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The Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival Celebrates its 10th Anniversary With Virtual Festival February 27 to March 3

originally published: 02/17/2021


(RIDGEWOOD, NJ) -- Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival and watch a curated selection of interesting, new  and impactful new films virtually. The #RGIFF is back to deliver some of 2020’s most exciting indie cinema in a new virtual format. From February 27, 2021 to March 3, 2021 enjoy over 85 films and 21 hours of content ranging from dramas, comedies, student films, music videos, international flicks, and everything in between from the comfort of your couch. Films will be available for viewing in custom blocks according to genre at specific times throughout the festival.

To find out how to purchase tickets click here. The festival will be viewed on the Eventive platform which you will get a link for on the Film Festival website. Please note the website will be updated often until the day of the festival. A ticket for a block or "bucket" of films is $10.  Three buckets can be purchased for $25.  Ten buckets are $45.

In addition to the films which will be available at reasonable prices, there will also be special free presentations and Q & A's with filmmakers, actors and directors. Scheduled this year so far are master classes on film distribution (by Liz Manashil), film marketing (by Suzanne Ordas Curry), an interview with Charles Riccardi of the NJ Motion Picture and Television Commission, interviews with actresses Annapurna Sriram and Anna Rust, and more.

There will also be a FREE networking zoom meeting on Sunday, February 28th. The winners of the 2020 Awards for Best Feature, Short, Documentary, and more will be announced during a special presentation shown online from Pearl Restaurant in Ridgewood, NJ at the conclusion of the festival.

Gold Star Sponsors for the 10th Anniversary Film Festival are Blue Foundry Bank and Coldwell Banker Realty. 




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HIGHLIGHTS - The festival lineup includes two feature length films: Dana H. Glazer’s romantic drama A Case of Blue, starring Stephen Schnetzer and Annapurna Sriram, and Michelle Ekizian’s Love Songs Showscape from Gorky’s Dream Garden, a genre-bending hybrid opera. Some other notable entries include: Trent Dawson’s The Six, a crumbling romance shot entirely in an NYC subway; Elsa Levytsky's Goodnight Death starring Callum Blue of The Tudors, where the Grim Reaper follows a young girl out to stop a serial killer; Dylan Skinner’s documentary about the fashion industry’s effect on body image UNCAGED; Spencer Muhlstock’s beautifully filmed and chillingly presented The Woods; Luz Cabrales’ Sing To Me, which explores the relationship between friendship, grief, and love.

Other films of note include: Nora Mariana’s heart-poundingly intense story of an escape attempt from a Warsaw Ghetto in Alina; Lioness Studios’ Merrick Carlyle Has a Problem, which pits a teenage sociopath against the power of young love; Emergency Contact’s witty and socially relevant web series Coup!; Eddie Shieh’s In Sync, which hilariously asks what to do when both husband and wife bring home a new partner at the same time; Pat Battistini’s Ms. Rossi, a clever and whimsical foreign language short; Bob Klein’s comical depiction of justice in the MeToo era in The Interrogation, Ethan Wilk’s deep dive into the world of professional hacking in the documentary, Hackers: The Misfit Superheroes and many more, many of which are premieres.  

The RGIFF has also included exclusive bonus content ("specials") to watch for free. As Film Festival Director Dotti Fucito states, “We decided to make up for this year’s lack of a red carpet with more Q & A's, presentations about aspects of the film industry, interviews and some interactive content including a networking meeting. We have a fantastic slate of films this year, and we’re excited about how we’ve adapted to the virtual format.” 



