WILLIAMSTOWN FILM FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES EIGHTH SEASON
U.S. Premiere with Morgan Freeman, Animation Slot, Hitchcock’s Blackmail, Christopher and Dana Reeve Audience Award

The Williamstown Film Festival will present its eighth season in the Berkshires from October 19-29. According to WFF executive director Steve Lawson, the 43 titles on the schedule include ten feature premieres, a rarely-seen Hitchcock, the Festival’s first-ever Animation slot, and a new award named for Christopher and Dana Reeve.

WFF kicks off on Thursday, October 19th at 8 p.m. with the New England premiere of the documentary 21 UP America. Based on the legendary British film series (7 UP, 14 UP, etc.), this version explores a spectrum of 21-year-olds from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles. It will screen at Images Cinema in Williamstown.

Islander

On Friday, October 20th at 2 p.m., the Festival will present the Berkshire premiere of ISLANDER, a haunting drama about a Maine lobster fisherman whose life changes in a heartbeat and who must try and somehow find his way back. At 8 p.m. WFF will screen 10 ITEMS OR LESS, a contemporary comedy directed by Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket). Morgan Freeman stars as an actor researching a new role who drives around L.A. with a Latina checkout clerk. Silberling is flying in for the Williamstown screening which will mark the film’s American premiere.

Saturday, October 21st begins with a 10 a.m. breakfast seminar, "The Animated Life,” a prelude to the new animation slot highlighting a baker’s dozen of shorts at 3:15 p.m. Several directors from that slot will discuss the various types of animation: painted, digital, hand-drawn, live action.  At 12 noon LITTLE FUGITIVE, a powerful remake of the 1953 classic about childhood and the lure of Coney Island, will screen at Images. That evening WFF and MASS MoCA will team up to present Alfred Hitchcock’s silent classic BLACKMAIL at MoCA’s Hunter Center with a live score by the Alloy Orchestra. Following the film, the Alloy will talk about how they create their unique sound as well as the movie scores of Hitchcock’s Hollywood period. 

Sunday, October 22nd offers an 11 a.m. brunch screening of FULL GROWN MEN, in which Matt McGrath portrays a man obsessed with his childhood who talks an old pal into a road trip to end all. This New England premiere will close WFF's first weekend.

Weekend II kicks off Thursday, October 26th at 8 p.m. with the East Coast premiere of WIDE AWAKE, Alan Berliner’s poignant and hilarious documentary about his lifelong struggle with sleep deprivation. Friday, October 27th starts off at 2 p.m. with the New England premiere of OFF THE BLACK, starring Nick Nolte as an over-the-hill baseball coach who persuades a local kid to impersonate his son at a reunion. Back in North Adams at 8 p.m., WFF returns to MASS MoCA with the Massachusetts premiere of the riveting psychological thriller STEPHANIE DALEY. Winner of the screenplay award at Sundance, Hilary Brougher’s film follows the emotional roller coaster between a girl accused of a dark crime (Amber Tamblyn) and the doctor assigned to her case (Tilda Swinton).

The Treatment

Saturday, October 28th begins with the always popular All-Shorts Slot at 10:00 a.m. At 1:00pm all four narrative feature directors from the weekend will team up in “Juggling the Hats,” a lunch seminar exploring the perils (and the pleasures) of being both writer and director of your own film. This will be followed at 3:15pm with the Massachusetts premiere of THE TREATMENT, in which a New York teacher tries to escape his shrink through an affair with a beautiful young widow. The film was named “Best Film Made in New York/2006" at this spring’s Tribeca Film Festival.

At 8 p.m., the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute will be the site of WFF's annual Gala. Previous evenings have featured Patricia Clarkson, John Frankenheimer, David Strathairn, Sigourney Weaver, and Alec Baldwin, and this focus of this season's Gala will be announced soon. The Gala will be followed by a champagne-and-dessert party in the Clark's courtyard and a special presentation - the first prize ever given by WFF. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Audience Award, named for two former Advisory Board members and loyal friends of WFF, will be given to the season's top narrative short as determined by balloting during the Festival.

The WFF season wraps on Sunday, October 29th with the 11:00 a.m. brunch screening of SHUT UP AND SING, the “Big Chill”-like reunion of a college a cappella singing group whose members’ hangups about career blocks and aging somehow pale in the face of music. Director Bruce Leddy performed with such a group while a student at Williams, and a mini-concert is being planned to complement the screening. 
 
To order tickets or discount Passes or receive a copy of the WFF season brochure, call (413) 458-9900 or go to www.williamstownfilmfest.com