RSS 2.0 FeedJuly 8, 2011, Cover Stories, Bellmore Life
Bellmore’s film expo opens - Local filmmakers debut new works July 7-14
14th annual Film Fest has kicked off.
LONG ISLAND UNCOVERED: Bellmore’s Sal Del Guidice “uncovers” the Long Island music scene in his latest film, set to show Saturday, July 9, at 7 p.m. Check out more photos here.
The Long Island International Film Expo (LIIFE) will hold its 14th annual annual acclaimed film festival installment at the historic Bellmore Movies from July 7-14, showing over 115 films from around the world.
Nassau County Film Office Director Debra Markowitz remarked that documentaries will be front-and-center at this year’s festival. “Eleven documentaries were released theatrically last year, more than any other year to date, and even our programming lends to the fact that this is the year of the documentary,” she said.
While critically acclaimed short and feature-length, student and animated films will be presented, the abundance of documentaries and foreign films will take the lead this year.
Award-winning Bellmore filmmakers
This year’s film expo presents two award-winning Bellmore filmmakers who will debut their latest films, “Long Island Uncovered” and “Experiencing Aging.”
Leslye Abbey, showing “Experiencing Aging,” won LIIFE’s Best Humanitarian Film award for 2006’s “Bayou Landfall,” while Sal Del Giudice won LIIFE’s 2010 Best Documentary award for “Miracle Ball.”
Ms. Abbey was joined by Jennifer Mihovich and Dan Bellusci in making her latest film – through her Snowflake Studios – that follows Professor Catherine Papell and captures how she copes with aging and letting go of many things she used to do so well.
The film is originally based on a paper Dr. Papell wrote about the aging process.
A social worker, she characterizes her life by taking action that feels right, and the filmmakers show several examples of that.
Dr. Papell, MSW, DSW, Professor Ememrita – or as her friends call her, Katy – was born in Michigan in 1916. After attaining two Master’s degrees she went on to receive her doctorate in social welfare at Yeshiva University in 1979.
With a dedication to teaching, Dr. Papell has taught many facets of social work curriculum as a professor at Adelphi University School of Social Work. She and her friend, Dr. Buelah Rothman, were founders of the Professional Journal of Social Work with Groups. She was the driving force in the creation of the Association for Advancement of Social Work with groups, AASWG, an international society.
EXPERIENCING AGING: Bellmore filmmaker Leslye Abbey explores the grace of aging, which shows on Tuesday, July 12, at 2:30 p.m.
A longtime resident of Flushing, Queens, Dr. Papell enjoys living within a community rich in diversity. Her belief in outreach and helping others is evident in her work in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens.
Upon her retirement and after 9/11, she went to an Afghan mosque in her neighborhood and befriended the imam’s youngest daughter, Afifa, and became involved in her group, Women for Afghan women.
Interviews throughout the film ask aging people tough but sensitive questions about death, about losing friends as they get older and about what they think may be next in their lives.
The film focuses largely on Dr. Papell and many of the things that she has experienced in her lifetime, such as her marriage, her passion for the piano and her other passions that she has had throughout her life.
The filmmakers also talk about the struggles she now encounters as she ages, such as the pain of getting up in the morning and how she has lost some of her mental acuity when working on such ordinary tasks as using computers.
In her thought-provoking paper, “Experiencing Aging,” Catherine Papell, social worker extraordinaire, reflects on the process of aging, observing her own personal journey as a lens through which she focuses her wisdom.
After a productive professional life, Dr. Papell continues to leave her mark on the hearts and psyche of everyone she teaches.
Ms. Abbey and Dr. Papell first met in 1993, when Dr. Papell helped Ms. Abbey write a course for Alcoholism for the Oglala Lakota College on Pine Ridge Reservation. They have been friends ever since.
LI music history
Mr. Del Guidice’s Tangerine Films will premiere “Long Island Uncovered” on Saturday, July 9, at 7 p.m.