LIST OF FILMS

A Case of Blue (Narrative Feature) — Dana H. Glazer 

A dilemma (Short) — Sam Iam

ALINA - 2020 (Short) — Rami Kodeih, Nora Mariana

AMERICAN MARRIAGE (Short) — Giorgio Fontana

AYEO (Animation) — Jacob Updyke

Age of Bryce (Short) — David Feagan, Brian Elliot

Amend (Short) — John Patrick Hayden

Appetite (Short) — Maddy Freeman

As Simple as Hello (Short) — Karson Kennedy

Because I Love Him (Short) — Maddy Freeman

Big Yellow Taxi (Music Video) — Matt Mahurin

Blackhole. (Short) — Holly Pilcavage

Blue Iris (Short) — Samiksha Thakur

Brass Ring (Short) — Zachary Ross

Bru'dhars (Short) — Sriram Papolu

Buy Doll's House (Short) — Maxim Kulkov

COUP! (Web/New Media) — Matthew Klaus Esolda, Brian Goodheart

Chains (Short) — SENG 2Kx

Chosen (Documentary) — Karlee King

Defenseless (Short) — Javier Augusto Nunez

Dignity (Short) — Pat Battistini

Dining Room (Short) — Heidi Scott

Down (Short) — John Chiodi

EDEN (Short) — Brent Costantino, Anthony Mernacaj

ELUDE (Short) — Alejandro Santora

Egg on Your Face (Short) — Josh Parkhill

Empty Windows (Short) —  Andrew Rosenstein, Joseph Rosenstein

Everybody Said (Music Video) — Brian Ostering, Amanda Duncan

FAULT (Short) — Ian Havens

garage (Short) — Michael P. Jahoda




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Goodnight Death (Short) — Elsa Levytsky

Hackers: The Misfit Superheroes (Documentary) — Ethan Wilk

Heat Wave (Short) — Melanie Coffey, Ryan DiBiase

Helping (Animation) — Emely Cintron

How Long (Music Video) — Matt Mahurin

In Sync (Short) — Eddie Shieh

Instinct (Animation) — Yinuo Wei

It's Called Revenge (Short) — Michelle Burger

I’m Alright (Music Video) — Andy If

KADDISH (Short) — Razid Season

Like Father (Short) — Jonathan Chekroune

Love Songs Showscape from GORKY’S DREAM GARDEN (Feature) — Michelle Ekizian

MY TAGALONG (Animation) — Jerry Wang

Merrick Carlyle Has a Problem (Short) — Hailey Jackson

Missing Pieces (Short) — Jina Moran

Ms. Rossi (Short) —  Pat Battistini

Narc (Short) — Jackson Coates

New Year's Day (Short) — Noelle White, Rea Silver Chisholm

Oddly Popular (Web/New Media) — Fred Gallo

Paath (The Lesson) (Short) — Karan Singh Rathore

Q: ghostly remote effect (Short) — Marcus Hanisch

Runaway (Short) — Michelle Tang

SKUBER (Short) — Cat London

Scarlet Circle (Short) — Ryan Cervasio

Seeing You Again (Short) — Brandon Siavichay

Shifting Gears (Animation) — Leeann Cintron

Shyft (Short) — Jennifer Plotzke

Sing To Me (Short) — Luz Cabrales

Something to Celebrate (Short) —  Ellie Schuckman

Soul Bones (Short) — Andrew Huggins

Survivor Stories (Documentary) — Ivan Verlaan, Julina DeZorzi

Sycamore (Short) — Mehmet Tığl

THE FIRST SNOWFALL (Short) — Yanghuixiao Gao

Tavola (Short) — Nikolas Grasso

Thank You Kindly (Short) —  Noah Weisberg

Thaw (Short) — Sigge Widmark

The Blue Marble (Web/New Media) — Ralph Toporoff

The Boy At Platform 3 (Short) — Michael Daniel Vetter

"The Circle" Episodes 1-5 (Web/New Media) — Carlton Thompson

The Della Morte Sisters (Short) — Bill Sorvino

The Dispensable (Short) — Robert J Morgalo

The Interrogation (Short) — Bob Klein

The Perfect Cup (Short) — Joey Scelza

The Quiet Pain (Short) — Timothy Amatulli

The Six (Short) — Trent Dawson

The Start of a New Day (Documentary) — Emma Russo

The Waiting Room (Short) — Mike West

The Woods (Short) — Spencer Muhlstock, Benjamin Calder

The astronaut's journal (Animation) — Marina Belikova

Tongue Tied (Short) — Noelle White, David Mansour

UNCAGED (Documentary) — Dylan Skinner, Harrison Bahrenburg

Unsafe (Short) —  Tori Kotsen, Ilya Zorin

Voice (Documentary) — Maggie Ding

What Did You Do Today? (Short) — Britney Bautista

When it's Dark Enough, You Can See Stars (Short) — Reilly Widmayer

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