On Sunday night, the Brooklyn International Film Festival
wrapped with an award ceremony that skimmed the cream from the crop of
this year’s line-up. At the closing night ceremony held at the Brooklyn
Museum, writer-director Alison Murray garnered awards for best feature
as well as the Chameleon Award for best film of the festival for her road
trip flick, "Mouth to Mouth."
The fest also paid tribute to indie film heavyweight, Park Slope actor-director
John Turturro, who’s played opposite Johnny Depp in 2004’s "Secret
Window," and been a staple in films by respected filmmakers, the
Coen Brothers and Spike Lee. Turturro received the Brooklyn Excellence
Award from Brooklyn International Film Festival (BIFF) Director Marco
Ursino.
Ursino told GO Brooklyn, "The Brooklyn Excellence Award was created
as part of the eighth annual BIFF as a way to honor established filmmakers
whose work embodies the mission of the festival to discover, expose, and
promote independent filmmakers while drawing worldwide attention to Brooklyn
as a center for cinema and culture.
"John [Turturro] is not just from Brooklyn, he is Brooklyn at its
best," said Ursino.
While trophies are nice, it’s money that gets a film off the ground. In
addition to her statuettes, BIFF awarded Murray $32,000 worth of goods
and services for her next flick.
For more information about the festival and its ongoing series at the
Brooklyn Museum, visit the Web site www.brooklynfilmfestival.org.
Good, clean fun
Stars from CBS’ soap operas "The Guiding Light" and "As
the World Turns" and ABC’s "All My Children" and "One
Life to Live" picked up their bats at Midwood High School on Saturday,
June 11 for the seventh annual Tammy Rubin Rice Celebrity Softball Game
to benefit the Shorefront Friends for Hospice, based at Coney Island Hospital.
Although she plays mean teen Lizzie Spaulding on "The Guiding Light,"
actor Crystal Hunt showed her kinder side by showing up in Saturday’s
blazing heat to play CBS’ centerfield. The event raised $13,000 for Shorefront
Friends, an organization which provides supportive health services for
the terminally ill.
According to Heather Regina, event coordinator with Shorefront Friends,
the crowd of 500 in attendance "are huge daytime fans, and that’s
why they come." ABC’s fans had something extra to cheer about on
Saturday, as their soap actors beat CBS’s, 13 to 11.
Hunt was one of the returning softball players, having gone to bat for
CBS back in 2003. The 20-year-old actress told GO Brooklyn that she had
volunteered for a hospice organization when she was a high school student
in Florida and believes in supporting the cause. But it still sounds surprising
coming from the person who portrays Lizzie, the character Hunt describes
as a "rich brat" who has burned down a boarding school, pushed
a pregnant woman down the stairs and kidnapped a baby on "The Guiding
Light."
"It’s fun, because it’s not me," said the Emmy-nominated Hunt.
"It’s not something I do everyday, because I’d be psychotic if I
did. That’s cool."
For more information on supporting the Shorefront Friends for Hospice,
write the organization at P.O. Box 245371 Neptune Station, Brooklyn, NY
11224.
Philharmonic turns 50
It was a heartwarming walk down memory lane at the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s
50th anniversary black-tie gala at the Brooklyn Museum on May
5. The swanky soiree, catered by Framboise, raised $501,000 for
the organization, which is currently searching for a new artistic
director after former maestro, Bob Spano, took the reins of the
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Although Spano could not attend, due to health reasons, the newly
installed Philharmonic board member did send along a videotape
with his good wishes and fond memories, as did former music director
Dennis Russell Davies. Fellow former maestro Lukas Foss shared
his memories of working with the Philharmonic live and in person,
while Siegfried Landau sent his in a letter. Other VIPs included
composer and Philharmonic board member John Corigliano and Borough
President Marty Markowitz.
Bringing his trademark levity with his mayor-of-Munchkin-Land
proclamation to the podium, Markowitz thanked Philharmonic honoree,
Keyspan Corporation Chairman and CEO Robert Catell, for supplying
postage paid envelopes with his electric bill.
The Philharmonic also honored Community Preservation Corporation
President and CEO Michael Lappin.
The 300 guests also enjoyed the performance of George Gershwin’s
songs by pianist Leon Bates, bass Kevin Deas and soprano Cynthia
Haymon. The next Philharmonic concert, conducted by Chelsea Tipton
II and featuring violinist Tai Murray, takes place on July 16
at 8 pm at Celebrate Brooklyn in the Prospect Park band shell.