ACT Film Festival Curated by Jackie Rosaone (Artists for Creative Theatre)

Jasmine Clemente & Jackie Rosaone

 ACT Film Festival

Curated by Jackie Rosaone

Independent films are really underrated. Of course there's tons of mainstream masterpieces that show in national theatres like this summer's "Planet of The Apes" and "Lucy", but still... low budget, independent films need way more recognition than they're receiving due to the very powerful messages told through the big screen with the help of some very gifted actors.

Ok, so maybe it isn't fair to compare indie films with multimillion dollar block busters, but what I mean to say is that with the small amount of resources that these indie artists have, they truly have a big stretch of the imagination and know how to expand on their potential, using every last drop of their creative juices until their projects reach heights that touch the human spirit which makes their art true art. See for yourself!

I say this because tonight I had the pleasure of being a guest at the ACT Film Festival curated by Jackie Rosaone (who also coordinates The Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival), and was able to watch an array of truly beautiful films - along with one crazy comedic short featuring a very lustful, Latino cast called 912.

Deep in the L.E.S. at The University Settlement Society of New York, audience members watched a string of short films back to back. One of my personal favorites is Goddess of Time directed by Gabriel Rodriguez who is an award winning filmmaker, writer, and lyricist. I've always been a sucka for new age spirituality, so this film really caught my attention. After hearing complaints from the community's neighbors, two female cops drive to a Psychic's apartment to send her a warning before they decide to go in with a search warrant next time they receive a complaint. Well, the Psychic turns around and decides to give one of the officers a warning in return. And that's all I'm saying so I don't spoil the whole movie before you see it! ;)

Another great film was a documentary/drama called On The Edge Directed by Roy Zafrani, about the childhood of a Russian woman who had moved to Israel with her parents and grew up addicted to drugs. The story was so similar to what happens here in the US, that I'm pretty sure all of the audience members felt as if they could relate. Despite the entire project being filmed overseas with English subtitles below, every problem the young girl faced - be it drugs, alcohol, abortion, rape - was nothing out of the ordinary for an American who wonders if the grass is greener on the other side of the globe.