The Voices Rising Film Festival amplifies the voices of unique filmmakers. Creating awareness for minority artists’ vital work is our goal.
This event will take place at The Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center. At 20 Terry Street in Patchogue, New York.
The 30th of September until October 2nd. There will be live performances, Q&As, table reads, and special guest appearances! There are a number of films on the docket this year, including: Friday, September 30, 2022
advocates confirmed from LGBT Network, The Safe Center, The Retreat, All Against Abuse and Stony Brook Hospital, as well as live performances from singer Chris Milo
October 1st is the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and will also be promoting the song YOU WILL BE OKAY by Andrew Vass and Raquel Castro. The song was just picked up by a major Agency!
Knock Out Blonde (FEATURE FILM)
Director: Rick Lazes, Tom Denucci
Runtime: 01:30:00
Starring: Kellie Maloney, Chelsea Brickham, Amy Wade, Nora Eschenheimer,
Scout Lyons, Aoife Keane, Fred Sullivan, Sissy O’Hara, Colin Cassidy, Gabriella
Spinney, Gavin Wood, Candice Nguyen, Audrey Fratelli, Skylar Slayer, Carl
Magliochettie, Billy Herbert, Erik Bloomquist, Samantha Mazzocco
Knock Out Blonde is a documentary that chronicles the amazing life of Kellie
Maloney, formerly Frank Maloney, a famed boxing promoter who guided Lennox
Lewis to become the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the
world. Kellie’s unique journey takes us through the male-dominated professional
boxing industry rife with testosterone, bullies, and closed-minded old-world
thinkers. At the same time, Kellie was conflicted with a woman’s struggle,
desperately seeking her true identity trapped in a famous man’s body.
After Laughter (Short Film)
Director: Adrian Burks
Runtime: 22:16
Starring: Chene Lawson, Adrian Burks, B.J. Minor, Sacaiah Shaw, Ian McCown Jr., Young Malik, Daniela Lee, Aric Burks. With the civil rights movement as the backdrop, an African-American family witnessed the changing of the times from 1964-1987. Malik and Jamal are cousins whose paths begin to diverge as Malik embraces his identity. Through struggles and successes, the love is always there.
She’s Come to Sing (Music Video)
Director: Brielle Brown
Runtime: 4:40
Starring: Brielle Brown, Project Dance
Will we rise from the fall, singing. “She’s Come to Sing” is a solidarity-seeking
journey through grief and hope. The song, also written and performed by Brielle
Brown, is rooted in the belief that love is a fundamental state of being. The film
was created in partnership with Project Dance and features artists between the
ages of 13-21. Brown aims to inspire conversations and awareness through art.
Saving Mary Alice (Short Film)
Director: Susan Bohl
Runtime: 19:51
Starring: Carolyn Josephine Wright, Sarah Marie Curry, Ruben Javier Caballero,
Phil Harrison, Natalie Hinds, Suzanne Racz, Dana Wing Lau, Pat Turner, Natalie
Mull, Jason Johnson, Stephanie St. Pierre,
This is the story of an abuse survivor who takes matters into her own hands when
she learns that her pregnant daughter is falling into the same toxic trap. This film
looks into the broken lives of a family caught up in the deeply rooted cycle of
multi-generational domestic violence. When one family member draws a line in
the sand and commits to doing whatever it takes to make the violence stop, she is
faced with an unexpected and horrific end that is not what she planned. This
authentic story could happen in anyone’s home, to anyone’s family, to anyone’s
child. This film depicts female-driven, multi-generational themes that defy sexist
clichés.
Saturday, October 1, 2022
3:00 pm Screenplay Table Read
5:30 pm first film block – 2 shorts 1 feature
8:00 pm 2nd block – 2 shorts 1 Feature
Bring Her Home (Documentary)
Director: Leya Hale
Runtime: 56:00
Bring Her Home follows three Indigenous women – an artist, an activist, and
a politician – as they fight to vindicate and honor their missing and murdered
relatives who have fallen victim to a growing epidemic across Indian country.
Despite the lasting effects of historical trauma, each woman must search for
healing while navigating the racist systems that brought about this very crisis.
Culture & Community (Short Documentary)
Director: Sue Reynolds
Runtime: 9:26
Today in the United States, more American Indians live in urban areas than on
reservations or tribal homelands. This diaspora has made it difficult for urban
Native youth to stay connected to their cultural history and practices. This
film shows how one Native family living near San Francisco dances and
participates in powwows and Native community center activities to honor and
keep their ancestors’ ways alive.
