Sixth annual event takes place
April 14-17th in collaboration with Roger Williams University. Highlights include: Famed Documentary Filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman as Keynote Speaker; Introduction of "Legacy Series" celebrating the life of Anthony Quinn; and a Jewish Film Series sponsored by the Edwin S. Soforenko Foundation with the RWU Hillel • plus a special community screening scheduled at the Barrington Public Library
BRISTOL, RI • FLICKERS:Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is proud to present its sixth annual Roving
Eye International Film Festival™. The popular and acclaimed festival celebrating global cinema and artists, is pleased to announce its 2011 schedule. The slogan this year is “You Know You Want to Look.” During the Festival, which runs April 14-17th, more than 40 films will be showcased. All screenings will be free of charge and open to the public and screened on the campus of Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. Additionally, a special community screening will take place at the Barrington Public Library on Saturday, April 16th.
This year's keynote speaker and guest is documentary film legend, Frederick Wiseman.
Fred Wiseman is probably one of today’s greatest living documentary filmmakers. For close to thirty years, thanks to the Public Broadcast Service (PBS), he has created an exceptional body of work consisting of thirty full length films devoted primarily to exploring American institutions. Over time these films have become a record of the western world, since now more than ever as we approach the century’s close, nothing North American is really foreign to us.
“Documentaries, like theatre pieces, novels or poems are forms of fiction,” claims Wiseman. Over the years his films have become more a skillful mix of observation, testimony, reflection, an absence of prejudice, and courage, and humor. A complex body of work, as great works of fiction (novels, drama, music, and film) can be, with the same profundity, contradictions, and questions without answers.
The Roving Eye International Film Festival will cover themes ripped from the headlines: politics in Iran; the politics of the Israel and Palestine, human rights, the efficacy of the death penalty; global sustainability; and escaping the web of poverty in the inner city. Additionally, there will be a special animation focus, a first for the Festival, a demonstration by the Society for Creative Anachronism, as well as Roving Eye’s first ever horror film night.
This year’s Roving Eye Festival has been developed through interdepartmental participation by students and faculty at Roger Williams University; all under the guidance of FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival and University leadership. The students in “Curation and Film Festival Production ” taught by George T. Marshall, have spent the semester creating, curating and marketing the event. Roberta E. Adams, Ph.D. Assistant Dean of Humanities and Performing Arts is the Festival Chair, linking faculty adjudicators with students, RIIFF and the RWU administration in a unique collaboration.
Reviewers at the University include: Roberta E. Adams, Robert Cole, Kamille Gentles-Peart, Alejandro Leguizamo, Frank DiCataldi, J. Scott Oberacker, Anne Tait, Jeffrey Martin, Min Zhou, Ted Delaney, Alan Leveillee, Earnest Greco, and Don Mays.
“The idea behind this Festival came out of a desire
to provide another platform to showcase the work of
independent filmmakers. Each year, RIIFF receives over
4,000 entries and while the Festival does screen more
films than any other Festival in New England during
its six day run—205 in 2010—many excellent
films are not screened due to time and scheduling constraints. This was something we wanted to correct, ” stated Demetria J. Carr, RIIFF Managing Director.
“Additionally, the quality of the documentaries
submitted to our festival and the interest of the public
in seeing these films has grown by leaps every year,”
said George T. Marshall, Executive Director of FLICKERS
“Roving Eye is an opportunity to screen these
great films and we are very excited to be putting this
festival together again with Roger Williams University in 2011.”
“We’ve received films from Iran, a series from the United Nations, from China; actually from all over the world, and they address many different subjects. Films have been submitted by Academy Award nominees, recent screenings from the Sundance Film Festival, from distribution companies across the globe, and colleges and universities. Our goal is make sure everyone in our community has a chance to enjoy the documentary film experience, from families to senior citizens to young adults. There is really is going to be something for everyone,” commented J. Scott Oberacker, RIIFF Educational Outreach Director.
“We are also making the films free to the public, thanks to the partnership with Roger Williams University," added Mr. Marshall. “We have been heartened by the University's support for this project and believe this type of programming is a perfect fit with our non-profit educational mission."
