HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2004 OHIO INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, NOVEMBER 7-14, 2004
For Immediate Release: October 21, 2004

Contact: Annetta Marion or Bernadette Gillota, Co-Founding Artistic Directors of
Independent Pictures, (216) 651-7315

Cleveland, Ohio-Highlights include:

· Sunday, November 7, 9a-6p: 5th ANNUAL DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY (DP) WORKSHOP
AND AIVF SALON with Tiffany Laufer (Los Angeles) and Cleveland legend Robert C.
Banks,
Jr. An IP signature event, this wildly popular, hands-on workshop allows
participants to
help DPs light and shoot scenes on 16mm film, which is then screened the next
weekend
at the festival. Fee is $50, which includes lunch the day of the workshop and
admission to
the 2004 OIFF Friday evening, November 12. Limited seating available,
reservations must
be made and paid for in advance, deadline November 4. Location is at WVIZ/PBS-
IdeaStream, 4300 Brookpark Road.

· Monday, November 8, 7p and 8p: Film and Art Opening Night reception at 7p
(free and
open to the public), and at 8p the Ohio premiere of the short LONELY PLACE (When
drifter
Jesse secures a farm job, wife Stella-played by film veteran Tess Harper-is
forced to
reconsider Love's role in the institution of Marriage), followed by the Ohio
premiere of the
feature film NOISE.

· Tuesday, November 9, 7p and 9p: a short film program at 7p, and the Ohio
premiere of
the feature film ENTERTAINING VIETNAM. Many of the performers who toured during
the
Vietnam War were well known ... but not all. The entertainers we meet returned
repeatedly
to Vietnam, hitching rides from base to base to perform on the backs of trucks
and on
landing zones at remote outposts ... some died in the process. Interweaving rare
archival
footage and interviews with veteran performers from Australia and the U.S., the
film offers
new insight into a tumultuous time by taking us to a place only a few really
experienced.

· Wednesday, November 10, 7p and 9p: a short film program at 7p including the
world
premiere of BUSHMEN (A telling satire on President George W. Bush), and at 9p
the world
premiere of the feature film PHOTO-FINISH.

· Thursday, November 11, 9a-8p: OHIO DAY, films written, directed,
photographed, and
starring Ohioans, including at 2p the world premiere of the feature film TURNING
THE
CORNER. A college student, also a quadriplegic, must overcome his slacker nature
to face
the future he has so skillfully avoided. Its not his disability that scares
him, its adulthood.

· Friday, November 12: noon-8p: Short and feature films all day and night, one
highlight
at 2p is the world premiere of the feature film SADAA E ZAN (VOICES OF WOMEN).
The film
is an intimate look at the contemporary challenges facing the women in
Afghanistan.
Composed of testimonials from women and girls, the film offers no easy answers,
but it
captures the resilient spirit of these women as they bravely emerge from the
rubble of
tyranny and oppression, determined to reach freedom.

· Saturday, November 13, noon-8p: Short and feature films all day and night,
one
highlight at 6p is the world premiere of the feature film THE FUTURE OF FOOD.
There's a
revolution going on in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America-a
revolution
that is being fought behind the closed doors of corporate boardrooms, courtrooms
and
laboratories over the use of genetically modified organisms in our food. THE
FUTURE OF
FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the
unlabeled GMO
products that have filled grocery store shelves over the past decade.

· Sunday, November 14, noon-8p: Short and feature films all day and night, one
highlight
at noon is the Ohio premiere of the feature film PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE
SALTON
SEA. There was time when the Salton Sea, tucked into the southeast corner of
California
was known as the Riviera of the West-a haven for jetsetters and vacationers.
Originally
created by accident, it‚s now one of the country‚s worst ecological disasters: a
fetid,
stagnant, salty lake, coughing up dead fish and birds by the thousands. Still,
a hardy few
have hung on there, hoping for help to come along and restore the lake to its
former
glory. Congressman Sonny Bono himself was once dedicated to saving the lake,
until he
went skiing one day. Eccentrics abound in this surreal landscape: the naked guy
who
waves to passing RVs; the man who built his own holy mountain; beer-loving
Hungarian
Hunky Daddy; the guys who plan to get rich someday when this virtual sewer
becomes a
Riviera again. Hair-raising and hilarious, part history lesson, part cautionary
tale and part
portrait of one of the strangest communities you've ever seen, this is the
American Dream
gone as stinky as a dead carp.

All programs are presented at Cleveland Public Theatre, 6415 Detroit Road, and
are $10/
program unless otherwise noted. Surf www.ohiofilms.com for hotel information and
complete festival schedule. Visit ww.ticketweb.com for directions and sales.
Attend the
festival for details on after-festival parties Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
nights.

Independent Pictures is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established in 1993. IP
is the
proud sponsor of the Ohio Independent Film Festival, Ohio Independent Screenplay
Awards, Film Production Training Program, regional AIVF salons, Fiscal Agent
Sponsorship
Program, Speakers Bureau, annual Director of Photography Workshop, and a variety
of
curatorial programs.

INDEPENDENT PICTURES' SPONSORS: Association of Independent Video & Filmmakers,
Audio Visual Rentals, The Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland Public Theatre,
Community
Shares of Greater Cleveland, Filmmaker Magazine, The George Gund Foundation,
Hampton
Inn, www.InkTip.com, Marriott Residence Inn, Media Design Imaging, National
Endowment
for the Arts, The Offset Theory, Ohio Arts Council, Sherwin Williams.

Independent Pictures is a member of Greater Cleveland Community Shares.
Community
Shares supports 35 local nonprofits working for long-term, sustainable solutions
to build
a stronger Cleveland. Learn more about Community Shares and supporting social
justice
through workplace giving at www.communityshares.org.

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Independent Pictures
1392 West 65th Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44102
(216) 651-7315
(216) 651-7317 fax
OhioIndieFilmFest@...
http://www.ohiofilms.com