A festival like no other
It may not be well known outside New York yet, but the Gen Art Film Festival (GAFF) is gaining credibility in the US filmgoers' circuit.
The week-long New York festival, which runs from Wednesday April 2 until Tuesday April 8, is now in its 13th year, and is synonymous with emerging talent. Hollywood stars such as Jennifer Connelly, Adrian Grenier, Marcia Gay Harden and Zach Braff had their earliest roles in films that premiered at GAFF.
:: The origins
"The festival was developed out of frustration from other film festivals, and the idea that young New Yorkers didn't have access to them. We also want to showcase emerging talent from North America," explains Jeffrey Abramson, Gen Art's film division vice-president, who first got involved with the festival as a volunteer.
"We try to create an environment that gives incredible access to the films and filmmakers for our audience, who are very specific - our core are young professionals and tastemakers who are ahead of the curb. They're not in the film industry, but really appreciate cinema."
:: The format
GAFF offers regular film-lovers an interactive festival experience. After watching a movie, all ticket-holders are invited to the film's after-party - an event that is normally restricted to celebrities. There, they can mingle with the cast and crew.
The festival has a unique format, showing just seven feature films and seven short films, though Jeffrey says this shouldn't be viewed as a shortcoming.
"While there are only seven features, the slate represents a wide range of the powerful ideas and genres of independent filmmaking," he notes.
"The slate includes some of the best from other festivals such as Sundance, SXSW (South By SouthWest), and Toronto, as well as one world premiere. The slate represents a common theme, of over-coming adversity and finding inner peace in a complicated world through humour, action and exploration."
He adds: "We show our favourites from other festivals, but we have to balance it out as we don't want to repeat previous slates. We do tend to pick films we've seen from those, and give them their New York premieres."
:: 2008 highlights
This year's event sees the world premiere of Nightlife, directed by Tim Sanderson.
"I'm really excited about this. It's a really funny mockumentary about real-life vampires and vampire slayers," Jeffrey reveals.
The 33-year-old is also excited about the closing night's film, The Take by Brad Furman, which stars Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo, Tyrese Gibson and Bobby Cannavale. However, he admits to being biased.
"It has a great New York cast, although it was shot in Los Angeles, and there is a lot of energy around that film. Personally, the filmmaker and I went to school together, so it will be interesting to see if he will shine through."
This year's opening film is Diminished Capacity, directed by Terry Sanderson, and its cast - Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda and Virginia Madsen - are expected to walk down the red carpet.
""It's become easier to get the celebrities involved over the years, as we show that we are an important festival," Jeffrey explains.
"For many films, this is their New York premiere, and this is the biggest premiere they will have in the city. So the filmmakers and the talent understand that this is something they should show up for."