The 2011 Roving Eye International Film Festival is sponsored by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH), an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Edwin S. Soforenko Foundartion, the Roger Williams University Office of the Provost; the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences; the RWU School of Law, RWU School of Criminal Studies, the RWU Department of Communications, RWU Hillel, and the RWU Department of Psychology.
Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
To see a listing of this year's programming, click here
Through FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival’s partnership with the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival(GZ DOC) – China’s largest documentary festival– the top RIIFF documentaries have an opportunity to screen at the Chinese film festival and vice versa. Additionally, RIIFF docs have been chosen by GZDOC to participate in the Sapphire Moving Image Salon traveling film series and special events for trade, cultural, and educational organizations.
2011 marks the 29th year of the Flickers Arts Collaborative, the creator and producer of the Annual Rhode Island International Film Festival (that will
take place August 9-14, 2011 at locations throughout
the state of Rhode Island.) Through its affiliation
with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
RIIFF is a qualifying festival for the Short Film Academy
Award, the only festival in the region with this distinction.
RIIFF provides a venue to encourage new talent and establish
the contacts needed for wider distribution.
ABOUT ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY:
Roger Williams University is a leading independent, coeducational liberal arts university at which students live and learn to be global citizens. With 41 academic programs and an array of co-curricular activities on its Bristol, R.I., campus, RWU is committed to its mantra of learning to bridge the world. In the last decade, the University has achieved unprecedented academic and financial successes and continues to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top ten educational institutions in its class.
The Guangzhou International Documentary Festival (GZ DOC) started in 2003 and, after five editions, has secured its status as the top documentary film festival in China, as well as an important part of the international documentary market in Asia. The festival is held annually in December in Guangzhou and includes a Documentary Market, public screenings, a thematic competition, and documentary-making seminars. All sections are open for application to participants internationally and domestically. For more information, please visit us on the web at www.gzdoc.com
ABOUT FLICKERS: RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:
FLICKERS:Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) discovers and empowers filmmakers. Held in Providence, and locations throughout the state of Rhode Island, RIIFF is one of only a handful of festivals worldwide that is a qualifying event for the Academy Awards (i.e. “Oscars”). RIIFF incorporates gala celebrations, premiere screenings, VIP guests, industry seminars, educational programs, and award ceremonies into a weeklong extravaganza. Cited as one of the "Best International and Short Film Festivals in the United States," RIIFF is New England’s largest film festival, screening a record 175 films. Its innovative programming, cultivated industry ties, and loyal audiences have made the Festival a strategic and desirable platform for film premieres, drawing hundreds of independent filmmakers from around the globe.
FLICKERS:Rhode Island International Film Festival ™ and its programs such as the Roving Eye International Film Festival, have been sponsored in part by grants and underwriting from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Flickers Arts Collaborative, and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities; event partners include The US-China Institute at Bryant University, the Guangzhou Documentary Film Festival, Roger Williams University, WQRI Radio, the Providence Public Library, the Westerly Public Library, the Clark Memorial Library, and the Warwick Museum of Art; corporate support from WJAR TV 10, CW28, Clear Channel Communicationsand private contributions.
For more information about films, dates, and venues
for the Roving Eye Film Festival™,
please call 401-861-4445, email info@film-festival.org
RWU PARKING INFORMATION:From Providence: Take Routes 136 South or 114 S passing campus on the left. Take a left at the traffic light just before the Mount Hope Bridge, onto Old Ferry Road. Take the first right into the parking lot.
From Newport: Take 114N over the Mount Hope Bridge and take the first right off the bridge onto Old Ferry Road. Take the first right into the parking lot.
Guests should enter through the main entrance at the fountain. they will be able to obtain a guest parking pass. Lot 24a will be blocked off for guests of the festival. Proceed through the main entrance through to the lot 24a on left. Events will take place in the Global Heritage Hall.
Fred Wiseman is probably one of today’s greatest living documentary filmmakers. For close to thirty years, thanks to the Public Broadcast Service (PBS), he has created an exceptional body of work consisting of thirty full length films devoted primarily to exploring American institutions. Over time these films have become a record of the western world, since now more than ever as we approach the century’s close, nothing North American is really foreign to us.
