PIFF Brings More Than 50 Movies and Events to Provincetown Over Five Days

Pick up the film fest schedule at the box office, just beyond the
rotunda inside the Whalers Wharf, at 237 Commercial Street, or
in other likely spots, or go online to see what's playing and get
your tickets to see some of this year's most remarkable films.

The 18th Annual Provincetown International Film Festival is underway, running through Sunday night. This fabulous event comes in the middle of June every year, and typically brings more than 50 films and events to PTown in the space of just 5 days.
All over town, and stretching out as far as Wellfleet, there are films, seminars, talks, parties, and events honoring both filmmakers and actors, not to mention various awards to be bestowed on both first-timers and seasoned veterans of the movie industry.
Watch for stars like Cynthia Nixon and Illeana Douglas, and director Ang Lee, among others, any of whom might be found this week walking or pedaling a bicycle down Commercial Street.
You've missed your chance (Thursday morning) to hear Ms Douglas (Goodfellas, Cape Fear, To Die For, Grace of My Heart) talk about her passion for film. But Ms Nixon, this year's Excellence in Acting awardee, and Mr Lee, who is named as this year's Filmmaker on the Edge, will share the stage at Town Hall Saturday at 5 PM as they receive their awards and talk about their work.
As always, this amazing festival brings something for everyone, with feature films, shorts, foreign language, animation, multinational films, narratives, documentaries, student works, character studies, dramas, comedies, a couple of past favorites, and a couple of films with unflinching scenes of things that are downright hard to watch.
The goal of the Provincetown Film Society, and the point of this marvelous annual festival, is "to make Provincetown the global destination for creative exploration in film," and each year we stretch a bit closer to that lofty ambition. We thank the few actual staff members, the tremendous legion of volunteers, the filmmakers who travel all this way, and the local and national sponsors that make this wonderful event possible.
Now go on, get out and see a couple of movies. For some of these, this may be your only chance, ever, to see them.

Provincetown Film Festival Begins Tonight!

More than 50 films and events will be packed into our 17th annual
Provincetown International Film Festival, running through Sunday. 

Our 17th annual Provincetown International Film Festival begins this evening with ten films and events tonight alone, and over the five days of the festival, we'll pack in more than 50 films and events all over Provincetown and beyond. Click here for 2015 PIFF schedule. Tonight's events, all over town, and at the Wellfleet Drive In, include screenings of documentaries, narrative films and shorts, and the festival's opening party at the Crown & Anchor. Thursday will offer us another 24 films and events, and each day of the festival will wow you with choices. Click here for the PIFF Calendar of events, which will quickly and easily show you, day by day, the various screenings, parties and events you will all want to attend.
Click here for the Parties and Events list to find various awards presentations, filmmaker chats, parties and other events you won't want to miss. Check out the "Breakfast With…" series, where a panel of filmmakers will discuss their work and answer questions while everyone has something to eat. Thursday's panel includes folks who have made films relating directly to Provincetown, such as Andrea Myerson's Clambake, about the beginnings and evolution of Women's Week in Provincetown, now one of the biggest annual lesbian events in the world.
Buy tickets online or visit the box office on the first floor of the Whalers Wharf, at the far end of the building, on the edge of the beach. Get your tickets early, before they sell out, and be at the venue at least 15 minutes before the scheduled showtime so you don't lose your seat. If a film you have your heart set on is already sold out, you still have a pretty fair chance of seeing it by "wait listing." You can go the the venue up to an hour before the start time and wait in line for empty seats that will become available 15 minutes before showtime. I've gotten into dozens of sold out films this way over the last 17 years of the festival. It's first come, first served, so get there before the rest of the town gets in line.
Get out and see as many films as you can, attend a few parties, meet a few stars and filmmakers, and enjoy one of the best film festivals in America!

Film Fest Fave Returns to Whalers Wharf

You'll know their voices when you hear the backup singers that
created the sounds of some of the most famous bands of the 21st century. 

