Festival > Media > Press Release 09.18.05
Port Townsend Film Festival premiers Friday
Renowned sixth annual big screen celebration to have something for everyone.
Port Townsend, WA, September 18, 2005: The Port Townsend Film Festival takes the main stage Friday as the annual event marks its sixth season in Washington's Victorian seaport.
Highlighting this year's festival are special guests Debra Winger and husband Arliss Howard.
Winger is known regionally for her starring role alongside Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman," filmed on location in Port Townsend in 1982.
On Saturday night, the couple will screen the 2001 feature in which Howard directed and they co-starred, "Big Bad Love."
As part of the ongoing Very Special Evening With series each year, the husband and wife team will provide first-hand accounts of making the movie.
Howard's on-screen credits include Steven Speilberg's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket."
In this year's Formative Films feature Saturday, mountaineer Jim Whittaker will recount how the 1950s French comedy "Monsieur Hulot's Holiday" influenced him.
Whittaker, who in 1963 became the first American to climb Mount Everest, will lead a discussion on how the film changed his life 10 years before summiting the world's tallest mountain.
Visitors to the festival will have a chance to obtain collectable second-day proofs of a new U.S. Postal Service stamp commerating another star at the festival, the late silent film actress Greta Garbo.
Garbo is being featured prominently on festival promotions this year in celebration of what would be her 100th birthday this month. Her 1926 film, "Flesh and the Devil," will be shown Sunday to recognize the occasion.
Port Townsend Film Festival buffs might remember acclaimed silent film composer Michael Mortilla who will accompany the film on piano. He played at the 2000 festival and, more recently, played at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
The closing night feature Sunday, "Ballets Russes," will bring special guests directors Dan geller and Dayna Goldfine, and dancer Marc Platt.
One of many quality documentaries at this year's festival, "Ballets Russes" tells the story of two touring Russian dance companies that gave birth to modern ballet.
Interviews with the dancers, including Platt, is interlaced with footage of the dances from the 1930s-60s. Many of the dancers, well into their 80s, are still prominent dance instructors across the world.
On each night of the festival, the entire community is invited to free features at 7:30 p.m. at the outdoor theater on Taylor Street downtown. Bring blankets, lawn furniture and whatever may be necessary to endure a cool late-September night.
The Spanish language foreign film "El Carro (The Car)" will be shown Friday. On Saturday, the cult classic "It Came From Outer Space" will be presented in glorious 3D, with glasses provided. The Beatles classic "A Hard Day's Night" will be featured Sunday.
A host of other special guests will guide attendees through years of cinematic features, including recently independent films gaining notoriety at larger film festivals across the world.
First-time visitors may want to attend "Eyes Wide Open" at 1 p.m. Friday at The Upstage Restaurant and Theatre. The presentation is a short course in how to watch a movie with Peninsula College film and drama instructor Dan Yezbick.
Pass holders and festival VIPs will gather for the opening night dinner at 4:30 p.m. on Taylor Street, sponsored by the Silverwater Café.
The film festival gets its official kick off at 6 p.m. with "The Devil's Miner" at The Rose Theatre and "Sweet Sixties" at Pope Marine Park Theatre.
"The Devil's Miner" is expected to be a favorite. It is being described by Film Festival Executive Director Peter Simpson as this year's "Born Into Brothels" - a film that last year had audience members appalled at the living situation of prostitutes in Calcutta's red light district.
"Miner" follows a similar path, exploring the life of 12- and 14-year-old brothers who work in a Bolivian silver mine. In a profession where miners are only expected to live 30-40 years, the young boys are employed in underground conditions so deplorable that workers believe not even God can watch over them.
The film will be replayed Sunday morning at the Port Townsend High School Broughton Theatre.
The popular National Public Radio program West Coast Live! returns Saturday morning at The Upstage.
Host Sedge Thomson will broadcast the syndicated talk show as he did last year, taking time to interview festival guests. Thomson is well-known for taking his show on the road and broadcasting from unique locations nationwide to bring the tales of small towns to the ears of big city folk. More information on West Coast Live! is available online at www.wcl.org.
Sunday is the last day of the festival, but activities will continue late into the evening for film-goers who can't get enough.
The annual awards breakfast jumpstarts the day at 9 a.m. with prizes handed out to this year's best features.
Later that afternoon, the popular ongoing Film 2880 series will present the work of filmmakers tasked with making a movie, pre-production to polished feature, in 48 hours.
Following the last of the Sunday activities, the No Host Wrap Party will take place at The Upstage and continue until the last person leaves.
A complete festival program is available online at www.ptfilmfest.com.
Visitors should take note of new features occurring this year.
Classic Hollywood Portraits is an exhibit of beautiful black and white photography of stars at Silverwater Café. A Garbo portrait feature is displayed in the restaurant lobby.
A drop-in theatre has been established at Digital Port Townsend on Taylor Street. The location and program lineup are convenient for people who have some free time before the next feature on their itinerary begins.
Finally, there are a number of panel discussions taking place at The Upstage throughout the festival.
Topics include independent filmmaking and a look at the first features made by freshman filmmakers. In the latter discussion, Internet film blogger Warren Etheredge of The Warren Report, www.thewarrenreport.com, takes a look at how inexpensive digital filmmaking has allowed nearly anyone with a vision the opportunity to make a movie.
Two other panel discussions deal with documentary filmmaking. In recent years, the documentary genre has made great strides at film festivals and award ceremonies.
Ian Hinkle will examine the ethical issues facing documentary filmmaking on Saturday, and how the genre can be used as a social action tool on Sunday.
Event passes for the Sept. 23-25 festival are still available online at www.ptfilmfest.com or by calling the festival office at 360-379-1333. Passes will also be sold at the festival hospitality suite in the downtown Eisenbeis Building, 830 Water St., starting Thursday.
All festival passes include access to film screenings, question and answer sessions and panel discussions on a first-come, first-seated basis.
Day passes are now on sale and tickets for individual movies will be available throughout the festival.
The Port Townsend Film Festival is an annual event envisioned as "a film lover's block party celebrating great films and filmmakers." The event was spearheaded by a group of volunteers in 1999 and modeled after the popular film festival in Telluride, Co. Now in its sixth year, the Port Townsend Film Festival is constantly revising and re-visioning its programming in response to the availability of films throughout the world and cinematic responses to the topical issues of the day.