Reverend Manny and The Twilight Empire

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on a great movie coming straight out of Queens: “Chop Shop”

I’m peeping it this weekend at the Museum of the Moving Image. It’s probably not gonna be available at the bigger theaters, so this is a rare chance to see the cutting edge in independent filmmaking.

Details below.

Buck Fush,
-Rev M

MADE-IN-QUEENS FEATURE FILM ‘CHOP SHOP’ TO HAVE PREVIEW SCREENING AT MOVING IMAGE WITH DIRECTOR RAMIN BAHRANI IN PERSON

On Saturday, January 26, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. the Museum of the Moving Image will present a special preview screening of Chop Shop, the new film by Ramin Bahrani who directed the acclaimed independent film Man Push Cart. A deeply affecting slice of urban neorealism, Chop Shop, set in the Iron Triangle near Shea Stadium, follows a 12-year-old orphan who ekes out an existence with his sister. Bahrani will participate in a discussion after the screening.

Chop Shop, Ramin Bahrani’s second feature, premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival where Le Monde called it “the major revelation of the Director’s Fortnight.” The film was shot and set in Willet’s Point, Queens ; a busy industrial neighborhood, nicknamed the “Iron Triangle,” which is home to numerous auto repair shops and scrap yards. Born and raised in the U.S. , Bahrani studied filmmaking at Columbia University , where he graduated with a B.A. He moved to his parents’ home country of Iran to make his thesis film, Strangers, before moving to Paris , then back to New York where he made Man Push Cart.

Chop Shop will be released theatrically by Koch Lorber Films at New York ’s Film Forum on February 27.

Chop Shop
2007, 84 mins. 35mm. Directed by Ramin Bahrani. Written by Bahrani and Bahareh Azimi. With Alejandro Polanco, Isamar Gonzales.

MUSEUM INFORMATION
Hours: Wednesdays & Thursdays, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fridays, 12:00 to 8:00 p.m. Saturdays & Sundays, 11:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.  (Tuesday, school groups only by appointment.)
Film Screenings: Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and additional as scheduled.
Museum Admission: $10.00 for adults; $7.50 for persons over 65 and for students with ID; $5.00 for children ages 5-18. Children under 5 and Museum members are admitted free. Admission to the galleries is free on Fridays, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Paid admission includes film screenings (except for special ticketed events)
Location: 35 Avenue at 36 Street in Astoria .
Subway: R or V trains (R or G on weekends) to Steinway Street . N or W trains to 36 Avenue.
Program Information: Telephone: (718) 784-0077; Website: www.movingimage.us