With films and filmmakers arriving from across the globe, the Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) kicks off its 13th annual event August 4th-9th, 2009. This year 235 feature length, documentary and short films - from 57 countries - will be screened over a six-day period In locations throughout the state, all vying for top awards. Out of over 7,000 film festivals worldwide, RIIFF is one of only 63 Academy Award qualifying Festivals. This year's films have been selected from a record entry base of over 3,000 submissions.
The Festival will be presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to acting legend, Ernest Borgnine with the world premiere of his most recent feature film, "Another Harvest Moon." In attendance will be fellow cast members Anne Meara with her husband, Jerry Stiller; Piper Laurie and Doris Roberts. For more information, visit http://www.film-festival.org/Borgnine.php.
The Nathanael Greene Humanitarian Award will be presented to actor, William Shatner at a special evening hosted by the Festival, the Rhode Island Council on the Humanities (RICH) and Rhode Island College. Billed as, "William Shatner Unplugged" the event will feature a question and answer session with the audience and a screening of Kevin Layne's "William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet". For more information, visit http://www.film-festival.org/WilliamShatner.php.
The Festival will salute composer Klaus Badelt ("Pirates of the Caribbean") with the presentation of the Crystal Image Award at the Opening Night Festivities, August 4th. Mr. Badelt will be the keynote speaker at the annual Rhode Island Film Forum on Friday, August 7th and his music played throughout the acclaimed Providence art event, "Waterfire" on Saturday, August 8th which draws over 100,000 participants. For more information, visit http://www.film-festival.org/KLAUS.BADELT09.php.
NBA sports legend, Wat Misaka will be presented the first-ever, Roger Williams Independent Voice Award on Saturday, August 8th prior to the screening of Bruce Alan and Christine Toy Johnson‚ "Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story." Wat Misaka was the first Asian American pro basketball player to be drafted into what is now the NBA in 1947. He helped break the ethnic barrier when the national political climate was still fixated on World War II. For more information, visit
http://www.film-festival.org/WatMisakaAward09.php.
This year, RIIFF will be screening 235 films representing work that were shot and produced in 57 countries. The Festival will include 38 World Premieres and 21 US/North American Premieres. There will be 17 narrative feature films, 71 documentaries and 147 shorts in all genres. Sidebar presentations include: The RIIFF Japanese Film Festival; Providence GLBT Film Festival; The Providence Film Festival (Local Filmmaker Focus); Kidseye‚ International Film Festival; From The North Country: Films From Canada; ...Down Under: Films From Australia And New Zealand; THE Roving Eye Film Festival; Providence World Panorama; The Providence Underground Film Festival; New England Student Film Festival, Vortex Sci Fi & Fantasy Film Festival; and Fascinating Rythym: Music On Film.
"It has been a pretty sensational year for us," said RIIFF Executive Director George T. Marshall, "Entries have been up 22% over last year and have been entered from all over the world. The films submitted this year have run the gamut in themes, styles and filmmaking techniques. If there is anything that stands out it‚ both the growing number of entries in the Sci-Fi and Horror genres and the over all quality now that the HD revolution has taken hold.
"The film work that was entered this year has been amazing. It's been extremely challenging for our judges to limit their film selections. The quality has been that strong. There is no question that during this year's Festival we will have some very thoughtful new cinematic work that will inspire and encourage audiences to respond."
For the third year in a row, the Festival's opening night will be at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC), the elegant and historic 3,300-seat theater in the heart of downtown Providence. The evening will mark the screenings of major new work; several will be world and United States premieres.
Since RIIFF is one of only 63 film festivals worldwide that is accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) the Opening Night has become a crowd-pleasing "Salute to the Art of the Short Film". Last year, more than 2,500 people attended the event.
The festival will also continue with its partnership program for statewide non-profit organizations. Dubbed "RIIFF Community Outreach," the program oversees the donation of 800 Opening Night tickets to local non-profit organizations. The program provides an important fundraising and marketing opportunity and helps to introduce new audiences to the festival.
"If we bring to our event more people in the community and introduce them to what we're doing, then we can encourage them to keep coming back," Marshall said. "We want them to discover something beyond the next Hollywood sequel and to take a risk in supporting independent filmmakers. At the same time, non-profit organizations have an opportunity to be part of a fundraising event which will generate much needed revenues."
For 2009, RIIFF is also introducing a new partner program which links specific film screenings and non-profit organizations.
"This is a new program we hope others will follow," stated Adam Short, RIIFF Producing Director.
"We have spent months working to create events that will benefit several Rhode Island non-profits that incorporate a film screening, a pre or post party and media exposure. All of these events will split-the-gate with the non-profit. Our goal is to create a model for non-profit arts and social service groups to work together in a cohesive fashion in which everyone benefits."
Participants in what RIIFF is calling a "pilot program" are the International Institute of Rhode Island with a screening of "Home Across Lands" directed by John Lavall; the Rhode Island Commission for the Humanities (RICH) and Rhode Island College with a screening of "On the Lake: Life and Love in a Distant Place," directed by David Bettencourt; the Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island, screening "The Lark Farm" (La masseria delle allodole) directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani; and the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation with a special Closing Night program called "Hip Hot and Short."
