NORTHAMPTON INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2006 DATES

Northampton, MA... The 12th annual Northampton Independent Film Festival (NIFF) opens its five-day run on Wednesday, November 8th. This year's film festival continues the tradition of offering a voice to independent filmmakers with a wide variety of high-quality content at locations throughout Northampton, including the historic Academy of Music.

"We're looking to build off last year, which was the most successful in the festival's history," says Executive Director David Leo. "It's really gratifying how the region and the artistic community have embraced this gem of a festival. It's allowed us to blend the works of local and regional filmmakers with truly outstanding entries from across the country and around the world."

While festival officials are still screening entries, Leo did announce that one film that will definitely make the final cut is Kettle of Fish, from Boston-based entertainment company St. Aire Productions. Executive Producer Laura Bernieri, who has been behind such hits as the Sundance smash Next Stop Wonderland, has been at the heart of Boston's independent film scene for 25 years. Producers include Michael Mailer, son of famed novelist Norman Mailer. Written and directed by Claudia Myers, the romantic comedy features Matthew Modine as commitment-phobic jazz musician named Mel. Mel is forced to confront his intimacy issues when he sublets his New York apartment to fetching English biologist Ginger (Gina Gershon), and then is forced to move back in. "It's just a great, feel-good romantic comedy, a very endearing film," says NIFF Program Director Kate Stefanik. The film, which debuted at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, also features Boston actress Christy Scott Cashman and Fisher Stevens.

Audiences will also be able to see Cashman on screen in another of NIFF's featured films, Disappearances. Based on the award-winning novel by Howard Frank Mosher and directed by Jay Craven, Disappearances is a spellbinding tale of high-stakes whisky smuggling in Prohibition-era Vermont. Shot on location in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, the film stars Grammy-winning singer songwriter Kris Kristofferson and Academy Award nominee Genevieve Bujold.

Other plans for this year's festival call for traditional offerings such as dramatic features, documentaries, animation, and shorts to be joined by family-friendly fare, including a children's program. "Our screening committee has been impressed by the incredible quality of the entries this year across all the categories, so we're confident there will be something for all audiences," says Leo. Another highlight of the festival is a compilation of the best offerings from the Boston Underground Film Festival held in March.

About the Northampton Independent Film Festival

The Northampton Independent Film Festival (NIFF) is committed to establishing a northeast center for the exploration, examination, and celebration of independent filmmaking. NIFF showcases the works of filmmakers whose films demonstrate quality, innovation, and independence in both form and content. NIFF is sponsored by Comcast, WGBY, The Valley Advocate, and 88.5 WFCR - NPR News and Music for Western New England. The Northampton Independent Film Festival can be found on the web at www.niff.org.

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