Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Atlantic City Cinefest adds Stockton’s City Campus To Venues for 12th Festival



            The 12th annual Atlantic City Cinefest adds Stockton University Atlantic City Campus to Dante Hall Theater as its 2019 venues. The film festival, which runs Oct. 4 to 6, screens some 70 shorts, documentaries and feature films, many from New Jersey filmmakers. Tickets are on sale now. Visit www.dantehallstockton.org
"Stockton University has been a proud partner of the Atlantic City Cinefest, through Dante Hall Theater, and the Noyes Arts Garage since 2012,” said Stephanie Clineman, Artistic Programming/Theater Manager for Dante Hall. “For the past seven years, the two locations have served as the main screening venues and centralized hub of event activity, throughout the festival weekend. 
“We're excited to announce that this year, the partnership will include Stockton’s newly constructed Atlantic City Campus. In addition to Dante Hall, we will be screening films inside of the spacious and stylish, Fanny Lou Hamer Event Room, located in the Academic Center, and in a screening room in the beautiful Residence Complex, along the Boardwalk.”
            The first Ursula Ryan Lifesaver Award will be presented during the Oct. 6 awards ceremony. Named after the late owner of Weist-Barron-Ryan, the iconic Pleasantville acting school and casting agency, the award recognizes lifetime achievement.
Former Lifesaver Award winner, Blanche Baker, returns as writer and director of a musical, “Make America Safe,” a satire on the gun culture. Baker, a co-star of “Sixteen Candles” as the loopy bride sister of Molly Ringwald’s character, will also participate in the annual filmmakers panel Saturday Oct. 5 at Dante Hall. The panel, which also includes South Jersey filmmaker and animator, and festival trustee, Sebastian Foxworth, and trustee and Weist-Barron-Ryan operator, Stefanie Ryan, trustee Jack Skyyler, filmmakers Mark Clauburg and Keith Vaile. Trustee Ned Eckhardt, a retired Rowan professor, will again emcee.
            “As a filmmaker I learned a lot from the excellent panel discussions at Cinefest. The intimate setting of the festival encourages interaction with audience, filmmakers and actors. It is a well run festival with an interesting selection of films across genres. I love it!” Baker said.
Her short answers the question: what if guns were not just a right but a requirement? “What if the motto ‘If everyone is armed there will be no more crime’ became the law of the land? `Make America Safe’ takes a sardonic look at this possible future where rights trump reason,” she said.
As in past years, the Cinefest will present a mix of films, including comedies, dramas and animation, along with documentaries. The lineup includes a lot of annual returning filmmakers: locals like Anthony Picciotti, Vaile and Phil Barnett, North Jersey filmmakers: Clauburg and Larry Rosen, and trustees Skyyler and Foxworth.
For the first time, we will feature blocks of films from students at two high schools
around the state: Northern Burlington Regional and Middletown North.
"We're really excited to showcase our students work from Northern Burlington and to be a part of the AC Cinefest for the first time," said video production teacher James Dowd.
Christopher Cullen, TV film production teacher at Middletown, says this is a great opportunity for students.
“Not only do they have the chance to meet others with their same interest and artistic abilities, but have the chance to network with filmmakers who have been in the industry and get to experience all aspects of a film festival at an early age,” Cullen said. “Being able to screen their work in front of the public to show what they can do is the most rewarding for these students  I think it is amazing that film festivals give these young talented filmmakers a chance to express themselves and screen their work."

Tickets are priced at:
Single block @ $5
Daily Pass @ $25
All Festival @ $40

Check the Facebook page to see when the schedule goes up. www.facebook.com/accinefest/?ref=bookmarks

Video promo by Anthony Picciotti: https://vimeo.com/352789866