Coney Island Film Festival 2009 October 1, 2009

9th Annual Coney Island Film Festival announces lineup. Ninety six films plus special events.

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY. September 21, 2009 -- The 9th annual installment of the Coney Island Film Festival hits the shores of Coney Island from Friday, October 2nd through Sunday, October 4th. This year's festival features ninety six films from around the world; a stunning array of high and low-brow fare, as diverse as the neighborhood it represents. Subjects range from the profound to the profane, showcasing the independent spirit and irreverent nature of the one and only Coney Island.

This year's centerpiece film is Charles Denson's, The Prince of Mermaid Avenue. The story of Jimmy Prince, owner of Major Meats on Mermaid Avenue, who retired after a sixty-year run as an anchor of the Coney Island community.

Documentary Feature highlights include the New York Premiere of Micropunta’s The Poor Man’s Follies, shot during the 2008 Coney Island season, the film chronicles the lives of the people who make Coney Island the eccentric and unique slice of Americana that it is today, and the struggle for its future. Zachary Levy’s Strongman follows the hopes and dreams of "Stanless Steel"--the only man alive who can bend a penny with his fingers, as tries to gain control of a world that seems constantly beyond his grasp. Kate Valentine’s Ed Hamell Rant & Roll, a celebration of the day to day life of a journeyman musician through fast-moving, often-hilarious performances on stage, backstage, and behind the wheel driving from one venue to the next.. Also making its New York Premiere is Costa Mantis’s Flying Pumpkins, The Legend of Punkin Chunkin. Come along and have some fun with an unlikely assortment of men, women and children who share a common passion - making pumpkins fly!

Feature film highlights include the World Premiere of Elizabeth Lucas’s Red Hook. College freshman Jenny Traylor joins her dorm's welcome-week scavenger hunt. But as she and her friends decipher the cryptic text-message clues on their cell phones, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the stakes in this game are life and death... CIFF presents the New York Premiere of Gorman Bechard’s Friends (with benefits). What happens when two best friends decide to secretly blur the lines dividing friendship from relationship? Complications arise...a lot of complications. Craig Butta’s Sea Legs, a vivid, harrowing journey through the funk, vitality and downward spiraling world of Coney Island. In keeping with annual tradition, the festival will screen the 1979 Coney Island classic The Warriors at 10:30pm on Saturday, October 3rd.

The Coney Island Film festival offers a huge variety of Shorts: Dramas, Comedies, Documentaries, Animation, Experimental, Made in Coney Island, Horror Films, Music Videos and Silent Films are all represented, making CIFF a festival with something for everyone! Short highlights include Bryan Nest’s The Vaudevillian, a ventriloquist's relationship with his dummy is strained after they lose their job with a traveling vaudeville act. In Martin Rosete's Basket Bronx, Alex is an African-American kid from the Bronx who dreams of playing basketball like his idols, however the gang of older guys in the neighborhood keep reminding him that he cannot. Mollye Asher's Slim and Lena a modern film noir set in the grit and glamour of the neo-burlesque scene. Animator Bill Plympton’s Horn Dog is the fourth film in the famed Oscar® nominated “dog” series. Here are more misadventures from our plucky canine, as he fends off an obese dog, attacking oysters, and a wayward killer violin bow, while trying to win the love of his heart’s desire.

Two programs featuring shorts which use Coney Island as a backdrop screen during the festival, Saturday at 4pm and Sunday at 2pm. The festival's closing night screening is a mixed bag of shorts concluding with Jan Stephens’s animated Freak Show Sensations of The Season wrapping the festival in the appropriate setting, Sideshows By The Seashore Theater, home of The Coney Island Circus Sideshow.

The festival will begin with an Opening Night Gala on Friday, October 2nd. Step Right Up and The Prince of Mermaid Avenue screen at 7:30pm at The Coney Island Museum, followed by an opening night party, 9:30 p.m. at the Freak Bar at Sideshows by the Seashore. It's an evening of live sideshow performance, music, and burlesque that will kick off the festival with a riotous bang. An awards ceremony takes place Sunday, October 4th after the final screening at the Eldorado Auto Skooters next door.

Event Details are as follows:
Coney Island Film Festival
October 2, 3 and 4, 2009

Films screen at Sideshows by the Seashore (1208 Surf Ave., Ground Floor) and the Coney Island Museum (1208 Surf Ave., 2nd Floor) in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Take the D, F, N or Q lines to the Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue stop. All screening venues are within easy walking distance of the subway.

Tickets:
Opening Night Gala screening & party: $25
Full Festival Pass (excludes "The Warriors"): $45
Saturday Pass (excludes "The Warriors"): $15
Sunday Pass: $10
Special Saturday Night Showing of The Warriors: $10
Any Individual Program Screening: $6

Advanced tickets for all programs and events are on sale now at our website.

For the full schedule and a complete list of films at the festival, visit http://www.coneyislandfilmfestival.com

Official Website: http://www.coneyislandfilmfestival.com