Rooftop Films summer series in NYC

Around mid-August you’ll be spending entire weekends escaping your sweat-soaked apartment at the air-conditioned cineplex, but right now it’s time to get reacquainted with the pleasures of the warm-weather months. For that, there’s no better place to socialize and watch movies outdoors than Rooftop Films (718-417-7362, rooftopfilms.com) events. This year’s ambitious summer series boasts more than 45 indie features, docs and short films hosted at unique open-air locations across the city. As a bonus, screenings are preceded by a musical performance and capped with a free-booze after-party. Dancing, writer/director appearances and Q&As round out the offerings (keep an eye out for a Cuban love-song balladeer serenading members of the audience after music doc Mateo later this summer).

This weekend’s opening festivities inaugurate a new venue: Industry City Secret Party Cove (39th St at First Ave, Sunset Park, Brooklyn), tucked away among the 6-million-square-foot waterfront studio complex. A lineup of globetrotting bite-size fare, titled This Is What We Mean by Short Films, kicks things off on Friday May 16 at 8:30pm ($13).