Port Townsend Film Festival

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First Features

Last year, the Port Townsend Film Festival launched a new series of three new films called First Features. Each director was offering his first feature-length narrative film. Not knowing how to anticipate the audience response, the three films were scheduled in one of the small venues for one screening only. They all sold out and one, Hank Williams First Nation by Canadian auteur Aaron J Sorensen, was named best narrative feature. An encore screening also sold out. So, this year we're starting in a larger venue and each will be screened twice. If one should win the best narrative feature, it will receive a third screening.

Moderating discussions about these films again this year will be Warren Etheredge, founder of TheWarrenReport, a blog dedicated to the empowering notion that "smarter audiences make better movies." TheWarrenReport also stages three year-round film series in Seattle in addition to regularly hosting free screenings and special events. Warren is also the Curator of the 1 Reel Film Festival (at Bumbershoot)—the nation's best attended celebration of short films. His panel, entitled "More First Features," will be held Sunday at the BIAHC Upstage Theatre and Restaurant.

The Naked Ape
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THE NAKED APE
with Director Daniel Mellitz
and Producer Kathy Mattes

From the Midwest heartland to the deserts of the Southwest, The Naked Ape is a bittersweet dramatic comedy about friendships, insecurities, rights of passage and the death of idealism. In this coming-of-age tale about trying to run away from one's problems, the film's protagonists learn instead that the real change has to take place within themselves. USA, 2006, 110 min.

Director: Daniel Mellitz; Producers: Daniel Mellitz, Kathy Mattes; Screenwriter: Daniel Mellitz; Cinematography: Douglas Glover; Cast: Amanda MacDonald, Chelse Swain, Corbin Bernsen, Josh Wise, Sean Shanks, Tony LaThanh; Print Source: Closed Door Productions, lezone@mac.com
SPONSOR: Elevated Ice Cream

Room 314
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ROOM 314
with Director Michael Knowles

How many stories can one hotel room tell? Well, in this case, five. Five different couples in different relationship stages check into room 314 (on different days) where they avoid and confront their underlying  tensions, desires, and, in every case, their need to be loved. The stories are told by ten talented young actors who are on the verge of major careers. Some language. USA, 2005, 100 min.

Director: Michael Knowles; Producers: John Ramos, Laura Knight, Michael Knowles; Screenwriter: Michael Knowles; Cast: Joelle Carter, Matthew Del Negro, Sarah Jenkins, Michael Knowles, Michael
Laurence, Jennifer Marlowe, Michael Mosely, Robyn Myhr, Todd Swenson, Monique Vukovic
SPONSORS: Peninsula Floor and Furnishing & Swenson Say Faget

Say I Do
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SAY I DO
with Director Ron Vignone

When Ben spontaneously changes the route to the place where he and Sydney are to be married, his decision takes them down a road neither was prepared to travel. To make matters worse, he's asked his best friend to film the day, and is eager to capture every moment. As things heat up and plans fall apart, their relationship is put to the test, giving them (and us) a wedding day like no other. An unflinching and comical exploration of the essence of marriage, Say I Do will leave you asking the most important questions about the journey to happy-ever-after land and the detours along the way. USA, 2005, 90 min.

Director: Ron Vignone; Producers: Fred Schepisi, John Forte, Ron Vignone, Tricia Linklater; Screenwriters: Ron Vignone, Joe Forte; Cinematographer: Christopher C. Pearson; Cast: Ben Koldyke, David Belayche, Pamela Moore Somers, Rebecca Rosenak, Samuel Bliss Cooper; Print Source: vignone@aol.com , http://www.sayidothemovie.com

SPONSOR: Pane d'Amore

Adios Momo
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ADIOS MOMO (GOODBYE MOMO)

Obdulio is an 11-year-old Afro-Uruguayan street boy who lives with his grandmother and sells newspapers for a living although he cannot read or write. He is not interested in going to school until he finds out that the night watchman of the newspaper's office is a charismatic magical"maestro." The watchman not only introduces him to the world of literacy but also teaches him the real meaning of life through the lyrics of the Carnival Pierrots during the mythical nights of the irreverent and provocative Uruguayan Carnival. Uruguay, 2005, 100 min.

