2015 Program

BEST NARRATIVE – Alison Bagnall’s Funny Bunny
BEST DOCUMENTARY – Ágnes Sós’s Stream of Love
BEST EXPERIMENTAL – Fern Silva’s Wayward Fronds

This is the 11th annual edition of the Rural Route Film Festival showcasing international films that take the road less traveled. This year’s focus is on bold, independent women behind and in front of the camera. The line-up also includes an eclectic array of music-entwined films and live performances.

July 24-26 at Museum of the Moving Image – 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, NY 11106.
w/Opening Night Screening Party (July 24) at Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm (Flagship Long Island City, Queens location) and COFFEED – 37-18 Northern Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101.

Tickets for Museum of the Moving Image shows HERE.
Tickets for Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm HERE.

Friday, July 24 – 7 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – SAILING A SINKING SEA

SAILING A SINKING SEA Dir. Olivia Owens Wyatt. 2015. 65min. Documentary. Andaman Sea, Mergui Archipelago, Thailand/Myanmar. Special preview screening, co-presented by the Margaret Mead Film Festival. Q&A w/the director to follow! Tickets – *new!- one R/T ticket from JetBlue, along w/copies of the new RR Best of Blu-ray will be raffled off at the beginning of the…

Friday, July 24 – 9 PM @ Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm (Queens loc.) – Opening Night Screening Party

Some of our best short films on Brooklyn Grange’s beautiful flagship rooftop farm – just down the street from MoMI in Long Island City! + a performance from alphornist, Barbara Oldham! An Opening Night Party will follow at COFFEED downstairs. Tickets BARBARA OLDHAM. Live performance atop the rooftop farm to start the show!| Just as…

Saturday, July 25 – 2:30 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – SZERELEMPATAK (STREAM OF LOVE)

SZERELEMPATAK (STREAM OF LOVE). Dir. Ágnes Sós. 2013. 70min. Documentary. Székely Land, Transylvania, Romania. NY Premiere! Tickets Love and desire fill the minds of villagers in a Hungarian-speaking village in Transylvania, even in their old age. Time has stood still here, and although most of the village’s inhabitants are elderly, they are refreshingly young at…

Saturday, July 25 – 4:30 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – THE MAIN SQUEEZE ORCHESTRA

THE MAIN SQUEEZE ORCHESTRA. Free live performance in the Museum’s George S. Kaufman outdoor courtyard! The western world’s first all-female accordion orchestra was started by the beloved, eccentric conductor, Walter Kühr, based on a vivid dream he had in 2002. Sadly, Kühr passed away earlier this year, but the many women he mentored continue the…

Saturday, July 25 – 5 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – FUNNY BUNNY

FUNNY BUNNY. Dir. Alison Bagnall. 2015. 85min. Narrative. Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, PA. Q&A w/Alison Bagnall, DP Ashley Connor and actress Joslyn Jensen to follow! Tickets Olly Alexander, Kentucker Audley, Joslyn Jensen and Josephine Decker star in the new dark comedy from writer/director Alison Bagnall (The Dish and the Spoon, Buffalo 66). Gene spends…

Saturday, July 25 – 7:30 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – DOWN DOWN THE DEEP RIVER

DOWN DOWN THE DEEP RIVER. Dir. Will Sheff. 2014. 42min. Narrative. Meriden, NH. World Premiere screening, preceded by a live musical performance by Will Sheff, and a Q&A after the film! Tickets 1987, small town New Hampshire: The sci-fi fantasy world of two bullied 6th grade boys invades reality and changes their lives forever. An…

Sunday, July 26 – 2:00 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – AKOUNAK TEDALAT TAHA TAZOUGHAI (RAIN THE COLOR OF BLUE WITH A LITTLE RED IN IT)

AKOUNAK TEDALAT TAHA TAZOUGHAI (RAIN THE COLOR OF BLUE WITH A LITTLE RED IN IT). Dir. Christopher Kirkley. 2015. 75min. Narrative. Agadez, Niger. Tickets Starring real life guitarist, Mdou Moctar, Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai is the first-ever Tuareg language feature, and a remake of Prince’s Purple Rain. Akounak tells the universal story of a musician…

Sunday, July 26 – 5 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – LA MUJER DE LOS PERROS (DOG LADY)

LA MUJER DE LOS PERROS (DOG LADY). Dirs. Laura Citarella and Verónica Llinás. 2015. 95min. Narrative. The Pampas/Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tickets Verónica Llinás co-directs and gives a remarkable performance as a woman who lives with a pack of stray dogs in a shack she built herself in the Pampas on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The…

Sunday, July 26 – 7 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – Mariachi Flor De Toloache (Live)

Free live performance in the Museum’s George S. Kaufman outdoor courtyard! Mariachi Flor de Toloache is the first and only established all-female mariachi band, performing a musical style synonymous with Mexican culture (and male musicians). They have caught the attention of audiences throughout NYC, and have been covered by the New York Times, CNN, NBC,…

Sunday, July 26 – 7:30 PM @ Museum of the Moving Image – Eden (Closing Night Film)

EDÉN. Dir. Elise DuRant. 2014. 95min. Narrative. San Miguel de Allende, Bajío, Mexico and NYC. New York Premiere! Q&A w/the director to follow! Tickets Inspired by writer-director Elise DuRant’s own childhood experiences in 1980’s Mexico, Edén is an intimately rendered film about coming home. Nine-year-old Alma is forced to leave Mexico with her artifact-smuggling father, John…

2015 Honorable Mentions

LE JARDIN D’EWALD. Dir. Alexandra Pille. 2014. 60min. Documentary. Ndondol, Senegal. German producer/actress Pille documents the impressive attempts of a drought-stricken W. African community to be sustainable, with beautiful cinematography and a slice-of-life narrative. THIS WAS HASANKEYF. Dir. Tommaso Vitali. 2015. 120min. Documentary. Hasankeyf, Turkey. The product of a year spent researching a stunning trove of historical memory…