Jersey Film Fest starts in A.C.
Garden State Film Festival, relocated from Asbury Park to bigger venues in Atlantic City, starts today and runs through Friday.
THE 12th annual Garden State Film Festival began yesterday in Atlantic City, having moved down the coast from its traditional home in Asbury Park.
The late actor Robert Pastorelli and producer Diane Raver started the festival in part to help invigorate ongoing Asbury Park redevelopment, but in recent years the festival - which has attracted more than 35,000 attendees - has outgrown its North Jersey footprint, organizers say.
This year, with seed money from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the GSFF will be held in various venues in Atlantic City, beginning last night with a special 7 p.m. screening at the Boardwalk Hall Ballroom, of the 1926 silent classic "The Black Pirate," starring Douglas Fairbanks, with live music accompaniment on a Kimball organ (proceeds go to the Historic Organ Restoration committee).
Resorts will host a kick-off cocktail party today at 7 p.m. - guests will include Ed Asner, Diane Ladd and "Boardwalk Empire" regular Franklin Ojeda Smith, as well as talent from the opening night film, "How to Make a Movie at Home," the DIY cult comedy by Morgan Nichols, who will attend. This year's program, which includes more than 180 movies from 16 countries, will run through Sunday (for details, see gsff.org).
Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., the Chelsea Hotel will host a reading of Burleigh Smith's "You Can't Play the Game if You Don't Know the Rules," winner of this year's festival screenplay competition. Actors participating in the reading include Asner, Ladd and Ojeda Smith, a former Stockton College professor who'll receive the lifetime achievement award at the closing-night dinner on Sunday, where honorees will also include Laura Dern (Independent Spirit) and Bebe Neuwirth (Wave of Excellence).
On Sunday at 1 p.m., Trump Taj Mahal, Margate native Scott Neustadter, producer and writer of "500 Days of Summer," will host a seminar in breaking into the movie business.
On Saturday at 4 p.m., at Trump Taj Mahal, Neuwirth and Ladd will participate in a panel discussion about breaking the "celluloid ceiling" in Hollywood.
The award dinner honoring Dern, Neuwirth, Ojeda Smith and others will be Saturday at 6:30 p.m., at Trump Taj Mahal's Tiara Ballroom. Audience awards for favorite festival films will be announced, and Hazlet, N.J., native Paul Castro Jr. will receive the Robert Pastorelli Rising Star Award. Castro Jr. is featured in the upcoming Kristen Wiig/Bill Hader/Ty Burrell comedy "The Skeleton Twins."
Venues for this year's festival include the Trump Taj Majal, Chelsea Hotel, Resorts Hotel and Casino, and Dante Hall. Information on tickets and schedules can be found at gsff.org.