New York Independent Film Festival

June 18. 2005

Gershwin Hotel

The New York International Independent Film and Video Festival proudly held an exclusive awards ceremony at Gallery to honor recipients from its highly successful Spring event, which is held bi-annually at The Village East Cinema.

The NYIIFVF awards ceremony officially kicked off at 8 p.m. sharp on Friday, June 17th at the popular art deco lounge Gallery in the Gershwin Hotel. Hosts of the event included actress Amber Gristak (Maid in Manhattan, House of D), Aesha Waks (Arresting Gina) as well as PR media consultants Renata Lorenc of Rula PR and Veltis Harratan of www.angel503z.com and Briege McGarrity.
Guests were served complimentary drinks and sushi. There was also and live musical entertainment provided by accomplished artists Aqesha Luvan Ritzie, Hillary Flowers, Keltic Guru with Emily Fitzgerald and Lovari, Fred Ziknik, Doctane, Nikki Borodi and Taj.
This year's film festival showcased a diverse range of features, shorts, animations and documentaries from all five continents with over 30 entries getting an award. According to Festival Executive Producer Stuart Alson "We are thrilled to invite all our winning filmmakers back to New York for this special night. An independent film needs as much buzz and exposure as possible and an award can definitely pave the way for great success in a very competitive industry."

Among the highlights was the edgy comedian Jackie the Jokeman Martling (formerly of the Howard Stern Show) who scooped the award for Best Supporting Actor in the short film Joke Bitch. Jackie commented, saying "I'm delighted with the award. I'd like to say this is the most recent of a string of film awards I've won. I'd like to say that...but it'd be a lie. This is my first ever. But it certainly won't always be the most recent."

The feature thriller Xtacy swept the boards, taking home three awards. Charismatic actor and first-time helmer Tom DeGrezia won Best Actor in a Feature as well as the coveted Audience Award for Best Feature Film. New York nightlife personality and actor Wass Steven's performance was also a hit with the jury, and received the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film. Xtacy was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's Tell Tale Heart and examines a year in the life of a successful New York Artist turned serial killer.
Friends of the director, Paul Michael Glaser, son Jake and JT from JT Talent and Casting were also in attendance to the ceremony. A Daughter's Touch—a story about about postpartum depression starring New Jersey native Sylvia Lasalandra attracted extensive media coverage as well as a special visit to the NYC premiere by fellow postpartum sufferer Mary Jo Codey. Sylvia earned the award for Best Actress in a Short Film. Other stellar local films include The Main Character by Chris Jung. An offbeat feature which won Best Drama and attracted over 350 people to the premiere.

Ambitious documentarian Anthony Donovan won Best Political Documentary for Dialogues Part 1, which gave NY audiences a rare opportunity to view behind the scene footage of dialogues with UN Ambassadors.

Manhattan Confidential, a thriller set in the East Village about nine clandestine, interlocking love affairs that take place in Manhattan over seven years earned Milo Savage the award for Best Director of a Feature Film. The international recipients include prolific award-winning soap opera star Murad Janibekyan who will fly in especially from Armenia to pick the award of Best Actor in a Short Film beating off 120 contenders for his role in Hamlet. John Corcoran from Ireland will be present to accept the award of Best International Director of a Short Film for his original fiction comedy Virtues of a Sinner.

The New York International Independent Film and Video Festival was founded in 1993 by entertainment impresario Stuart Alson to introduce a unique spectrum of features, shorts, documentaries and animations to its audiences. The festival also represents a new wave of independent filmmakers without the pretentiousness.

NYIIFVF is now hosting events in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami. Past festivals have included the work of Calista Flockhart, Cameron Diaz, Eva Herzigova, Guy Pearce, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Rod Steiger, Tippi Hedren, William Defoe and Vin Diesel. Abel Ferrara famously quoted in MovieMaker, "This festival was the real deal: Everybody else just talks about doing it, these guys just did it!"!

We would like to thank Ms. Renata Lorenc, media consultant for Rula PR, for her kind invitation. For more information about the New York Independent Film Festival, please visit their website at www.nyfilmvideo.com.