GO BACK TO CHINA

Wendy Guerrero, President of Programming at Bentonville Film Festival Foundation Announces 8 Female Filmmakers to be part of “See It, Be It Filmmaker Fellowship”

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“The See It, Be It Filmmaker Fellowship was born from the belief that major change will occur only when passion has the opportunity to align with both platform and purpose,” said Wendy Guerrero, President of Programming for the Bentonville Film Festival.“With this fellowship, we aim to further opportunities for storytellers to achieve success by opening ports of access historically closed to women, people with disabilities, people of color and the LGBTQ+ communities. This cohort of filmmakers has been selected because of their distinct voices and because they are ready to take the next steps in shaping their own narratives.”

The 2019 Naples International Film Festival has tropical red carpet featuring honoree Joey Pants

By John Wildman 6 years ago

However, NIFF has another secret weapon that makes it unique and a must stop for a filmmaker (if they can get accepted into the lineup) in the midst of their film festival tour: The Artis—Naples duo of CEO and President Kathleen van Bergen, and Executive Vice President, Artistic Operations David Filner. And let me add some context here: I worked for a number of years as the Senior Publicist for the Film Society of Lincoln Center (and all of heir film festivals and events like NYFF, New Directors, the Chaplin Gala, etc.). During the 5 years I was there, I think I saw the top guy at Lincoln Center once, possibly twice, and both were at – I kid you not – ribbon cutting ceremonies. That was it. There just wasn’t that kind of connection with the overarching ARTS umbrella organization.

Van Maximilian Carlson’s PRINCESS OF THE ROW Opens 2019 Naples International Film Festival, closes with RAIDERS, and salutes Joey Pants

By John Wildman 6 years ago

Naples International Film Festival Producer Shannon Franklin said, “We simply have a wonderful lineup of films this year. From tearjerkers and thoughtful dramas, to sincerely funny and delightful comedies, as well as documentaries that are sure to keep you off guard, our audiences will be riding a roller coaster of emotions over the four days of NIFF. And what could be cooler than that?”