Doors 7:30p
Program 8:00p

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We are thrilled to come together with the co-founder of Berlin Critics’ Week, Dennis Vetter for a night from his curatorial vision that brings us a selection of recent work of Christopher Jason Bell.

During this program we will present two films from this essential voice of independent cinema including the US and NYC premiere of a very exciting film, INCORRECTIONAL (2018) along with TRAMMEL (2020). In his elegant, tender, yet unsentimental films, he frequently collaborates with a non-professional cast to sharply explore the thin lines between fiction and nonfiction as much as between human beings. He has been shooting self-funded work since 2000 and his autonomy from the industry has led him to develop a truly unique style.

Bennett Glace wrote about Incorrectional that it, “gets better and better the more it appears to self-destruct. To paraphrase one of its central figures, Bell’s masterful doc-fiction hybrid is most definitely ‘a film-film.’ Also it’s kind of a masterpiece.”

In the spirit of the Critics’ week we’re thrilled to have film critic and NYFF programmer Kameron Austin Collins in attendance to join for an in-depth conversation after the screening.

See you there!

Program

Incorrectional by Christopher Jason Bell

85 mins, 2018

Saeed braves an adolescent crush and an altercation with his best friend while his temperamental father Ali struggles to connect with him. Both they and the film are heading for a breakdown.

Trammel by Christopher Jason Bell

11 mins, 2020

Dale lives a solitary life in a small town, his only outlet being conversations with the local pharmacist Mohammad. As time passes, Dale slowly begins to reveal more of his life and history to Mohammad.

Program Duration: 96 mins

Bios

Dennis Vetter co-founded the Berlin Critics’ Week in 2014 and is one of its Artistic Directors – a festival which focusses on debates around cinema during the Berlinale. Also he has been a board member of the German Film Critics Association for ten years. His writing has been published in more the 30 magazines and newspapers, as well as in several books.

Christopher Jason Bell is a former critic and active filmmaker. His first feature THE WINDS THAT SCATTER premiered at Northside Festival and went on to play in Madrid, South Korea (winning Best International No Budget Feature Film at the KIXFF), Cambodia, Chile, Argentina, and numerous places in the USA. You can now watch the film on Means TV. Christopher completed and released a series on US President George W. Bush using all archival material called MISS ME YET. It can be viewed in its entirety on MeansTV. FAILED STATE is his third feature film and premiered at the Torino Film Festival in 2023.

Kameron Austin Collins is a programmer at NYFF and film writer / critic.