New York, NY – The 14th Annual Nantucket Film Festival (NFF) rounds out their program of events for the annual festival, which includes a new Comedy Panel featuring Ben Stiller. The festival also announces Harold Ramis as the recipient of their annual Screenwriters Tribute. Passes are currently available on the festival’s website (www.nantucketfilmfestival.org) and tickets will be on sale starting May 29.

 

“Without Harold Ramis, the landscape of comedy in movies would look entirely different,” said Artistic Director Mystelle Brabbée.  “Not only has he ushered in some of the most outstanding performances in comedic history, but he has created a large body of work which has entered the permanent cultural milieu, earning him the title father of modern comedy”. Along with honoring Mr. Ramis for his work over the years, the festival will also be hosting a special 25th Anniversary Screening of the beloved classic Ghostbusters, which Mr. Ramis starred in and co-wrote.  His upcoming film Year One will also close the festival’s program.

 

Continuing this year’s comedy motif will be a new comedy panel event.  Participants include Ben Stiller, Harold Ramis, Peter Farrelly, and John Hamburg.  “With a new wave of comedy so quickly and prominently on the rise, this exciting new event will be an entertaining retrospective of developments in the genre.” said Executive Director Colin Stanfield.  “Our panel is made up of luminaries from different generations and disciplines, and will be a rare opportunity to garner insight into the dynamic nature of how comedy has evolved in film.”

 

In keeping with NFF® mission of spotlighting writers, the Festival will announce the winner of Showtime’s annual Tony Cox Award for Screenwriting at the annual Awards Brunch during the festival.  Members of this year’s jury include Fisher Stevens, Jessie Nelson, and Lili Taylor.

 

Among other awards given at NFF® this year will be the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award, The Audience Award for Best Feature & Best Short, SHOWTIME’S TONY COX Awards for Best Screenwriting in a Feature Film and Short Film, Teen View on NFF® Award, and Best Storytelling in a Documentary Film.

 

Other special events include the uproarious and unpredictable Late Night Storytelling with returning hosts Anne Meara and Peter Farrelly (co-director of the upcoming film The Three Stooges).  Participants include five surprise guests as well as audience members.  Past storytellers include Jim Carrey, Tina Fey, Mos Def, Rosie Perez, Laird Hamilton, Olympia Dukakis, Paul Rudd, Alan Cumming, and Brian Williams. 

 

Also returning this year will be annual fan favorite Morning Coffee, with host Jace Alexander.  The daily panels take place every morning and invite attendees to join festival filmmakers for an intimate mix of coffee, conversation, bagels and shoptalk with some of their favorite filmmakers.

 

NFF was founded in 1996 to spotlight screenwriters, screenwriting and storytelling in today's cinema. Livia Bloom, NFF’s newest addition to the programming team, notes that “with fifteen of our features made by writer/directors, the 2009 Official Selection shows that the voice of the screenwriter in cinema is stronger than ever.”  The festival takes place over five days in June on the idyllic island of Nantucket, MA.

 

Now in its fourteenth year, NFF has become a prestigious annual event within the international film industry.  Screening feature-length and short films in all genres that highlight the art of storytelling, NFF is significant attraction that draws over ten thousand attendees, screenwriters, producers, agents and development executives each year.   

 

Sponsors of this year’s festival include Showtime, Stella Artois, HP, American Airlines, Cape Air, IndiePay, Don Allen Ford, Hertz, Yellow Dog, Inquirer & Mirror, The White Elephant Hotel, Brand Content, and The Beachside Hotel.

  

The Films of the 2009 Nantucket Film Festival®:

 

Feature Films

Amreeka - Cherien Dabis’s award-winning, extraordinary first feature, loosely based on her family’s experiences, brings humor to the story of a Palestinian mother and son’s bittersweet adjustment to life in “Amreeka” (or America).

 

Beeswax - Talented young director Andrew Bujalski makes a splash in the underground film world with this beautiful, naturalistic new film about the romantic and business entanglements of a pair of lively and lovely twin sisters in Austin, Texas.

 

The Burning Plain - Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger star in the directorial debut of screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, Babel, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), in which a passionate affair between a married Texan woman and and a married Mexican man has surprising effects pm his son and her teenage daughter.

 

City of Borders - Hated by Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike, five people risk everything rather than deny their sexual identities in Yun Suh’s humorous and courageous documentary about the tiny, brave gay community in—of all places—Jerusalem.

 

 

The Cove - In this riveting film, a fearless, ambitious crew of international adventurers, led by documentarian and National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, employ military spy techniques to record a horrific secret dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan.

 

The Exploding Girl - College student Ivy (Zoe Kazan) spends a sunny, lazy Brooklyn summer with her mom (Maryann Urbano) and old buddy Al (Mark Rendall) in Bradley Rust Gray’s gorgeously photographed, poetic reverie on the hazy boundary between friendship and love.

 

Facing Ali - Three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali defeated almost every top fighter of the golden age of boxing and symbolized the sport for generations of fans. Now, ten of his acclaimed rivals pay tribute to perhaps the world’s most beloved and inspiring athlete in Facing Ali, Pete McCormack’s enthralling new documentary.

 

Humpday - In Lynn Shelton’s riotous film, Ben and Anna (Mark Duplass and Alycia Delmore) find their domestic routine—and their trust in each other—abruptly shaken when a wild pal dares Ben to enter Seattle’s annual porn contest, Humpfest, with him.

 

The Hurt Locker - Defusing bombs in Iraq, Sergeant Will James (Jeremy Renner) grows increasingly addicted to danger in this suspenseful action thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days, Point Break).

 

The Maid - The ornery maid of a wealthy Chilean household (played by the exceptional Catalina Saavedra) dispatches any threat of competition with passive-aggressive ingenuity in this riotous, perceptive, and acclaimed new film by Sebastián Silva.

 

The Messenger - In the gripping directorial debut of acclaimed screenwriter Oren Moverman (I’m Not There), a young soldier returns from Iraq to his toughest assignment yet: joining Tony (Woody Harrelson) in notifying families—from Samantha Morton to Steve Buscemi—when their loved ones die in the line of fire.

 

Racing Dreams - Kids of all ages will flip for Marshall Curry’s rousing documentary about three competitive racers competing in the World Karting Association's National Pavement Series. Clocking speeds up to 70 mph, Brandon Warren (age 13), Annabeth Barnes (age 12), and Joshua Hobson (age 12) chase the National Championship title, aspiring to careers as death-defying NASCAR drivers.

 

The Reckoning - Documentarian Pamela Yates follows dynamic International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo for three years and across four continents as he issues arrest warrants for Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, and charges Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur.

 

Serious Moonlight - High-powered lawyer Louise (Meg Ryan) resorts to desperate measures when her husband Ian (Timothy Hutton) decides to leave: she takes him hostage in this surprising comedy, directed by Cheryl Hines from one of the last scripts by Adrienne Shelly (Waitress).

 

Still Walking - Voted critics favorite at the Toronto Film Festival, this brilliant, closely observed new film from auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda (Nobody Knows) unfolds over a single day, as a traditional Japanese family reunites on the fifteenth anniversary of their son’s death.

 

The Way We Get By - In a small Maine airport, strength and inspiration are given and received in equal measure.as group of senior citizens use hugs and handshakes to play a critical role in the Iraq war. Since 2003, nearly one million soldiers and marines from across the country have been greeted by seniors like Bill Knight, Joan Gaudet, and Jerry Mundy, who share their candid, wrenching stories.

 

Year One - Jack Black and Michael Cera star as lazy primitives on a hilarious journey in this riotous film from producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and legendary writer/director Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Meatballs, Caddyshack).