4/24/97 Contact: Ruth Bradley, Athens Center for Film and Video, 614/593-1330
ATHENS, Ohio -- The 24th annual Athens International Film and Video Festival will feature more than 70 competition films and videos, five guest artists, 12 feature films and, for the first time in several years, the return of the Kids' Film Festival, all during the week of May 2-9.
The special selections for the Kids' Festival screening include about 90 minutes of films for youths beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 3 at The Ridges Auditorium. The selected children's films include the legendary "The Red Balloon," "The Tortoise and the Hare," and other films for children ages 6 through 10. Admission will be free, and children must be accompanied by an adult.
Festival planners received 370 high-quality submissions for the festival competition, up from 230 a year ago, said Ruth Bradley, director of the Athens Center for Film and Video, a project of the Ohio University College of Fine Arts. Bradley oversees the festival, one of the largest and oldest student-run events of its kind. Featured among competition screenings are "Girls Like Us," the top award winner at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, and "Breathing Lessons," the Oscar winner for best short documentary film.
"The lineup this year represents an amazing mix of genres from filmmakers and video artists from across the country and abroad," Bradley said. "This year's festival, like every year, is one we can be proud of. And it's a pretty exciting year for us because we see it as the prelude to an extended celebration next year of our 25th anniversary of creating an important event for this community. We're further boosted going into the 25th year thanks to our continued generous support from the Ohio Arts Council."
The third annual JVC Young Filmmakers' Workshop also returns in conjunction with the festival. The workshop for high school students runs May 2-4, and concludes with a festival screening of the students' films at 7 p.m. May 4 at The Ridges.
Feature films will be shown at The Athena Cinemas, 20 S. Court St. Screenings of competition films and videos and guest artist presentations will take place at The Ridges Auditorium. Guest artists include:
* Jeanne Jordan, presenting her Midwestern farm documentary "Troublesome Creek," at 7 p.m. May 3.
* Riad Bahhur and Tom Hayes, presenting their documentary about Palestine, "The People and the Land," at 9 p.m. May 4.
* James Benning, presenting his film "Deseret," a sweeping experimental piece filmed in rural Utah, at 7 p.m. May 5.
* Peter Kinoy, presenting "Poverty Outlaw," the documentary he coproduced about Philadelphia welfare mothers, at 7 p.m. May 7.
* Michelle Materre and Hebert Peck, presenting a festival feature film, "The Man by the Shore," at 7:15 p.m. May 8; this is the only guest presentation being held at the Athena Cinemas. Peck is an Ohio University alumnus, brother of "The Man by the Shore" filmmaker Raoul Peck, and worked on the film's production.
All guest artist presentations will include a question-and-answer session.
The festival also offers a wide range of feature films. They are:
* "Suburbia," the latest work by "Dazed and Confused" and "Slacker" filmmaker Richard Linklater, chronicling events of disaffected American youth.
* "The Funeral," by Abel Ferrara, a dark drama of gangsters in the 1930s that stars Christopher Walken, Chris Penn and Isabella Rossellini.
* "Maborosi," Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's debut with a story exploring love and loss.
* "Citizen Ruth," starring Laura Dern in an irreverent satire on the abortion debate in America.
* "Palookaville," directed by and starring William Forsythe, the story of three friends looking for easy money to escape their meaningless lives.
* "Kolya," winner of the best foreign language film Academy Award, set in Prague in 1988 on the eve of the overthrow of Communism.
* "When We Were Kings," the Academy Award-winning documentary about the famous 1974 fight in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
* "Lost Highway," which filmmaker David Lynch calls a "21st century noir horror film."
* "Ridicule," an Academy Award-nominated French satirical depiction of the frivolous excesses of court life in the 1780s.
* "Sling Blade," which earned filmmaker Billy Bob Thornton an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.
* "Three Lives and Only One Death," a French film featuring actor Marcello Mastroianni's final performance.
Free shuttle buses will run during the festival from Baker Center to The Ridges 15 minutes before showtimes and will return to Baker Center following the screenings. The Ridges is located off State Rt. 682 across from Ohio University's Athens campus.
Screening times vary throughout the week. Admission to Athena Cinemas screenings is $5 for evening shows and $3.50 for matinees. Two evening shows of each feature film will take place weeknights at staggered times. The Ridges screenings are $3 for evening shows and $2 for matinees.
Passes good for any five shows in any location may be purchased for $20 at information tables during the festival and at the Kantner Hall Fine Arts Ticket Office one week before the festival. For more information, call the Athens Center for Film and Video at 593-1330.