You've may never heard of Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Táta Vega, Judith Hill or Claudia Lennear, but you've seen them any number of times, and you've certainly heard them if you've listened to any kind of popular music over the last twenty years or so. They sang the backup vocals for some of the biggest stars and bands in the music industry, like Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, the Rolling Stones, Bette Midler and Sting, who all appear in this splendid movie, paying tribute to these selfless women who made these stars shine both on the stage and in countless record albums through the years.

20 Feet From Stardom is director Morgan Neville's brilliant and loving tribute to the women whose amazing voices and talents helped to raise others to stardom while they themselves stood just outside the beam of the spotlight. This fascinating film earns a standing ovation as it takes us into the lives of these remarkable women who created the sound and character of some of the best bands to ever record their work or to appear on stages around the world. It was the winner of this year's Audience Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival a couple of weeks ago, and is now playing around the country to packed houses whose audiences can't get enough of the great music and the remarkable stories of these extraordinary women. The Rotten Tomatoes movie review website gives it a 98% approval rating (Gone With the Wind got a 96) and Ty Burr, Boston Globe critic, gives it a five-star rating. See the trailer by clicking on the movie title in red, below.

This thoroughly delightful film has been brought back to PTown by the Provincetown Film Society and will play at the Waters Edge Cinema, at 237 Commercial Street, on the second floor of the Whalers Wharf, beginning at 1:30 this afternoon and running through Thursday, July 11th. Check the schedule below. Seeing this movie is also a great way to get out of the oppressive temperatures outdoors, and cool off during this heat wave.

20 FEET FROM STARDOM

Fri-Sat @ 1:30, 4, 6, 8 & 10pm

Sun @ 1:30, 4, 6:30 & 9pm

Mon-Thu @ 4, 6:30 & 9pm

Rainy Day matinees @ 1:30pm

You can always check the schedule at Waters Edge very easily by dialing 508 487-FILM. It's easy to remember, and it will always lead you to the very best in independent film, now available throughout the year in Provincetown thanks to the efforts of the Provincetown Film Society and their ongoing campaign to buy the Waters Edge Cinema, where they continue to support many films that won't be appearing anywhere else within a hundred miles of Provincetown. Support this wonderful theater, and see this astonishing, uplifting film sometime during the coming week.

This Week's Hot Ticket - The 15th Annual Provincetown International Film Festival

PTown's 15th PIFF begins today and runs thru Sunday.

Hold onto your hats... Provincetown's film fest looks even bigger and better than ever before, packing 132 films and events into these next five days. If you count all the shorts (and I certainly do; I'll be seeing at least 20 of them) there are well over 100 films to be seen before the end of the festival on Sunday night. There are panels and seminars, awards events, parties, and a number of opportunities to meet actors, producers and directors of films large and small. Many of the films will be followed by a Q & A session where the audience can ask questions of the filmmakers, producers, actors and directors.
The festival gets underway tonight with food, music, filmmakers and a fun evening at the opening party, at the Crown & Anchor at 9PM. Tonight's movies begin at 7 PM and include 16 short films, three narrative features and a documentary. Tomorrow will bring 48 films and events including a book reading and signing, breakfast with filmmakers, and special screenings of notable films returning to the screen for this occasion, such as Drugstore Cowboy, starring Matt Dillon, playing at Waters Edge Cinema inside the Whalers Wharf at 4:30 PM. Dillon will be in Provincetown to receive this year's Excellence in Acting Award at Town Hall on Saturday at 5 PM.

Call for tickets or go to box office at 247 Commercial Street.

