[SCREENINGS]

HOBOKEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

SUNDAY, JUNE 6TH, 2:00 PM

THE PIT - Documentary Feature
Directed by Johanna Lee - New York

'The Pit' follows a scrappy group of commodities traders as they try to make a living trading coffee on the New York Board of Trade before electronic trading threatens to make their way of life obsolete.

LOTT OH - Short Film
Directed by Michelle Regina Iacobelli - New Jersey

A comedy about a small time gambler with an anxiety problem.

AMERICA, AMERICA - Short Film
Directed by Keaton Weiss - New York

A homeless man misses the life he once took for granted on an unforgiving autumn morning.

BECAUSE WE ARE WOMEN: CELEBRATING POSSIBILITIES - TV Pilot
Directed by Corinna Sager

For every woman who steps onto the path of achievement and fulfillment, there are still thousands who quietly wait in the wings for the inspiration to move forward. The program’s goal is to help those women step onto the path to realize their goals and dreams and to empower them to be all that they can be.

CINEQUEST 2010

THURS 2/25 @ 6:15PM (C12)   &   SAT 2/27 @ 11:30AM (C12)

The Pit: one of the most primitive, yet highly ritualized arenas of the financial world, The New York Board of Trade floor. Amidst the shouting and hand signals, the Pit is also a chaotic masterpiece of eye-to-eye trading. Through relationships built during her time as an NYBOT clerk, director Johanna Lee was given unprecedented access to the Pit where she captured intense competition for survival, personal dramas and trading tickets.

However, the Pit has quickly become a casualty in the technology race, as electronic trading has come to dominate the market. As Lee follows the lives of several traders who were forced to either adapt or lose everything, personal and emotional stories unfold for a film that is relevant and compelling; an intimate portrait of men and women struggling to survive on one of the last platforms of pure capitalism and a unique snapshot of the “American Dream.” — Pearl Wong

Director: Johanna Lee
Producer: Art Chung, Johanna Lee, Jeffrey Friedman, Robert Epstein
Cinematographers: Bryan Sarkinen, Vanja Cernjul
Editor: Charles Marquardt
Cast: Joseph DiGiso, Jon Stefanick
Country: USA
Language: English
Length: 64 min.
Genre: Documentary

MAVERICK COMPETITION

Preceded by the short film SEEDS OF THE FALL
Director: Patrik Eklund
A sexually-frustrated wife in a passionless relationship tries to seduce her husband, but something happens that will change their relationship forever. (20 min)

HOT SPRINGS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Pit explores one of the most primitive, yet highly ritualized arenas of the financial world, The New York Board of Trade. Billions of dollars of raw goods trade daily on the NYBOT floor, setting the worldwide price of commodities from cotton to coffee. In 2007, however, computerized trading platforms were introduced, threatening to make this historic marketplace obsolete. In 2005 filmmaker Johanna Lee spent six months as a NYBOT clerk, developing relationships with commodities traders which allowed her to bring cameras into the trading pits for the first time in NYBOT history.

Country: United States
Running Time: 1 Hour 4 Minutes
Release Date: 2009
Director: Johanna Lee