It’s not every day that someone declares that he wants to build a theater, so when one actually gets built, it’s truly a romantic thing.

“It’s a dream come true,” says Marco Ursino, filmmaker and founder of the Brooklyn International Film Festival. Ursino owns indieScreen, located at 285 Kent Ave. (S. 2nd St.) along with contractor Krzystof Pogorzelski and restaurateur Anna Popermhem.

“After the Commodore theater closed in 2002, I’ve been waiting and waiting for someone to build a new theater in Williamsburg, but no one did, so I decided to build one myself,” says Ursino.

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Review by Philippe Theise

The first time I saw “Gabi on the Roof in July,” the new film by Greenpoint writer/director/ actor Lawrence Michael Levine that was part of the Brooklyn International Film Festival, (which ended on Sunday), I found the characters so lifelike and contemporary that I could picture them walking right behind me down the sidewalk as I exited the theatre. A portrayal of the shifting relationships, sexual experiences, and creative efforts of young people who are drawn to North Brooklyn for its artistic energy, the film is something of a marvel, its scenes a series of realistic, interlocking rings around the rosy of a North Brooklyn summer.

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The 12th Brooklyn International Film Festival kicked off their 10-day competition, Friday night, June 5th, with Breaking Upwards, a breakout film by Daryl Wein, a 23-year-old filmmaker who in addition to directing, co-wrote the script, and stars as himself. The film delves into his strained relationship with Zoe Lister-Jones, an actress, who also plays herself, and their mutual but mine-filled attempt to undo their co-dependency. The film explores open and polyamorous relationships.

This is the 12th year for BIFF who like to change their venues from year to year. This year they’ve partnered with Brooklyn Heights Cinema, where the screenings for all the 2009 selected films, including features, documentaries, animations and shorts, will take place.

The festival presents the works of over 100 emerging filmmakers in “81, two-hour film programs selected from 2,786 submissions from 118 countries.” Click here for the  full schedule of film screenings.

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