Tomorrow's films include a tremendous variety of short films, many narrative features and documentaries, including Whoopi Goldberg's directorial debut which chronicles the racial and gender breakthroughs of legendary comic pioneer Moms Mabley, playing at Town Hall at 2 PM. Get tickets for any and all of these films and events by calling 866 811-4111, or visit the PIFF box office, located at the Crown & Anchor, at 247 Commercial Street. Festival passes are also available, providing admission to films, parties and events. Become a member of the Provincetown Film Society and get a discount on festival passes, and many other benefits. Get tickets as soon as you know what films you'd like to see because many will sell out. Be sure to be in your seat at least 5 minutes before the scheduled screening time to assure that you get a seat. Since ticket holders don't always make it to the theater, any empty seat will be sold to someone in the wait-list line, so arriving late with a ticket in hand does not guarantee you a seat. Conversely, you can sometimes get tickets to sold-out films by standing in the wait-list lines, which form at each venue 30 minutes before the film's scheduled starting time.
Every day of the festival is jam-packed with so many wonderful films and events that I couldn't possibly begin to list them all. Get the catalog and schedule at the box office, or at the old fire station just west of Town Hall, where you can also buy festival T-shirts and hats. You can also get information online, at http://www.ptownfilmfest.org. Be sure to check this website periodically to keep up with last-minute schedule changes that commonly occur during events like this. Times or venues sometimes have to be adjusted when film prints are delayed in shipping, or other mishaps occur.
Film is a vital part of the character of PTown. See some terrific films during the festival and help to support year-round independent film at the tip of Cape Cod. Click to see John Waters talk about film in Provincetown over the last 47 years or so.
Volunteers are still needed to help us pull off this colossal 5-day event. Send an E-mail to kaledoux@yahoo.com or go to the PIFF volunteer page of the festival website if you can help, and get a free T-shirt and some great perks for volunteering.
This year's closing event will be a block party Sunday night held on Commercial Street, between Bubala's and Enzo/ Local 186, promising sights, sounds, entertainment, special guests and the very popular HBO Audience Awards. See you there!

Volunteer at 2013 PTown Film Fest and Get Some Great Perks!

Volunteer and help us put on the 15th annual Provincetown International Film Festival.

Since 1999 Provincetown has been welcoming the independent film world to our little village for what has blossomed into one of the best film festivals in the country. The schedule is out, so find one and get tickets early for things you want to see (many films sell out) and arrange your schedule so you can help put on this wonderful event bringing us independent films from around the world!
It takes a tremendous number of volunteers to pull off this remarkable feat. I've been a volunteer for all 15 years, right from the beginning, and it's one of the best things I do every year. The Provincetown International Film Festival is one of the greatest events in the country every year for independent films to be seen and appreciated by grateful audiences.  I've met all kinds of "film people" over the years, and have had the chance to have conversations with famous actors, producers, directors, screenwriters, and with many who have served in all of these functions at once in order to get their own tiny, independent films produced and made available to the public.

Gus Van Sant receives his 2002
PIFF Filmmaker on the Edge Award.

I got the chance, for example, to thank Gus Van Sant for his wonderful film To Die For, which I watch again at least once a year, with Nicole Kidman absolutely nailing the part of the local TV weather girl who aspires to greater things and who would do anything to hit the big time. Jane Lynch talked with me about scripted dialogue vs. ad libs in the "mockumentaries" she's done with director Christopher Guest, such as Best of Show and A Mighty WindI.
I'm not a collector of autographs, but Marcia Gay Harden was kind enough after our conversation to write a personal note for me to take to a friend who couldn't get out of work to attend that year's event where Ms Harden was honored with the festival's Excellence in Acting Award. This year that award will be conferred upon Matt Dillon at this annual event which takes place at 5 PM on Saturday, June 22nd, at Town Hall. Get tickets to attend this evening where festival award winners get the chance to speak extensively about their work, with an audience Q & A session as well.

Matt Dillon will be in Provincetown to receive
this year's PIFF Excellence in Acting  Award.

As you can imagine, it takes an awful lot of work to put on a huge event like this one, which will bring 132 films and events to PTown from June 19th through the 23rd.
You can get tickets (or volunteer!) for events like parties, award functions, filmmakers in conversation about their work, as well as screenings of more than 100 films ranging from shorts, animation and documentaries to feature films from around the world.
You can become a volunteer by visiting the PIFF volunteer page on their website, or contact Director of Volunteers Katie Ledoux directly. Here's a message from Katie:

VOLUNTEER!

We are celebrating the 15th year of the Provincetown International Film Festival and we would love for you to be part of it. In order to produce one of the best festivals in the country we need your support !If you love films and want to get the chance to get up close and personal, VOLUNTEER today. Volunteer perks include admittance to the Opening and Closing Parties, a movie voucher for every four hour shift worked, a free t-shirt and on Monday the 24th we have a volunteer party with free food and drink and a free screening of one of the films from the festival!