Resilience (Short Documentary)
Director: Sue Reynolds
Runtime: 5:00
Climate change-driven natural disasters are increasingly destructive and
disruptive. When a vast wildfire destroys an Indigenous family’s precious
gathering place, resilience shows up in their decision to rebuild together. From
the ashes, they find healing.
2nd Block
From Darkness to Light: The Peter Krueger Clinic (Documentary)
Director: Joe Fox
Runtime: 40:00
From Darkness To Light” is a documentary film about the Peter Krueger
Clinic (PKC), one of the first HIV/AIDS clinics in the United States,
established at Beth Israel Hospital in 1989. Starting during the height of the
epidemic in New York City, PKC boldly stood against the stigma of the
disease and served as a beacon of hope and a model of care for those New
Yorkers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. This powerful film traces the clinic’s
origins and impacts over the last three decades, as told by the patients and
staff that have called it home.
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Look In My Eyes (Short Film)
Director: Eddie Baca
Runtime: 59:00
Starring: Matt Barnes, John Frayson, John Marcucci
A New York City taxi driver from Crimea meets a sober older gay man.
Romance, deception, self-truth and acceptance, intrigue.
Uprooted
Director: Hillia Aho
Runtime: 8:51
Starring: Sophie Sorensen
Robin is a recluse who prefers nature and solitude to the comforts and
companionship of civilization. Her lifestyle reflects her resourcefulness:
stolen food, a shelter crafted from salvaged materials, decorated with found
treasures. One winter day, a logging operation launches nearby, and the
encroachment of civilization threatens the forest that was her salvation. To
avoid discovery, Robin must flee home with only the bare essentials,
trading her painstakingly earned contentment for the uncertainty of
displacement.
Infinite 8 – Virtual Screening on Love Wins
Director: Mostafa Keshvari
Starring: Albert Steven Tsai, Traei Tsai
Traei’s absent father has left her 8 voicemails before his death; she finally
finds the courage to listen to them.
A Paid Connection
Director: Lauren Elizabeth Schwartzbard
Runtime: 9:00
Starring: Alana Hill, Diane Mostello
Caroline goes into her session thinking it is a regular week and doesn’t
realize Judy is trying to tell her something until their time is up.
THIS IS WHAT NEW YORKERS SAY
Director: Sara Alessandrini
Runtime: 01:53:29
THIS IS WHAT NEW YORKERS SAY is a project that aims to give a
voice back to the people of New York. In the past months, a lot has
happened in politics, and decisions were made, supposedly, in the name
of the people, but too many New Yorkers felt powerless and that their
voice didnʼt matter. In a democracy, voting is the main instrument for the people to
participate in public life. Still, when political games take over, the people
suffer the most, and democracy fails.
Jaret Martino, along with Awareness Media, Love Wins Productions, and My Mind Enterprises, produced the concert.
As a way of helping the community, we envisioned this festival as a way to bring like-minded artists together, A shift in global consciousness is taking place.
Filmmakers with powerful voices are sought by Voices Rising Film Festival. Artists whose hard work deserves attention are our mission. Is your film helping raise awareness for important subjects, or are you a unique filmmaker that deserves recognition?
We support and advance the careers of filmmakers. Our awards will include streaming distribution options and marketing for the winning films, as we have partnered with streaming distribution companies.
As important as connecting with the industry and moving your project forward, we will move the winning Films into consideration with partner Festivals that have live screening events in New York and Los Angeles. The focus is to help secure four wall Distribution for the winning Feature Film.
The team behind the Festival has a wide range of professional experience, which includes every facet of Entertainment. Our mission is to build an egoless environment with heart-centered visions for human rights, LGBTQ, diversity, inclusion, and women’s empowerment. We are making this not only a memorable event but a vital gathering where each artist’s voice is heard through their choice of expression.
We celebrate and support Independent, new, and Alternative filmmakers during our online competition and throughout the year through Production support, streaming Distribution relationships, and marketing.
Hybrid Event. In person at The Plaza Cinema:
20 Terry Street, Patchogue, NY 11772
Located in Patchogue, the Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center is a community-supported organization
Community groups, individuals, artists, and others to gather in a safe, inclusive, and equitable forum
Connect, collaborate, discuss, and support musicians, filmmakers, and non-profit advocacy groups
As life goes up and down, we rely on each other for support.
Buy tickets here https://www.lovewinsproductions.net/voices-rising-film-festival