by SARAH ROWLAND

Like Robert Redford, Mark Rosenberg and Dan Nuxoll had a dream of starting a grassroots film festival. Unlike Redford, the two New Yorkers didn't have 6,000 acres of Utah land to spare. But minor details like permits and venues didn't stop them from hosting their first festival back in 1997.

"As with most of the people I know in Manhattan, Mark had an extremely small apartment," recalls Nuxoll. "But he did have a rooftop that happened to have a big, white wall that you could project on. So he got a 16-milimetre projector, told everyone to bring their reels, and we just had a big party of it. Hundreds of people came out and it went really smoothly... except for the fact that Mark got evicted for it."

Since then, Rooftop Films has evolved into a non-profit filmmaking network that presents one-night, outdoor mini fests almost 30 times a year in several North American cities, showcasing untapped talent from Nigeria to Antarctica. Though most of the filmmakers are starving film grads in desperate need of somewhere to screen their work, there are some notable exceptions. Two-time Oscar nominee Bill Plympton, for instance, has been a big supporter of Rosenberg and Nuxoll's open-air events since the beginning.

"By taking it outside the stuffy confines of a movie theatre, it becomes more of a party atmosphere," says Plympton, who will screen his latest animation The Fan and the Flower when Rooftop presents a collection of eco-conscious shorts in Montreal. "People can eat, drink and speak back to the screen. It's just a really casual environment to see movies and the movies of mine they show are not high-intellectual, serious films. They're fun films and I think that's what they [people attending Rooftop events] want to see."

Written and produced by Dan O'Shannon, The Fan and the Flower is a sparsely drawn black-and-white love story about a flower pot and a ceiling fan longing to consummate their relationship. This sweet and quirky premise is a far cry from the Sick and Twisted type of stuff that Plympton dreams up for his own scripts (Think 1997's Sex & Violence, which was followed by 1998's More Sex & Violence)

"That's why I liked it; it's not something I normally do," says Plympton. "It's a very touching story - kind of sensitive and romantic. So I suggested that maybe the fan could fall from the ceiling and chop off somebody's head. But he said no."

O'Shannon also said no to the original no-name narrator and asked Plympton, who had just been nominated for Guard Dog at the 2005 Academy Awards, to find someone better to do voice-over.

"I said jokingly, ‘Maybe I'll meet somebody at the Oscars,' and he laughed," says Plympton. "Then when I was there I looked across the room, there was Paul Giamatti and I've always loved his voice; it has such a great character. So I downed a few strong drinks and walked over."

It turns out the Sideways star is a huge fan of Plympton's. He not only said yes, he took a considerable cut in pay, a gesture that shocked the indie animator.

"It doesn't make sense; I mean I'm just not used to being in a position where I can just ask someone like him to work with me," says Plympton. "But it feels great."

Rooftop Films Festival will screen at Santropol's Terrasse Thursday, Sept. 1, 7 P.M., $5. For more info, visit www.rooftopfilms.com

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