The 15th anniversary of the beloved Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF) has a star-studded lineup. IndieWire can announce that LESFF 2025 will open with the New York premiere of Pete Ohs’ “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick” May 1. The festival will conclude May 5 with Lola Rocknrolla’s true crime documentary “The Big Johnson” about drag queen Dean Johnson.
“Our Opening and Closing Night films are proof that indie filmmaking packs a punch,” Roxy Hunt, LESFF Co-Director and CEO of BFD Productions, said. “Pete Ohs and Lola Rocknrolla are true badass filmmakers, telling stories that are daring, original, and unapologetic. At a time when Hollywood is playing it safe and overlooking bold, visionary voices, independent film is where authentic stories have the freedom to break through. LESFF has always been about championing that spirit, and this year is no different.”
“The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick” had its world premiere at SXSW. The film stars Zoë Chao, Jeremy O. Harris, Callie Hernandez, and James Cusati-Moyer a as friend group whose weekend retreat goes unsettlingly wrong after an ominous tick bite seems to unravel reality.
In contrast, “The Big Johnson” tells the story of late NYC legend Dean Johnson, who was a drag queen, rock star, activist, and enigma, per the logline. “A towering figure in the underground scene, Johnson’s shocking, unsolved death remains a mystery. Was it murder? Was it an accident? One thing’s for sure: Dean changed New York forever,” as the description reads.
“’The Big Johnson’ is thrilled to have our New York premiere at the LES Film Festival,” director Lola Rocknrolla said. “Dean Johnson lived most of his adult life on the Lower East Side and I lived on Ludlow Street for the better part of a decade. Roxy Hunt and Tony Castle are the best festival curators I have ever worked with and they really care about keeping film and culture alive. This is our neighborhood, this is our festival and we can’t freakin’ wait for it.”
LESFF will take place May 1 to 5, and will have screenings at Village East by Angelika and DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema. Purchase tickets to the Lower East Side Film Festival here.
This festival also marks the launch of its first-ever Stay Indie Project, a direct pipeline for independent filmmakers to get their projects made. Launched in collaboration with BFD Productions, the initiative connects independent filmmakers with development, financing, and production support to greenlit indie films. The first Stay Indie project to be part of the festival is feature “Not One Drop of Blood,” which had its world premiere at Filmfort (Treefort Music Fest, Idaho) before screening at The Florida Film Festival. It will have its New York premiere at LESFF out of competition.
“Not One Drop of Blood” is produced by LESFF co-directors Hunt and Tony Castle, as well as LESFF Board Member Sarah Wharton. The feature documentary film is directed by Jackson Devereux and Lachlan Hinton, and follows the decades-long mystery of unexplained cattle mutilations in rural Oregon. The doc was based on Anna King’s NPR reporting; King produces the film that was financed and produced in partnership with BFD Productions, Northpoint Post, and Copperline Creative.
“With the Stay Indie Project, we’re helping tear down the biggest roadblock indie filmmakers face — getting their films made,” Tony Castle, LESFF Co-Director and COO of BFD Productions, said. “It’s not enough to just celebrate independent film; we need to actively build a pipeline for bold, risk-taking storytellers to get their work out into the world. By pairing the festival with our production company, we’re giving filmmakers real resources, real funding, and real momentum. But it doesn’t stop at making movies — we’re here to make sure they get seen. Getting indie films into actual cinemas, on the big screen, where they belong—that’s what it’s all about. Watching movies together, in the dark, the way they were meant to be experienced. That’s the magic. That’s the mission.”
Additional Stay Indie Project features in the works include narrative film “Our Bodies and Other Shames,” written by Malka Wallick and directed by Jenny Lester; and documentaries “The Ark,” “Hoop Like This,” and “Credible Fear.”
“Our Bodies and Other Shames” stars Alysia Reiner, Micaela Diamond, Gideon Adlon, and Malka Wallick as childhood best friends who are forced to confront their past when one is diagnosed with breast cancer.
“The Ark,” which is directed by Jeremy Chilnick and Viacheslav Rakovskyi, centers on a young Ukrainian family who, in the midst of war, transforms their farm into a refuge for 1,000 displaced animals.
“Hoop Like This” is directed by Shubhangi Shekhar and follows the best Indian basketball players from around the globe as they join forces to compete in the world’s highest stakes basketball tournament on ESPN to prove to the world that brown men can jump.
“Credible Fear,” directed by Gabrielle Ewing, is about a chance pairing between Yojana, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, and Amy, a DC attorney, during a seven-year battle for justice inside America’s broken immigration system.
The full LESFF program will be announced soon.
