The Niagara Falls International Film Festival (NFIFF) today announced the film and events lineup for its debut, September 26-29. NFIFF will open with a Red Carpet Gala on Wednesday, September 26 at The Rapids Theatre (1711 Main Street) celebrating Academy Award-winning Costume Designer Mark Bridges (THE ARTIST, PHANTOM THREAD) and Visual Effects Artist Craig Barron (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON). The Gala celebration and Opening Night reception will feature the presentation of The Key to the City and a star on the Niagara Falls Walk of Fame to native son, Bridges, by Niagara Falls’ mayor, Paul Dyster. The evening will also include the presentation of NFIFF’s first Legacy Award to Barron.

NFIFF will close with Matthew J. Weiss’s heartfelt documentary MAN IN RED BANDANA about Welles Remy Crowther, a man who saved many lives during the 9/11 attack on New York City. The film is narrated by Gwyneth Paltrow. The screening will be preceded by Annalaura di Luggo’s documentary short, BLIND VISION. Following the screenings at the Riviera Theatre (67 Webster Street) on Saturday, September 29, will be a Special Tribute with a portion of the proceeds going to charities benefitting Firefighters and First Responders, as well as the presentation of an award to the family of Welles Remy Crowther during the Filmmaker Awards ceremony.

 

Niagara Falls International Film Festival is an outgrowth of the successful Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival, which has celebrated independent film and featured the work of local filmmakers for the past 15 years. NFIFF was created with a vision to build on that success and grow to deliver a bigger, better, and stronger film experience for Western New York. This year’s edition will include a total of 11 feature-length films and 24 short films.

Niagara Falls International Film Festival’s Founder and President Bill Cowell said, “It’s exciting to bring the best of Hollywood – in the person of our two Academy Award-winning film artist guests – to preside over a wonderful four-day schedule of films, panels, parties, and events that will bring outstanding independent films from around the country and the world, together with the best work that local filmmakers have created over the past year. The schedule is jam-packed for film lovers that are hungry for more than they can routinely get at the multiplex.”

 

 

Highlights among the film lineup will include the East Coast premiere of Melora Walters’s drama, WATERLILY JAGUAR, starring Mira Sorvino and James Le Gros. Walters is best known for her appearances onscreen in Paul Thomas Anderson’s classic films, BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA, With WATERLILY JAGUAR, Walters makes her feature film writing and directing debut telling the story of a writer whose life spirals out of control as he attempts to reclaim his fame as a novelist by writing something more serious. Ari Gold’s THE SONG OF SWAY LAKE stars Rory Culkin as a music collector who recruits his friend to help him steal a rare record from his own family. The film also stars Robert Sheehan, Elisabeth Peña and Brian Dennehy. Justin Foia’s DOE is a thriller about a man who wakes up not knowing who he is, but with the ability to speak dozens of languages. Now he must race against time to discover his true identity. Jonathan Piumelli, producer of both WATERLILY JAGUAR and DOE, will be attending.

 

Other notable feature films among NFIFF’s first lineup include two from South America, and a third film from Cuba, including; Javier Zevallos and Francisco D’ Eufemia’s Argentinian film ESCAPE FROM PATAGONIA, a gaucho-western based on the life of Argentinian pioneer Francisco P. Moreno; Ruth Caudeli’s Colombian film EVA & CANDELA, about a star-crossed romance between two women, and Arturo Sotto Díaz’s Cuban thriller MANTI’S NEST, about a young woman with limited time to convince the authorities she didn’t commit a murder.

 

 

While the Buffalo Niagara FF traditionally honored accomplished actors, directors, etc., NFIFF intends to set a precedent in the film festival’s inaugural year by taking the opportunity to honor the film artists behind the camera and shine the spotlight on their achievements. Conveniently, Niagara Falls happens to have a local talent that very much fits the bill this year: Mark Bridges. Bridges, who won Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Costume Design for THE ARTIST (2011), and PHANTOM THREAD (2017), as well as receiving an Oscar nomination for INHERENT VICE (2014), will also participate in a “Conversation on Film.”

 

Craig Barron, was an Academy Award recipient for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2009), as well as previously having received a nomination for Best Effects, Visual Effects for BATMAN RETURNS (1992). He will be honored with NFIFF’s first Legacy Award, honoring those who have made significant contributions to the art of making film. Barron will participate in a special F/X Seminar/Workshop on Friday, September 28 at the Regal Cinemas (720 Builders Way), prior to a screening of David Fincher’s classic, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.

 

Friday will also include a Filmmakers’ Panel “From Concept to Completion” for filmmakers and film fans that will include top industry pros like Stanley Isaacs (Director, SOMETIMES LUCKY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SMART: CONVERSATIONS WITH MACE NEUFELD), Alyn Darnay (Director, SHADOW FIGHTER), and Jonathan Piumelli (Producer, WATERLILY JAGUAR, DOE). The NFIFF panels and seminars will be designed to be entertaining for people that love movies as well as send the aspiring filmmaker home with tangible knowledge they can put to use the very next day.

Passes and tickets to the Niagara Falls International Film Festival can be found at http://nfiff.com.

 

The 2018 Niagara Falls International Film Festival (NFIFF) official selections:

NARRATIVE FEATURES

THE COLOSSAL FAILURE OF THE MODERN RELATIONSHIP (2015)

Director: Sergio Navarretta

Country: USA, Running Time: 102 min

A woman’s brief encounter with her boyfriend’s charming boss leads to an affair. Overwhelmed by guilt, she breaks it off to make a final attempt to save her relationship.