The documentary takes an in-depth and behind-the-scenes look at the private lives of some of Long Island’s top tribute/cover band musicians. “Long Island Uncovered,” Mr. Del Guidice explained, “basically shows musicians in another light. They are working people – fathers and mothers, they have careers.”
As a musician himself, Mr. Del Guidice sees the strength in the subjects of the film: musicians with children and responsibilities, who have mortgages to pay. Mr. Del Guidice emphasizes “how much passion they have, and even more, how much support.”
Mr. Del Guidice said the idea for the documentary hit him when he was in the midst of a particularly chaotic moment in his own life as a musician, where he started to wonder “how the heck did other people do it?”
“Long Island Uncovered” is another film film by Mr. Del Guidice about subjects he’s passionate about. Last year’s award-winning film regarded baseball, and he is working on a documentary about the culture and heritage of Italian-Americans.
“Long Island Uncovered,” narrated by Mark “The Animal” Mendoza of Twisted Sister, features music by Joe Satriani and The Sonic Revolution.
The opening night film, “Jesse,” made by Baldwin native Fred Carpenter and filmed in Bellmore, is completely sold out.
“Jesse” has some well-known actors in the film such as William Forsythe, Eric Roberts and Michael Wright.
Mr. Carpenter said of taping in Bellmore, “Great locations, we filmed at the Bellmore train station, a couple of bars and the Hanson house.”
Mr. Carpenter happened to be filming a robbery scene at the Cool Stop convenience store on Bellmore Avenue and Merrick Road last year when a passerby witnessed the scene and called police. Police responded, closing the road until they learned it was a filming.
On what to expect from the movie Mr. Carpenter said: “There are more twists and turns in ‘Jesse’ than in your lower intestine.”
An abundance of documentaries
Of particular note, the Irish/Bosnian film, “As If I Am Not There,” will be the official opening night feature on Friday, July 8, at 7 p.m. Although a feature film and not a documentary, this film realistically portrays the atrocities that occurred during the Bosnian/Serbian war.
“As If I Am Not There” opened at the Toronto Film Festival and has won many awards at major film festivals worldwide. LIIFE will have it as a part of its programming.
Documentaries to be screened cover subjects including how a community comes together to honor their wounded warriors; how Burmese citizens suffer adverse conditions in their native home; how a family has to collect cans to survive after the father becomes unemployed; and how a high school football team from Dearborn, Michigan, prepares for its big crosstown rivalry game during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
A psychologist shows how he uses trauma techniques to treat survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Another documentary follows two mixed marital arts (MMA) fighters in their training and daily lives, while another documents the commemorating of mass graves in Poland many years after the Holocaust.
Inspirational films abound with “Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America” and “Composed,” a documentary that follows brilliant musician Chris Errera, a working composer about to release his first album.
Trained in classical piano since the age of four, Mr. Errera spends his days teaching autistic children music composition and theory. Mr. Errera was born with diastrophic dwarfism and stands at only 4 feet, 6 inches.
Fighting an already uphill battle, he lost the use of his legs and lower body in 2000 to spinal stenosis.
He is a man with a goal, a passion and a love for music, and plans to perform for both the opening and closing night parties at the LIIFE.
Among the short- and feature-length foreign, student, animated and every other film imaginable, LIIFE even presents a horror block for those interested in that genre.
Edward Mangano to receive award
At the closing party and awards ceremony, actor Ed Burns will accept a Creative Achievement Award from the not-for-profit 501(c)3 group the Long Island Film-TV Foundation.
County Executive Edward Mangano will accept a Benefactor of the Arts Award as well. More celebrities and notables will be on hand to present awards to the winning films and filmmakers, their names to be confirmed as we get closer to opening night.
As always, celebrities appear schedule permitting, and people drop in and out leading up to the actual event. Film festival winners are chosen by a combination of judges’ votes and audience ballots.
The complete schedule for the Long Island International Film Expo is available in this newpaper, on pages 8 and 9. You can also call 571-3168 or 783-3199.
– Pete Paguaga with additional reporting by Philippa Boyes
