N I F F : Northampton Independent Film Festival

The NIFF banner                       For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Dave Stawasz
                              (413) 796-2026
                              news@niff.org

Northampton Independent Film Festival
Announces Program Additions

Tickets Now on Sale for 11th Annual Festival

NORTHAMPTON, October 27, 2005 - Advance tickets for the 11th annual Northampton Independent Film Festival go on sale Wednesday, October 26th. This year’s festival runs from Wednesday, November 9th through Sunday November 13th. Advance tickets are available by calling the festival office at (413) 582-1832 in Northampton. Ticket prices are:

$8.00 General Admission
$7.00 Students and Seniors
$10.00 Opening Night Party
$10.00 Opening Night Screening

All festival passes are available online via Ticketweb (www.ticketweb.com) for $125. WGBY Public Television Members get $15 off the All Festival Pass and $2.00 off General Admission and Opening Night tickets. For more information, including screening times and a complete festival schedule, visit www.niff.org.

Festival organizers have scheduled an eclectic and exciting mix of nearly 100 films from a record number of entries. "This year's festival promises to be the biggest and brightest festival yet. I am thankful to the city of Northampton, the filmmakers, and volunteers who make this an extraordinary event," said festival director David Leo.

Leo also announced the addition of several films to this year’s festival, including the critically-acclaimed You Are Alone. Produced, written, and directed by Gorman Bechard, the film is a dark, sexually-charged exploration of just how far a jaded middle-aged man and a depressed 18-year old girl will go to escape loneliness, if only for an hour. The film has already won numerous festival awards, including two Best Actress Awards for Jessica Bohl’s performance. The film will be shown Friday, November 11th at 8:30 p.m. in Smith College’s Graham Hall, and again Saturday, November 12th at 7:00 p.m. in the Academy of Music. Bechard will make a guest appearance during Friday night’s screening.

Also on Friday, Graham Hall will host a 6:30 p.m. showing of The Hole Story by Alex Karpovsky. The film follows one man’s desperate search to unravel a small-town mystery that leads to his maniacal unraveling. The Boston Globe calls The Hole Story “Hilarious … sure to leave audiences laughing at its gentle ironies, groaning at Karpovsky’s outrageous attempts to save the project, and gasping at least once.”

Thursday, November 10th will feature a 4:30 p.m. screening of States of UnBelonging at the Academy of Music. Director Lynne Sachs cine-essay on violence in the Middle East emerges from a two year exchange of letters with an Israeli friend.

On Sunday, November 13th, director Clayton Robey will host a 3:30 p.m. showing of his film When Ocean Meets Sky in Smith College’s Stoddard Hall. The film features a look at Fire Island Pines and the gay community that gathers there every summer. From its founding fifty years ago to today, this community has seen the beginnings of gay liberation, the sexual revolution, the AIDS crisis, and more. Robey will answer questions from the audience following the movie.

The films join the previously-announced lineup, which includes Tim Daly’s directorial debut in Bereft, the award-winning documentary Favela Rising from Northampton native Jeff Zimbalist, and Amherst’s Zoe Weizenbaum in “Missing in America.”

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.

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