Contact: Associate Professor of Film Ruth Bradley at (740) 593-1330 or bradley@ohio.edu
For a full screening schedule, check out the Web at www.athensfest.org

ATHENS, Ohio (April 25, 2000) -- The 27th annual Athens International Film and Video Festival opens April 28 and features dozens of films for every type of movie-goer, from those who favor unusual and experimental pieces to those who prefer movies starring such heavy-hitters as Harvey Keitel and Forrest Whitaker.

"We try to program works that meet the needs of all Athens people, especially those who often get overlooked," said Associate Professor of Film Ruth Bradley. "We're all about bringing groups of people with different interests together."

Anchoring this year's nine-day festival, sponsored by the Ohio University-based Athens Center for Film and Video, is the presentation of "Wandering Souls: Tet '68 Remembered," a documentary directed by local resident and alumna Blis Hanousek DeVault. The film, a production of WOUB Television, chronicles the return of Athens native and veteran Dave Garrod to Vietnam. Veterans groups from Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia have been invited to attend the screening, which is at 7 p.m. May 1 in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

Another film, "Juha," is a contemporary tongue-in-cheek update of the silent film genre by Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki. Shot entirely in black and white and using no verbal dialogue, the film tells the story of a cabbage farmer whose wife gets lured away to the city by a shady traveler. It will be presented at 7 p.m. May 3 in Memorial Auditorium.

A silent film of another kind is part of the festival's Guest Artist Series. "Compensation," directed by former Antioch College Professor Zeinabu Irene Davis, follows two parallel love stories set during different decades in Chicago. Both stories involve a deaf woman and a hearing man and star an African-American deaf actress. An interpreter will sign throughout the film, which Davis will screen at 9 p.m. April 29 at The Ridges Auditorium.

Also visiting Athens for this year's festival is Dayton-based filmmaker Ed Radtke with his road movie "Dream Catcher." The film, which won Radtke the best director award at the Los Angeles Film Festival and received three out of four stars from The Chicago Tribune, follows two teen-age boys who take to the road to find answers to their problems and their long-lost parents. The film, shot almost entirely in Dayton, is partially based on Radtke's experiences as a young adult hitchhiker. It will be presented at 7 p.m. May 4 at The Athena Cinema.

Radtke recently spent a week at Passion Works Studio, a local studio that provides artistic opportunities for people with developmental disabilities. While there, he helped clients produce their own films, including a road movie based on a trip to Nelsonville, which will be shown in an installation at Seigfred Gallery in Seigfred Hall beginning at 5 p.m. May 1.

Besides "Dream Catcher," 13 other feature-length films will be shown at The Athena Cinema. "Ghost Dog," directed by Ohio native Jim Jarmusch and starring Forrest Whitaker, tells the story of a mysterious hit man with Eastern philosophical leanings who tries to stay alive when the mob double-crosses him. Jane Campion, director of "The Piano," reunites with Harvey Keitel for "Holy Smoke," in which Keitel, a cult-deprogrammer, matches wits with a not-so-victimized Kate Winslett.

Also showing at the Athena are this year's winner of the Oscar for best foreign film language, "All About My Mother," multiple Oscar-winner "Topsy Turvy," Tony-award winner Julie Taymor's Shakespearean adaptation "Titus," director Harmony Korine's "Julien Donkey-Boy," "The Cup," the Canadian apocalypse film "Last Night," the "Magnolia"-esque "Beautiful People," winner of the Palme D'Or at Cannes 1999 "Rosetta," Doris Wishman's "Double Agent 73" and Errol Morris's "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr."

An eclectic array of films and videos in the competition portion of the festival will be shown nightly at The Ridges Auditorium. Some, like "The Mullet Uncut," a documentary about the mullet hairstyle, and "Burning Contour Matrix," an experimental short film in 3-D, focus on the unusual. Others, like "Spirit of My Mother," which tells the story of a woman who returns to Honduras to mourn her mother, and "Newark Boys Choir: Roots," a documentary that chronicles an inner-city choir's trip to South Africa, deal with more serious subjects.

Special events at The Ridges Auditorium include "Lights, Camera, Animal!" a free outdoor screening of several competition films, at 9 p.m. April 30 and "The Cream of Athens Homegrown," which showcases the best work of local film and video makers, at 9 p.m. May 2. Winners of the competition will be shown again at two "Best of the Fest" screenings at 7 and 9 p.m. May 6.

Tickets for individual shows are $4, except "Wandering Souls," which is $5. Six-show passes, good for all screenings except "Wandering Souls," cost $20 and are available from noon and 4 p.m. at Kantner Hall Box Office and at The Ridges and Athena Cinema box offices. To order tickets, call (740) 593-4800.

For screening times and more information, visit the festival web site at www.athensfest.org