To sign up please email our Director of Volunteers directly at: kaledoux@yahoo.com

Thanks so much!

Katie

My volunteer experience over the years has included countless different functions such as taking tickets as patrons enter the theater, introducing a variety of filmmakers to the audience, putting up banners at the sponsor's exhibit, ushering at events like the awards ceremonies, and one year I counted ballots for the audience awards given at the closing party at the end of the festival.

Volunteer, get some great perks, and help us put on Provincetown's best film festival yet.

Oscar Nominated Shorts Play at Waters Edge Cinema in the Whalers Wharf

All 15 of this year's Oscar nominated short films will show at Waters Edge Cinema,
 237 Commercial Street, 2nd floor of the Whalers Wharf, Provincetown

Provincetown has one of the very few theaters in the country where you'll be able to see all 15 of this year's Oscar contenders in the short film categories of live action, animation and documentary, in that order. Thanks to the programmers at Waters Edge Cinema, on the second floor of Whalers Wharf, we'll have a chance to see each one of the shorts nominated for an Academy Award before the award ceremony itself is broadcast on TV this Sunday night. You'll also find these programs of shorts each playing again next week. You can see a minute-and-a-half teaser for these terrific short films by clicking on this link: http://theoscarshorts.shorts.tv
Friday at 4 PM (and repeating Monday at 4 PM) you can see the program of live action shorts, which leans heavily toward the dramatic end of the scale this year. Films will include Death of a Shadow, a dark love story set in WWI, along with Buzkashi Boys, from Afghanistan, and Somalia's Asad, both dealing with growing up in a land devastated by war. Henry tells of an aging concert pianist and the enigma of a past love. Curfew, about a troubled man asked to babysit his young niece for a few hours, has been honored by 33 film festivals in the US and abroad.
The animation program runs Saturday at 1:30 and at 4 PM, repeating at 4 PM on Tuesday. Familiar objects become edible in the 2 minute animated short Fresh Guacamole. In The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare, you'll likely recognize baby Maggie from the long-running TV series The Simpsons, as she spends a day at the Ayn Rand School for Tots. Paperman is a 7 minute romantic comedy about an office worker who uses paper airplanes to meet a girl. In the more serious Adam and Dog, the Garden of Eden is populated by Adam and a dog. Head Over Heels is a charming 11 minute claymation film about a marriage turned upside down, nominated 8 times in festivals and award programs, and poised to win the Oscar with 4 other wins so far.

The 5 shorts in the documentary category play in 2 programs, with Program A running 2 hours and 3 minutes, playing Sunday at 1 PM and repeating Wednesday at 4 PM, while Program B runs an hour and 23 minutes, playing both Sunday and Thursday at 4 PM. These films could practically be mistaken for a 5 part anthology of films revolving around human relationships and tough topics like aging, terminal illness and homelessness, yet they are surprisingly hopeful, and, of course, each film was made independently of all the others, each one with excellent reviews. Films include Kings Point; Redemption; Open Heart; Innocente; and the inspiring Mondays at Racine, with 4 nominations to date and 2 film festival awards so far. It shows us a couple of Long Island sisters who regularly open the doors of their beauty parlor to the laughter, gossip, tears and fears of women who've been diagnosed with cancer.

Trailers for many of the films can be found, along with all kinds of tidbits to feed your Oscar fever, at the IMDb website. The Internet Movie Database is the world's leading authority on film, television, actors, directors, movie plots, production notes and anything to do with the big or the small screen.

Most folks, and probably many members of The Academy, never get to see Oscar's shorts, but this year, over the coming week, you have a chance to see each one of them. And if you camp out at Waters Edge Cinema, you could actually see them all before the awards are announced on Sunday.

Waters Edge has been operating under the direction of the Provincetown Film Society, the folks who bring us the annual Provincetown International Film Festival, since April of 2010, when they began serious fundraising efforts to buy the theater, create an additional theater on the site, and commit to bringing independent and art house films to PTown year round. We thank them for bringing us this spectacular series of short films.