The 2005 High Falls Film Festival

Article posted Thu Nov 4 19:41:01 2004

The High Falls Film Festival, held in Rochester, New York, is an annual international film festival that showcases exceptional work by women in film and video. All positions in front of and behind the camera are included, including cinematographers, screenwriters, editors, composers, directors, producers, and even stuntwomen! (Last year, Jeannie Epper, a lifelong stuntwoman--and double for Lydna Carter as Wonder Woman--received an achievement award.)This year’s achievement award honorees include actors Sally Kellerman and Joan Allen, as well as filmmaker Mira Nair (director of Monsoon Wedding and Vanity Fair).

Thirty-eight independent feature-length films will have their Rochester premieres this year, both fiction and documentaries. The festival will open on November 10 with a screening of Sideways, the latest film by writer/director Alexander Payne (About Schmidt). This buddy film features two middle-aged pals (Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church) who drive into California’s wine country for a last fling before marriage. Production designer Jane Ann Stewart will accompany the film. The festival runs until November 14; the screenings are open to the public and tickets are still available.

The artistic director of the festival is Catherine Wyler, producer of the feature film Memphis Belle and producer of documentary films as well. Randi Minetor, the festival's PR Director, expands her responsibilities this year as the Executive Director. Ruth Cowing returns as the festival’s managing director and children’s films curator. Amy Taubin, a contributing editor to Sight and Sound magazine as well as to Film Comment, also returns this year as Programming Consultant.

I attended last year’s High Falls Film Festival, and was impressed with the quality and diversity of the films. The festival provides a chance to see both mainstream and independent films, as well as meet filmmakers and discuss everything from documentary funding to animation techniques. Though the Toronto International Film Festival may get a lot of the attention and the glory, the High Falls festival is smaller, more manageable, and more user-friendly. Each year gets better and better, and a visit to the High Falls Festival is well worth the trip.

For more information about the festival, see the Web site at www.highfallsfilmfestival.com, or call (585)258-0480.