Gold Coast Film Fest: Great Cinema in Scenic Long Island

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 22 October 2012 05:00

Written by Brad Balfour

Known for its extensive selection of films as well as its master classes, The Gold Coast Film Festival (October 22 – 28, 2012) held in cinemas throughout Long Island’s scenic Gold Coast towns (including Great Neck-Squire Cinemas, 115 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, NY 11021 and various other locations)has an ensemble of some great films. The selection of films is enormous (over 50 titles), so there’s a great mix in genres, filmmakers, and countries.

Bad Parents (starring Janeane Garofalo) is about parents filling the voids in their empty lives by making their children play little league sports and soccer. Yeah, the story is kind of a late 90’s throwback, but so is Janeane. After the film is a filmmaker Q&A.

Andrew Bird: Fever Year is about an unusual composer and musician that blends genres and technology to create a unique musical sound and also includes a filmmaker Q&A.

If you’ve hung around any college dive bars in the last few years, chances are good you’ve heard inebriated youths belting out Journey’s eternal anthem to stadium rock, Don’t Stop Believin’.  Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey follows the band’s newfound popularity along with their new lead singer, Filipino Youtube sensation, Arnel Pineda, and how he adjusts to life with the band.

The Rabbi’s Cat, based on the French comic book by Joann Sfar (who is also the director), is an animated film about a cat living in 

North Africa that gains the ability to speak and reflects on life and religion through his journeys. The film manages to preserve Sfar’s art style, which combines splashes of color with sketchy and characters that at a glance look simplistically designed, but show a great knowledge in illustration.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of West Side Story, there will be a special screening of the all-singing-all-dancing tale of gang violence and racial tension with a Q&A with original cast members George Chakiris (Beranardo) and Russ Tamblyn (Riff).

If you love bizarre animation or watched MTV when they were still cool then you probably know about the strange cartoons of animator Bill Plympton. Bill will be teaching a free master class where he’ll give some advice for people looking to get into animation and show off previews of his new films and shorts.

Screenwriter and producer David Patterson (Bridge to Terabithia, Don’t Stop Believin’) and Assistant Director Louis Guerra (Homeland) teach a free master-class on making independent films.

The Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckling silent-era classic The Mark of Zorro will get the deluxe retro-treatment with a special screening including live musical accompaniment by Bernie Anderson on Chaminade High School’s historic 1920's- era theater organ.

The documentary Mother of Normandy will get a screening that includes a panel with  Maurice Renaud, director/producer Doug Stebleton, writer Jeff Stoffer (Editor of American Legion Magazine), Dr. Peter Kinney, Henry Roosevelt and other special guests.

The Gold Coast Film Festival’s great selection of films at affordable prices combined with a scenic location at the height of fall makes for a good cinematic outing.

To learn more, go to: http://www.goldcoastfilmfestival.org/

The Gold Coast Film Festival
October 22 – 28, 2012

Various Locations

Great Neck-Squire Cinemas
115 Middle Neck Road
Great Neck, NY 11021

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