Red Carpet Rolled Out for 6th Annual Film Festival
By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
As she prepared for this years Garden State Film Festival, which will take place in Asbury Park April 3 through 6, festival executive director Diane Raver described herself as calm, cool and collected.
Its great to have the confidence of the city. I had no idea it would grow this big this quickly, she said.
Area residents will be able to party with the stars this weekend as special events are planned throughout the city for this years festival, the sixth.
The festival will take place at various venues throughout Asbury Park.
 Coaster Photo: Aaron Coleman rolls out the red carpet at Mattison Park in Asbury Park in preparation for this years Garden State Film Festival which opens April 3. |
Aaron Coleman, special events planner for Mattison Park, said the restaurant has been specially designated by Starline Films as the after, after party place.
Mattison Park is hosting a pre-festival party at 11:30 p.m. tonight (April 3), where many of the celebrities who are on the list to attend, will unwind.
The doors to the party will open at 10 p.m. to residents on a special guest list who will get to party with the celebrities, Coleman said.
Room on the guest list is still available, he said.
Mattison Park will be laying out a full menu and drinks, along with a red carpet and red rope line to greet guests.
Im really excited. Its great we are going to bring thousands of people to town. It will help the downtown and people can see the new Asbury, he said.
Coleman, who has owned a home on the lake in Ocean Grove for nine years, said several of the restaurants in town, such as Synaxis and The Harrison, have committed to staying open until 2 a.m.
Mattison Park is located on Mattison Avenue., while the other two restaurants are on Cookman Avenue.
If our place gets full well send people over that way, Coleman said.
Raver said Asbury Parks Director of Commerce Tom Gilmour complimented her on this years event.
It looks like you hit a home run, he told her.
Raver said she would be surprised if the number of attendees didnt fall between 13 to 15 thousand at this years event.
Especially with Freeheld and Greetings from the Shore, she said of two films with local ties being shown.
Of the 153 films in the festival, 57 have a New Jersey connection.
And they are the creme-de-la-creme, she added.
The Grand Opening for the festival is Fri., April 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Grand Arcade in Convention Hall.
There will be cocktails and celebrities followed by Flyboys, which is one of the best films Ive ever seen. Its riveting….its unbelievable that an indie film could pull that off.
Its a movie for the kids as well, Raver said. And I like that.
Tickets for films may be purchased at the door at each of the nine venues.
Its just like going to the movies; you just go to the movies, she said.
Frank DAlessandro, director of the Stephen Crane House, Fourth Avenue, is hosting three sessions of short films on Saturday.
Although DAlessandro said on Tuesday that he had not been formally contacted by the GSFF organization the Stephen Crane House will be open and ready to perform its duties.
Ill put on a pot of coffee if they want, he said. Id be happy to do whatever they want, its quite an honor.
DAlessandro also said he will provide DVD players or projectors if needed.
Showings at the Crane House begin at noon with several short films, with the second session beginning at 2:30 p.m. and including Asbury Park a short film by former Jersey resident Eileen Myers whose parents live in Ocean Grove.
This year writer and Oscar-winning screenwriter Budd Schulberg who wrote the film classic On the Waterfront, will be honored with a lifetime achievement award for screenwriting.
Montel Williams is attending the premier and reception of 4Chosen, a film about racial profiling and New Jersey State Police, on April 3
The event is a benefit for his MS foundation.
The film will be shown at the Paramount Theatre at 7 p.m. with a reception to follow.
Veteran actor Paul Sorvino stars in Greetings From The Shore
It is a story about a young girl still reeling from the death of her father, while spending one last summer at the Jersey Shore before heading off to college.
The film is part memoir, part fairy tale and was shot in Lavallette, New Jersey, in the same seaside town where the real events occurred to writer Gabrielle Berberich.
New Jersey actor Danny Aiello, will not only be giving special singing presentation he will announce his directorial debut of Anyones Son, which will be previewed at the festival.
Chris Costello, daughter of Hollywood legend Budd Costello, will accept a Lifetime Achievement Award for acting on behalf of her father.
This years event far exceeds our greatest expectations as a young festival. To have such honored guests and industry veterans in Asbury Park is the culmination of an exceptional Board of Directors and a very hard working group of volunteers Raver said.
General admission tickets are $10 for each two-hour block of films, and can be purchased in advance on the GSFF web site, www.gsff.org, or any of the venues.
An all-regular weekend festival pass will be available for $40, which entitles the bearer to all events except the Awards Dinner.
Two films detailing the difficulties of same sex couples trying to reap the benefits of health care will also be shown.
In Sickness and in Health, chronicles three couples in the Garden State who filed lawsuits, along with four others, in the hopes of legalizing same-sex marriage.
One couple faces the cruel ordeal of having a loved one afflicted with ALS.
Freeheld is the real life story of a same-sex couple from Ocean County who fight for ones health insurance to cover the illness and death from cancer of the other.
The story was widely covered in the Shore area and the film won an Oscar this year for Short Documentary.
Tickets for the special screening and reception are $25 and can be purchased at the event; or on the GSFF web site, www.gsff.org.
The GSFF is also seeking volunteers to assist with this years festival and sponsors to support the efforts of the non-profit organization.
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