities, and industry insiders in-person at the theatre starting at 6 PM. Ticket options include $20 General Admission, $30 Day Pass, and $50 Two-Day Passes to the $100 All-Access Pass, allowing admission to the exclusive after-party and award ceremony.
Partners include NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment (MOME), Rhino Films, UKW Media, Urbn-TV, Gpop TV, JMR Rentals, BKLYN Commons Canon, New York Women in Film and TV (NYWFTV), Media Makers, Screenblade, Meditative Writing, Brooklyn College Film, Final Draft and Everyone Matters.
Experience the one-and-only Katra Film Series while tickets still last. Visit www.KatraFilmSeries.com for information.
Feature Films In-Person and Virtual
Raised Up West Side – Brett A. Schwartz, Emmy®-nominated director/producer
Chicago’s West Side epitomizes the violent, struggling city we see daily in the media. While peeling back the layers, exposing the deep-seated segregation, food insecurity, and mass incarceration that continue to shape these predominantly Black neighborhoods. Brett A. Schwartz is a based in the Chicago area.
Fighting for Daybreak – Jason Head
At the inaugural Daybreak music festival, 2000 camping fans suffer freezing winds, pouring rain, and knee-deep mud in hopes of seeing their favorite electronic artists. All the while, behind the scenes, a struggling crew fights to keep the multimillion dollar show from slipping through everyone’s fingers.
Alienation – Sam Coyle
After months of being stuck at home going crazy, a small band of college students decide to shoot a feature film with no money, plenty of time, and only bad actors. Follow along as the director, writer, and production team navigate awkward zoom auditions, the make-up department tries to instruct special effects over facetime and actors maintain six feet while attempting to still show connection. Presented with hope that these soon-to-be graduates’ skillsets improve from another year of schooling.
Sometimes I Dream Farsi – Pirooz Kalayeh
Pirooz Kalayeh uncovers a traumatic event with racism when he was a child and seeks to heal himself and his family through interviews, therapy, and roleplays.
April 19, 2022
DAY 1 FIRST BLOCK
BLUE MOON – Emily Ruhl
A vibrant vignette of a love story that takes place in a single night. It follows two young women through Los Angeles as they explore the depths of themselves and one another. A beautiful portrait of how nurturing mutual vulnerability can turn into pure magic.
ROSIE – Paula Cajiao
After a long day at work a man walks into an after-hours bar for his last drink before heading home, where he meets someone that is not who he expects it to be.
The Purgatory of Ghosts & Grief – Demetrious Canty
A bereaved man is visited by the ghost of his wife, and in doing so she hinders his healing and ability to process his loss.
Cameo – Ryan Kelly
A graduate student questions her reality after she receives a mysterious necklace. An indie horror proof of concept, shot entirely on an iPhone!
Lola Does Manhattan – Rob Margolies
Lola finds her inner voice/alter ego Heidi making a physical appearance in her life. Heidi leads Lola into a life of freedom and joy through adventures that will give Lola a choice in how she learns to listen to, and love herself
Hell of a Pitcher – Daniel Burity
A group of high school friends that trespass on a little league baseball field on Independence Day.
Twine – Scott Bolger
A young couple explore a newly inherited home, finding hidden messages from the past weaved with dark impulses from the present, forcing them into a confrontation with the afterlife.
DAY 1 SECOND BLOCK
Stranger in the Park – David Djaco
The story of a woman returning to a place of origin to find someone dear to her.
The Keeper – Bob Celli
What happens when two people, who are looking for two different things, meet? Living in a hectic world we can easily lose sight of the fact that we yearn for connection. Does the longing for these connections make us take more risks? At what cost?
Urania Leilus – Andrew Serban
A young female journalist is subjected to death threats and intimidation after witnessing human rights abuses at an ICE detention center for undocumented immigrant children.
FEW OF MANY – Adam Mackie
When husband and wife Ben and Joanna’s pregnant surrogate disappears, Ben is forced to reckon with his own transgressions that caused her to run in the first place. In his quest for redemption as well as trying to save his marriage, Ben makes choices that lead to dire consequences.
Archive & The Storyteller – Natasha Marie Rivera
With the world ending, mankind turns to technology to try to save its species, but one man is put into an unpredictable predicament in which he must make a tough choice.
Nothing Is Real – Masa Gibson
Who gets to decide what’s valuable? A silent short film about a woman who lives life with a bold twist.
REVERSE – Josh Aries
A hardened time-traveling hitman named “Onyx” is sent back in time to eliminate a high-profile target, but he just so happens to be sent back to the exact time and place he had his heart broken by his ex-lover. He is then forced to choose between “fixing” his past or securing “a better future” for him and the nefarious organization he reluctantly works for.
April 20, 2022
DAY 2 FIRST BLOCK
Woman To Woman – Alexandria Collins
1967 Los Angeles. Two women decide to meet face to face and discover that they have a lot more in common than a man.
We Carry It Around – Nadia Fortini
Upon receiving a vintage camera with undeveloped film inside, a young girl is forced to deal with the trauma of her sexual assault.
The Civet – Jose Rivera
Hope has been in short supply during the global pandemic. Sara Koviak searches for dolphins in the Hudson River, to keep faith in this darkened world. She watches herself unfold into the chaotic outcome of hopelessness, and wonders what there is left to hold onto.
“Superposition, Curiosity: The Making of a Scientist”- Sunanda Prabhu Gaunkar, Ellen Askey
It’s Nate’s final year of graduate school, and his attempts to build a device that could be a breakthrough in quantum computing. Having only led to failure and self-doubt, He struggles to balance the “two states of Nate” – his emotional side troubled by a turbulent childhood and frustrations in science, and his rational side fueled by curiosity and ambition. Matters escalate when his work is “scooped” by a competing lab. If he doesn’t get the device working first, his career will be in jeopardy. Can Nate make it as a scientist
One Night Only – Lili Bordan
A vagabond actor traveling through a strange city collides with his long-lost love–an illegal immigrant and cleaning lady he met back home in Hungary 25 years ago.
Knightman – Jun Sekiya
A medieval knight searches for the Holy Grail in New York City, believing it will return him home to his time period. Convinced that the Grail is a woman he’s infatuated with, the knight must try and win her love, or stay stranded in an age not his own.
DAY 2 SECOND BLOCK
Chem 450 – Grace Phillips
A college student had a difficult conversation with her chemistry professor in 1955.
Kintsugi- Justine Kaneda
The Japanese art called Kintsugi is the mending of broken pottery. It’s the art of highlighting and enhancing the beauty that comes with experience and hardship. It is the art of resiliency.
CHECK, PLEASE! EPISODES 1, 2 & 3 – Éléa Clair
Check, Please is a comedic web series about a French immigrant who just moved to NY to pursue her American dream. In which she starts working in a small chaotic restaurant, Will she learn how to survive this urban jungle because serving in NYC is not an easy ride.
Summer Reverie – Chloe Tang
Simon’s frustrating experience trying to reestablish a relationship with his first love. When he is forced to confront a harsh reality far short of his idealistic expectations, Simon’s reason starts to fall apart.
About the Katra Film Series
Out of 10,000+ Academy-Award Qualifying and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, the Katra Film Series is rated one of the Top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals by FilmFreeway for three consecutive years. Founded by filmmaker and educator, Geoffrey Guerrero in 2009, the award-winning international film festival and screenwriting competition is dedicated to championing the next generation of diverse, inclusive, and multicultural filmmakers and content creators.
