WITH A NEW LOOK, AN EXTENDED CHARLOTTE FILM FESTIVAL PREMIERES
AWARD-WINNING FILM WITH NEW YORK AND LA
Charlotte, N.C., 08.26.09 – Discover different at the Fourth Annual Charlotte Film Festival – a weeklong celebration featuring 68 local, regional and International films directed by known and emerging filmmakers and their celebrity casts.
“Amreeka,” makes its national theatrical premiere during the festival Sept. 21-27. The heartwarming story, also featured at the Sundance Film Festival, chronicles a Palestinian mother’s struggle for a new life with her son in America. The film, starring Hiam Abbass, is a universal journey into the lives of a family of immigrants and first-generation teens caught between their heritage and the new world in which they live.
The film, featured Sept.25, is one of eleven invited to the festival, including “Football Under Cover,” a documentary highlighting a soccer game that brings a German team to Iran. What makes this match unique are the players – all women who live in different cultures but share a common love for the sport only men are allowed to attend in Iran.
“The inclusion of invited films will help ensure the quality of the festival as a whole,” said festival founder Louis Gurgitano. “We felt like we owed it to the audience to offer them the best possible films.”
Both films are being presented in partnership with International House, a non-profit organization that serves as a center for diversity and advocates for people of diverse backgrounds.
The Charlotte Film Festival is determined to bring exposure to undiscovered talent and great cinema to Charlotte. This year’s festival, expanded by three days, features more than 15 films from foreign countries, including eight produced by students in Uruguay. The lineup also includes local filmmakers and famous actors such as Michael Madsen starring in “The Killing Jar” and former child star Anna Chlumsky who returns to acting in “My Sweet Misery.”
The festival kicks off the 21st with a free public screening of the classic satire, “Dr. Strangelove” in celebration of a shared 45th anniversary with Park Terrace Cinema. Afterward, the festival will show the opening night film, “In/Significant Others.” The film is a multi-narrative drama that navigates through the different lives of one city’s residents and is directed by local filmmaker John Schwert.
The festival’s closing night film is “The Eclipse”, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. “The Eclipse” stars Ciarán Hinds (“Munich”) as a widower adjusting to being sole caretaker of his two young kids during a literary festival which brings him in contact with supernatural-fiction writer Lena (Iben Hjejle, “High Fidelity”).
Films will be shown at EpiCentre Theaters in uptown, Regal Park Terrace Stadium 6 and Syke’s Auditorium at Queens University of Charlotte. Educational panels include a final cut express lab, self-distribution and financing workshops, a RED Camera demonstration, as well as acting and improv workshops.
The Charlotte Film Festival is a project of Indie Film Force, a non-profit organization committed to showcasing great storytelling, and featuring and debuting groundbreaking independent films. Visit our new site charlottefilmfestival.org for more information about films and ticket sales. Also look for us on Facebook and Twitter.
