WILLIAMSBURG - New York City is getting its first film festival dedicated to cannabis culture.
The New York City Cannabis Film Festival will take place at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg on Sept. 26, and will feature films that are not necessarily about weed, but compatible with its use, organizer Tim Mattson told DNAinfo New York.
"As far as a topic, we are not really heavy on cannabis," Mattson, 41, said. "The films are just kind of meant for someone who has enjoyed something that possibly might have an effect on them."
The first hour of the film festival will be dedicated to a variety of short films Mattson describes as "documentary, horror, comedy, sci-fi, whatever."
They do have one thing in common: "The filmmakers had the intentions of watching them imbibed," Mattson said, using his euphemism-of-choice for being high on cannabis.
The festival's feature film is "The Scientist," a 2015 documentary by filmmaker Zach Klein about the Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam, who was a pioneer in researching the way cannabis interacts with the human body.
"I'm personally very excited about our feature film," said co-organizer Michael Zaytsev, 25, from Brooklyn. "It covers a lot of the science behind cannabis as a medicine. A lot of people who support cannabis have anecdotal evidence of its efficacy, but they are not really educated on the real science behind it."
As to the choice of location to host the festival, Mattson said he finds Brooklyn to be "more relaxed with cannabis" than the rest of the city.
"It's part of the culture in Williamsburg already," Mattson said.
While the organizers, who are part of the cannabis advocacy group High NY, hope the festival will help spark dialog about cannabis use, they are also looking for an opportunity to celebrate the potent plant.
"We want to show that there are mature, classy, respectable ways to celebrate cannabis culture," said Zaytsev. "It doesn't necessarily have to be a smoke-out."
