Exclusive: New Trailer Celebrates 15 Years of the Lower East Side Film Festival, Kicking Off Thursday

Celebrating the independent filmmaking spirit of NYC, the Lower East Side Film Festival returns this Thursday as the 15th edition runs through May 5. Featuring the Opening Night selection, the New York Premiere of Pete Ohs’ SXSW selection The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, the lineup also includes Joel Vargas’ Sundance and New Directors/New Films selection Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo), and Amy Landecker’s For Worse, starring Bradley Whitford, Nico Hiraga, Missi Pyle, Gaby Hoffmann, and Ken Marino. Ahead of this anniversary, we’re pleased to exclusively debut a new trailer celebrating 15 years of the festival.

John Fink said his SXSW review of The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, “It might help to know the creative process going in. Tick was made collaboratively by its main cast: as Ohs explained during the SXSW premiere, they isolated on location at a country home where they would write three scenes at a time, film and analyze said scenes, and then move forward. The result is a kind of mumblecore version of an Ingmar Bergman film that feels both loose and heavily controlled. But if you’re not on the film’s wavelength it may feel like a disjointed mess. Like the wellness cures offered by AJ (James Cusati-Moyer), the resident chef in the group, they require buy-in and faith. Framed by Baz Luhrmann’s quote that ‘a life lived in fear is a life half-lived,’ it was simply this film’s title that was enough to get frequent Ohs collaborators on board.”

See the exclusive 15th anniversary celebration trailer and lineup for this year’s festival below, and get tickets here.

Special Screenings

THE TRUE BEAUTY OF BEING BITTEN BY A TICK (Opening Night Film & Party | New York Premiere)
Directed by Peter Ohs. Starring Zoë Chao, Jeremy O. Harris, Callie Hernandez, and James Cusati-Moyer.
Thursday, May 1 at 8:30PM | Village East Cinema
*Ticket includes access to the opening night party featuring an open bar, DJ, and special guests.

THE BIG JOHNSON (Closing Night Film & Party | New York Premiere)
Directed by Lola Rocknrolla. Featuring NYC legend Dean Johnson
Monday, May 5 at 7:30PM | Village East Cinema
*Ticket includes access to the closing night party at The Slipper Room featuring an open bar, DJ, and announcement of 2025 Award Winners.
 
FOR WORSE (Marquee Spotlight | New York Premiere)
Directed by Amy Landecker. Starring Liv Hewson, Amy Landecker, Bradley Whitford, Nico Hiraga, Missi Pyle, Gaby Hoffmann, and Ken Marino.
Saturday, May 3 at 7:30PM | Village East Cinema
 
NOT ONE DROP OF BLOOD (Stay Indie Project Spotlight)
Directed by Jackson Devereux, Lachlan Hinton
Sunday, May 4 at 6:30PM | DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema
 
TRUE CRIME, TRUE BEGINNINGS: The Catfish 15-Year Retrospective with Nev Shulman
(15th Anniversary Screening)
Directed by Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost. Featuring Nev Schulman
*Featuring a conversation with subject Nev Schulman
Sunday, May 4 at 8:30PM | DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema
 
Feature Films
 
BATTERSEA
Directed by T.J. Sandella and Jad Adkins. Starring Nancy Kimball and Jesse Howland
Friday, May 2nd at 7:30pm | Village East Cinema
 
MAD BILLS TO PAY (OR DESTINY, DILE QUE NO SOY MALO)
Directed by Joel Vargas. Starring Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino and Nathaly Navarro
Saturday, May 3rd at 3:00pm | Village East Cinema
 
MICRO BUDGET (New York Premiere)
Directed by Morgan Evans. Starring Patrick Noth, Emilea Wilson, Jon Gabrus, Nichole Sakura, Brandon Micheal Hall, Jordan Rock, and Bobby Moynihan
Saturday, May 3 at 5:00PM | Village East Cinema
 
ALI EATS AMERICA (New York Premiere)
Directed by Roush Niaghi, Greg Morris. Featuring Ali Allouche, Jen Danko, José Andrés Puerta, and Anthony Bourdain
Sunday, May 4 at 3:00PM | DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema
 
Short Film Programs
 
‘BIG APPLE, SHORT FILMS – NY FILMMAKER SHORTS’
NYC through the eyes of its own: graffiti, drag queens, skateparks, subway cars, and clowns.
Thursday, May 1 at 6:30PM | Village East Cinema
 
‘9 TO 5 SHORTS’
Workplace comedies, dirty jobs, CEOs, PTOs, OOOs  – it’s just another day at the office for these short films.
Friday, May 2 at 7:00PM | Village East Cinema
 
‘MIND F*CK SHORTS’
Our classic genre-bending shorts showcase of mind f*ckery is back! Equal parts vulgar, feral, kinky, trippy, and kinda buddy-comedy-road-movie-death-y.
Friday, May 2 at 9:00PM | Village East Cinema
 
‘SEXUAL TENSION SHORTS’
Unrequited lust, three-somes, chance encounters, and dates-gone-blowjob – we’ve all been there…? Fall in love with these flirty, steamy, awkward, provocative shorts.
Saturday, May 3 at 4:30PM | Village East Cinema
 
‘BIG FEELS SHORTS’
Get ready to feel it all. These fearless filmmakers dive deep into what it means to feel – love, loss, joy, hope, and everything in between.
Saturday, May 3 at 8:00PM | Village East Cinema
 
‘DOC SHORTS’
Prankster activists, off-the-grid explorers, prolific puzzlers, and iconic artists — these short docs peek into the wild, untold lives of visionary storytellers.
Sunday, May 4 at 5:00PM | DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema

The post Exclusive: New Trailer Celebrates 15 Years of the Lower East Side Film Festival, Kicking Off Thursday first appeared on The Film Stage.