Director: Leonardo Ricagni; Producer: Raul Pochintesta; Screenwriter: Leonardo Ricagni; Cinematographer: Pablo Vera; Editor: Marcella Senz; Cast: Mathias Acuña, Jorge Esmoris; Print Source: Artmattan Productions,www.AfricanFilm.com
SPONSORS: The Bishop Hotel & Little and Little Construction

Bon Voyage

BON VOYAGE (DRUM BUN)

Martin, a young German, discovers that his father, with whom he did not have a close, loving relationship, has died in Romania. Nevertheless, Martin decides to give him a proper burial in his home country and thus sets off to retrieve his corpse. Rather naïve and full of preconceptions, Martin finds himself up against the mundane worries of the Carpathian state and instead of Count Dracula he encounters common people in Romania. This award-winning film is a low budget comedy full of surprises, in which the protagonist's harried mentality comes face to face with the simplicity of Hungarian-Romanian life. Germany/Switzerland/Hungary, 2004, 74 min.

Director: Robert Ralston; Screenwriters: Robert Ralston, Felix Theissen; Cinematographer: Györgi Boros; Cast: Felix Theissen, Krista Bíró, Tibor P� iffí; Print Source: Gute Filme, info@gute-filme.com
SPONSORS: Goldfinch Bros., Inc. & Kristin Manwaring Insurance

Go West
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GO WEST  

A gay couple, one a Muslim, the other a Serb, in war-torn 1992 Sarajevo outwits military authorities when one of the men passes himself off as a woman – a situation that lends an offbeat screwball charm to a film that also presents the harsh realities and tragedies of genocide. If being gay is difficult in more reasonable times and places, it is just about impossible in Bosnia where prejudice against homosexuality is especially heightened. Look for Jeanne Moreau in a brief cameo at the end of the film. The film has won numerous Eastern European acting awards, and critics and audience prizes. Bosnian with English subtitles. Some sexual situations. Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia, 2005, 97 min.

Director: Ahmed Imamovic; Producers: Samir Smajic, Ahmed Imamovic; Cinematographer: Mustafa Mustafic; Screenwriters: Enver Pushka, Ahmed Imamovic; Cast: Mario Drmac, Taric Filipovic, Rade Serbedziji, Mirjana Karanovic, Jeanne Moreau; Print Source: alma@art-company.co.ba;www.gowest.ba
SPONSORS: Edensaw Woods & Swains

See You In Space

SEE YOU IN SPACE  

This multi-layered feature tracks the romantic woes of four different couples in the diverse locales of Moscow, Rome, Budapest, and a space station orbiting the earth. A Russian astronaut pines for his tightrope-walking lover. A criminal psychologist suppresses her attraction for a suspected murderer, while her adopted daughter attempts to resist the charms of a wooing biologist. And a hairdresser cares for an aging client whose ear she cut while distracted by violent images on the television news. Hungary, 2005, 91 min.

Director: Jozsef Pacskovszky; Producer: Andrea Hormos; Screenwriters: Jozsef Pacskovszky, Pal Sandor, Francisco Gózon; Cinematographer: Francisco Gózon; Cast: Eszter Balla, Marco Bomini, Foso Nicoletta, Anna Gyorgyi, Ildiho Toth, Natalia Szeliversztour, Ferenc Hallai; Print Source: Magyar Filmunio, kati.vajda@filmunio.hu
SPONSORS: Olympic Energy Systems & Jean's House of Travel 

To Die in San Hilario
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TO DIE IN SAN HILARIO (MORIR EN SAN HILARIO)  

A wild Spanish comedy of mistaken identity where a hardened criminal hides out in a dusty village of eccentrics, only to discover that they are cheerfully planning his death and burial. On the run from a bank heist and flush with stolen cash, a hardened crook's plans go awry immediately upon getting off the train in San Hilario as the townsfolk mistake him for a rich former resident who is scheduled to die and be buried in style. Spain, 2005, 100 min.

Director: Laura Maña; Producer: Julio Fernandez; Screenwriter: Laura Maña; Cinematographer: Javier G. Salmones; Editor: Bernat Vilaplana; Print Source: Filmax International, r.margolis@filmax.com
SPONSORS: PT Computers & Printery Communications

 

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