 

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2008)

Director: David Fincher

Country: USA, Running Time: 166 min

Award-winning film tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who is born old and begins aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

 

DOE

Director: Justin Foia

Country USA, Running Time: 97 min

A man wakes up with no memory of his past but the ability to speak dozens of languages fluently. After finding a clue about his former self, he will race against time to discover his true identity.

 

ESCAPE FROM PATAGONIA (2016)

Directors: Javier Zevallos and Francisco D’ Eufemia

Country: Argentina, Running Time: 80 min

ESCAPE FROM PATAGONIA is a gaucho-western film set in the tumultuous Patagonia of the late 19^th Century. It is a story of survival, based on the personal diary of Argentinian pioneer Francisco P. Moreno.

 

EVA & CANDELA

Director: Ruth Caudeli

Country: Colombia, Running Time: 93 min

Eva and Candela face the end of their relationship. They met and fell in love but what brought them together would separate them. Their professional dreams would become their end.

 

MANTI’S NEST

Director: Arturo Sotto Díaz

Country: Cuba, Running Time: 119 min

In the summer of 1994 in the small Cuban village of Siboney, during the migratory crisis with the United States, a young woman named Sugar has only ten days to convince her defense attorney and the public prosecutor that she is not guilty of murder.

 

THE SONG OF SWAY LAKE

Director: Ari Gold

Country: USA, Running Time: 94 min

Music collector Olie Sway recruits his only friend, a rowdy Russian drifter, to help him steal a 78 record from his own family’s estate.

 

WATERLILY JAGUAR                                           EAST COAST PREMIERE

Director: Melora Walters

Country: USA, Running Time: 89 min

Bob, a famous novelist, seeks to write a more serious book, only to find himself tumbling down a spiral of obsession that may leave his most important relationships in shambles, including his marriage.

 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

DINKHELLER

Director: Patrick W. Shaver

Country: USA, Running Time: 81 min

Twenty years ago, Georgia Deputy Kyle Dinkheller was brutally murdered along a cold stretch of highway in rural Georgia. That death was recorded in what has become the most infamous police dash cam video ever captured.

 

MAN IN RED BANDANA

Director: Matthew J. Weiss

Country: USA, Running Time: 83 min

Documentary focuses on Welles Remy Crowther, who saved at least ten people on September 11, 2001, at the cost of his own life.

 

SOMETIMES LUCKY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SMART: CONVERSATIONS WITH MACE NEUFELD

Director: Stanley Isaacs

Country: USA, Running Time: 50 min

Award winning producer Mace Neufeld, one of the giants in the entertainment industry, candidly discusses his life and career from the early days of live television to producing blockbuster motion pictures. Interviews with associates from Neufeld’s storied career include Harrison Ford.

 

SHORT FILMS

APOLLYON

Director: Matt Burkett

Country: USA, Running Time: 7 min

 

ASCENSION

Director: Justin Adams

Country: USA, Running Time: 10 min

 

THE AWAKENING

Director: David Prosser

Country: UK, Running Time: 8 min

 

BEFORE THE FALL

Director: Kamelya Alexan

Country: USA, Running Time: 11 min

 

BLESS ME FATHER

Director: Paul Horan

Country: USA, Running Time: 16 min

 

BLIND VISION (screens prior to MAN IN RED BANDANA)

Director: Annalaura di Luggo

Country: Italy, Running Time: 20 min

 

CHARMING

Director: Tom Albanese

Country: USA, Running Time: 17 min

 

COWBOY JOE

Director: Jingjing Tian

Country: USA, Running Time: 6 min

 

THE DANCER

Director: Aubrey Mozino

Country: USA, Running Time: 6 min

 

FANMAN’S BASEMENT

Director: Drew Lewis

Country: USA, Running Time: 7 min

 

GLASS

Director: Alex Kyle Young

Country: USA, Running Time: 14 min

 

HATCHBACK

Director: Robert Pugh

Country: UK, Running Time: 15 min

 

I’M TAKING YOU HOME

Director: Jim De Koch

Country: USA, Running Time: 7 min

 

THE INBOUND INTERCEPTION

Director: Daniel James

Country: USA, Running Time: 28 min

 

KREIG

Director: Jeff Fry

Country: USA, Running Time: 39 min

 

LOCAL BUSINESS

Director: Joachim Tingle

Country: Canada, Running Time: 5 min

 

PAPPY’S WORLD

Director: Matt Wisniewski

Country: USA, Running Time: 9 min

 

PI

Director: Chun Gee Hong

Country: USA, Running Time: 11 min

 

PRIVATE LIFE

Director: Gregory L. Williams

Country: USA, Running Time: 22 min

 

RIVERS

Director: Graciela Cassel

Country: USA, Running Time: 8 min

 

THE SECOND LOSS

Director: Ryan Gangemi

Country: USA, Running Time: 7 min

 

STING OF THE CACTUS

Director: Bekky O’Neil

Country: Canada, Running Time: 3 min

 

TALES OF DARKENED LIGHT – RUNAWAYS

Director: Rick Masi

Country: USA, Running Time: 18 min

 

WAKE-UP TIME

Director: Jordan Clapprood

Country: USA, Running Time: 12 min