2023 Day 1 – Block 2

Bowery Film Festival is proud to screen the following selections:

• Santa Doesn’t Need Your Help

  Directed by Kevin Maher, Joe Dator
  

  When a K-Pop Boy Band shows up to “save Christmas” it’s the last straw! So Santa must prove to the world that he can still do his job. What follows is a laugh-out-loud adventure about refusing help. Will old St. Nick discover the true meaning of Christmas? Or will he ruin everyone’s holiday because he’s too stubborn to admit when he’s wrong?

• Archive & The Storyteller

  Directed by Natasha Marie Rivera
  

  On the brink of human extinction, a young couple struggles to secure a spot on the Archive.

• S.P.I.C.

  Directed by Heidi Miami Marshall & written by Johnny Sánchez
  

  JOHNNY is a 12-year-old Latino boy whose mom, an undocumented immigrant, has been arrested by I.C.E. She needs an immigration lawyer, but a good lawyer costs $5K. EMILIO, Johnny's dad, asks ÁLVARO, a drug dealer, for a loan. But Álvaro knows Emilio can't repay $5K. So Álvaro offers Emilio a job instead — work for his illegal drug enterprise and Álvaro will give him the money he needs. Emilio hesitates at this dangerous offer. Having overheard the adult conversation, and with the clock ticking, Johnny decides to do the job on his own. He sneaks off to work for Álvaro. When Emilio discovers what Johnny is doing, he rushes to get his son back. On this fateful day, both father and son learn the realities before them and the choices they must make to survive. Inspired by true events.

• No Other Gods But Me

  Directed by Alex Spott
  

  In the midst of a sexual awakening, a religious teen finally musters up the courage to kiss her crush, but will lust send her straight to h-e-double-hockey-sticks?

• THE DEMISE OF CONEY ISLAND

  Directed by vagabond
  

  Coney Island isn't just a place, but a protagonist. An artist tormented with memories of his missing daughter, and a fatal diagnosis from his doctor, Coney Island finds himself staring into the precipice of oblivion. As he teeters between life and death he weighs his options with two old companions, Suicide and Hopelessness.

• Hardboiled

  Directed by Peter Sluszka
  

  Food and felonies are inseparable in Hardboiled, a stop-motion animated satire of the classic urban American crime drama. Gritty, noir-ish, and absurd, the story follows the exploits of tough-talking detectives Harry and Callaham (an egg and a slice of ham) as they frustrate their boss, an irascible knish, shake down a sleazy bacon pimp, and tangle with a megalomaniacal strawberry.