RIIFF has received national and international recognition. It was listed in the Providence Business News as one of the Top 20 year-round events in Rhode Island. The Boston Globe's Newenglandtravel.com named RIIFF as one of the top five New England film festivals. And, in 2008, it was listed in Moviemaker Magazine as one of the "Top 25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee."
The Festival willl not be short on name actors gracing the screen or working behind the camera: David Arquette, Doris Roberts, Anne Meara, Ernest Borgnine, Jane Lynch, Michael Musto, Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Christopher Lloyd, David Ogden Stiers, Alfred Molina, Jason Alexander, Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow, Ricky Schroder, Annie Leibovitz, Cybill Shepherd, Piper Laurie, Richard Schiff, Sky Soleil, Steven Soderberg, Darryl Hannah, Mira Sorvino, Seymour Cassel, George Clooney, Kathleen Turner, Samuel L. Jackson, Will Patton, Tiger Woods, Charlie Sifford, Jim Dent, Calvin Peete, Arnold Palmer and Tom Everett Scott,
RIIFF 2009 films have come from Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan,, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Palestine Territories, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Serbia/Montenegro, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain,, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. 57 countries will be represented.
This year's film festival will take place at multiple venues statewide, including: Providence and Kingston. These include the Columbus Theatre Arts Center; Providence Performing Arts Center; the Cable Car Cinema; Showcase Providence Place, Bell Street Chapel; Gallery Z; RISD Museum; Brown/RISD Hillel, URI Feinstein Campus Theatre; Providence Public Library; Providence Biltmore Hotel, and the Courthouse Center for the Arts (Kingston).
RIIFF has also become an important event for filmmakers to network and connect with industry people. "What I've learned is there are thousands and thousands of film festivals, but only a few really matter, and RIIFF is actually a film festival that counts," said filmmaker Eric Latek of Phantazma Pictures (Sweet Dreams). According to Latek, it was through his experiences at RIIFF that led him to sign on to two television shows.
Local Filmmaker Spotlight - Independent filmmaker Jake Mahaffy will present two programs of his award-winning short films and features. Jake Mahaffy studied Filmmaking at RISD and the Russian State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, co-founded the 'Handcranked Film Projects' in Boston, and is now developing a new Filmmaking program at Wheaton College, MA as an Associate Professor. Mahaffy's low-budget films have screened in festivals throughout the world including Sundance (2004/06/08/09). He has received support for his filmmaking from Sundance, Cannes, Guggenheim and other festivals and foundations. He lives in Providence with his family.
Rhode Island Film Forum, the event will take place August 7, 2009 at the URI Feinstein Campus, Providence. The Rhode Island Film Forum is designed to provide a networking platform, spur dialogue and get answers to your questions from those who make decisions. For more information, visit http://www.film-festival.org/RIForum09.php.
Scriptbiz‚ slated for August 3, 2009 at the Renaissance Providence Hotel, this popular symposium addresses the ins and outs of screenwriting. Scriptbiz‚ is a two-day workshop that covers the nuts and bolts of being a scriptwriter. For more information, visit http://www.film-festival.org/scriptbiz.php.
The RIIFF Technology Forum, in collaboration the Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This new program is scheduled for Thursday, August 6, 2009. The Forum is a day-long series of workshops focused on the emerging marketing and distribution trends in digital and web-based technologies. For more information, visit http://www.film-festival.org/TechForum09.php.
Additionally, RIIFF will feature these break out programs:
"Producing the Animated Feature Film" with Hollywood producer, Ron Tippe
"Made in Rhode Island" location tour
Some of the RIIFF 2009 Features to the screened at the Festival include: Another Harvest Moon (USA) directed by Greg Swartz and starring Ernest Borgnine; Bitter/Sweet (Thailand) directed by Jeff Hare starring James Brolin; Fifty Dead Men Walking, directed by Kari Skogland with Sir Ben Kingley and Jim Sturgess; Fruit Fly (U S A) directed by H.P. Mendoza; Issiz Adam (Turkey), directed by Cagan Irmak and starring Cemal Hunal; La Masseria Dellee Allodole (The Lark Farm) (Italy), directed by: Paolo Taviani; Like Dandelion Dust (U S A) directed by Jon Gunn, starring Barry Pepper, Cole Hauser, Kate Levering, Kirk B.R. Woller and Mira Sorvino; Love and Savagery (Canada/Ireland), directed by John N. Smith and starring Allan Hawco and Sarah Greene;
"Not Dead Yet (USA), directed by Sam Hull and starring Susan Hess Logeais, Alexander Blaise, David Ogden Stiers, Seymour Cassel; Prince of Broadway (USA), directed by Sean Baker; Promeny (Italy/Czech Republic), directed by: Tomas Rehorek; Stand Up (China) directed by Clara Xing; The Satyr of Springbok Heights (South Africa) directed by Robert Silke; The Vicious Kind (USA) Directed by Lee Krieger and starring¬? Adam Scott, Alex Frost, Brittany Snow and J.K. Simmons; War (USA) and Wellness (USA) directed by Jake Mahaffy.
