Notes from our December 3rd Screening

The crowd was out in force for another Iron Mule extravaganza on December 3rd at 92YTribeca.  Jay and Victor welcomed the crowd and then welcomed special guest judge, editor of Popular Photography, Miriam Leuchter.

Jay and Victor welcome the crowd
(photo by Tom Henning)

Jay and Victor welcome Miriam Leuchter
(photo by Tom Henning)

As a photographer, Miriam expressed her bias for nice-looking comedy films and planned to judge the night's selection on that merit.

First up was Dano Johnson and Tate English's Iron Mule classic holiday film White Blood Cell Saves Christmas.  We show this film each December and it never fails to please.  Following this was a longer film, Their Eyes Were Watching Gummy Bears, directed by Raafi Rivero.  The film tells the story of a college student on his last day at Princeton as he struggles to stay together with his girlfriend.  This was a very nicely shot film, to Miriam's delight, and Raafi was on hand to discuss the movie and his other work.

Raafi Rivero
(photo by Tom Henning)

Next up were two films; episode 1 of the web series Enter the Dojo by Matthew Page, and Adam Lerman's Help Wanted, also a beautifully shot film, and DP Josh Miller took to the stage along with director Adam Lerman for a brief interview.  This film was part of a 24-hour film challenge and Adam and Josh talked about the process of making the movie in such a short time frame.

Adam Lerman and Josh Miller
(photo by Tom Henning)

Next up was P.M.O., a hilariously dark Canadian political thriller by Daryl Cloran, followed by episode 2 of Enter the Dojo.  Matthew Page, the director and star of the movie, lives in New Mexico, so he couldn't attend the screening, but cast member Julie Lopez happend to be in NYC and she spoke with us about the series and her other work with Matt (including Delivery Date, which she co-starred in, and we showed at a previous Iron Mule).

With these strong (and nice-looking) contenders in mind, the audience and judges convened to vote for their favorite films.  But before we announced the winners, it was time for Shark Bite, our "Wanna be a Star" film, starring audience member Neslihan Özdemir and directed by Dan Simon.  Dan is an Iron Mule regular who has screened several films at our festival.  Neslihan is a faithful audience member who had never appeared on camera before and really shined in her role.

Neslihan Özdemir, star of Shark Bite
(photo by Tom Henning)

Dan Simon, director of Shark Bite
(photo by Tom Henning)

Then it was time to announce the winners, and bringing home both audience and judges' prize was Enter the Dojo!  Julie accepted the prize, a signed copy of Miriam Leuchter's new book on behalf of Matt Page.

Julie Lopez, proud winner (on behalf of Matthew Page)
(photo by Tom Henning)

Then it was off to our after party for celebrations into the wee hours.  Iron Mule will return on January 7th, so if any of you want to get your New Year off to a fabulous start, get your tickets now at 92ytribeca.org!