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THE FESTIVAL RAG >> 03.24.2003 v01.01
 

03.24.2003 v01.01

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With a horrendous reputation for ignoring their homegrown talent until other cities bestow validation, Cleveland does it again!  But we’ll forgive them. AMERICAN SPLENDOR opened The 27th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) on Thursday, March 20, 2003.  The bio-pic profiles the life of comic book writer and Clevelander, Harvey Pekar.  The film is based on Pekar’s “American Splendor” comics and “Our Cancer Year” by Pekar and his wife.  The film won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and is written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis star. Ted Hope of the now defunct Good Machine, produced.   www.clevelandfilm.org

WORLD OF COMEDY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

(March 2003) Can Toronto support yet another film festival It can if it’s the World of Comedy International Film Festival which unspooled four feature film premieres and over 48 Canadian and International shorts over the last weekend in February. According to Festival Director Carla Nolan, “This is the perfect time of the year to see comedy programming that lifts the spirit and evokes a good laugh. It is also an important showcase for new and up-and-coming independent comedy filmmakers.”  Top honors for Best Feature Film went to NTV-I from the U.S., a hilarious look at the power of Hollywood and the story of five broke American guys who attempt to con their way across Europe.  Also taking home awards were the Angry Kid: Piss as Best Animated Short Film, and Sing For Your Supper, which tapped the ZeD People’s Choice Shorts Award. The claymation Angry Kid: Piss is produced by U.K.’s Aardman Films, the same company behind Wallace and Gromit. For a complete listing of films screened this year: www.worldcomedyfilmfest.com

Some of the world’s most entertaining shorts will flicker away at The 24th Asbury Shorts Show of New York on Thursday March 27, 2003 at The Galaxy Movie Theatre 7000 Blvd. East Guttenberg, New Jersey (along the Hudson River, just North of Hoboken). Acclaimed stage, film & television actor Peter Riegert hosts and screens his Oscar Nominated Short Film: By Courier.  Other films on the docket: Lunch, Gulp, The Quality of Mercy The Film of Her The Gentle Cycle & more.  Call 201-854-7847 to reserve your seat!

Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition $10,000 GRAND PRIZE DEADLINE is APRIL 15TH.
www.scriptapalooza.com

KODAK’S MARCH FILM AT 11; LUNCH AT 12 SEMINAR

Join us this month as we happily (ok maybe that’s hopefully) greet spring with a presentation from Abel CineTech on the Aaton A-Minima Camera. To learn more about this nifty little image capture device, join us at 11 a.m. for this month’s “Film at 11; Lunch at 12” program which will take place at the KODAK Theatre in NEW YORK (360 West 31st St.between 8th and 9th Aves., Suite #710), on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003.  RSVP a must: (212) 631-3464.

The 2nd annual Stockstock Film Festival will be held in Seattle, Washington on June 1st, 2003 at the Seattle Art Museum. The submission deadline is April 28th, 2003. Stockstock is a film festival that screens short films made entirely from stock footage.  Read more online at www.stockstock.org

BIFF – No, this is not an homage to the 1960s Batman series but The Bermuda International Festival, now in its 6th year. From April 11-17, BIFF will screen 72 features, documentaries and shorts from 17 countries. Opening the festival is a special sneak preview from one of Bermuda’s own: Michael Douglas’ new film, It Runs in the Family. Owning Mahowny, with the great acting talent, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, closes the event.  A total of 29 short films are competing for the Bermuda Shorts Award this year. One of this year’s selected shorts comes from Canadian, Brett Bell whose  beautiful, dark comedy-drama, Blueberry has been seen at dozens of festivals since 1999.  Bell happily cites luck for getting into most of these, considering the sheer number of films vying for admission. 

“If my film plays in Fargo, North Dakota and Fayetteville, Arkansas but not in Oberhausen that’s fine by me.”  www.bermudafilmfest.com

Blueberry did in fact play at The FARGO Film Festival a mere two weeks ago.  The low-temp fest warmed up the city’s beautifully renovated Fargo Theatre, where Canadian Bruce Lapointe’s Two Summers won Best Narrative Feature. But clearly the festival favorite was Perry Grebin and Michael Nigro’s knee-slapping short, Creative Process 473, which won the Jury Award and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Short. Grebin says the theatre is great, but it’s the enthusiasm of the people filling the seats that make Fargo such a perfect place to screen. Grebin and Nigro will soon have a chance to thaw out, they’re screening at Sonoma Valley Film Festival and Newport Beach Film Festival next month.

And with Newport Beach on the brain, the 2003 Festival presents “Meet the Programmers Day” on Friday, April 11th at 1 p.m..  Up to 20 Programmers from around the country will be available for filmmakers to meet and greet. Keiko Beatie, a senior programmer for the festival says, “It’s this unique opportunity that makes Newport Beach such a draw for filmmakers.” The festival runs April 3-11. www.newportbeachfilmfest.com