RIIFF Announces 2005 Screenplay Competition Winners

PROVIDENCE, RI (September 9, 2005) After weeks of deliberation, the ninth annual Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is pleased to announce the winners for this year's Screenplay Competition. With over 200 screenplays submitted, choosing the winners was no easy task. Many excellent screenplays were submitted covering the spectrum from comedy to drama to contemporary to historical.

The Grand Prize winner for 2005 is Alderman’s Story by George Csicsery of Oakland, California. His historical drama gives a balanced portrayal of the rising tensions between the original English colonists and the Native Americans that culminated in the King Philip’s War.

“George’s script was insightful and engaging, he obviously understood his subject matter and was able to craft it into a compelling story,” commented Adam Short, the Coordinator for the Screenplay Competition

According to George T. Marshall, Executive Director of RIIFF, “The quality of this year’s screenplays exemplifies the respect and maturity of our competition. It is known within the film industry for encouraging innovative storytelling. We work hard to ensure this tradition and this year is no exception. I am very excited about this year’s winners.”

The RIIFF accepts original feature-length screenplays on any subject matter and in any genre. A distinguished panel of industry professionals, screenwriters, and members of the general public judge the screenplays based on their creativity, innovation, vision, originality, and use of language.

The Grand Prize winner will be presented with an award at RIIFF's Opening Night Gala in 2006. He will receive round-trip travel, accommodation at a bed and breakfast, and two-all access VIP passes to attend the Festival. He will be a guest at the Festival's screenwriter’s workshop, ScriptBiz where select scenes from his script will be given a staged reading.

In addition, the Grand Prize winner receives: a one-year database membership from Script P.I.M.P., a consulting firm founded by Sean McKittrick, producer of Donnie Darko; six-month website promotion of her script (including logline and synopsis) and logline magazine placement from InkTip.com; a one-year subscription to scr(i)pt magazine; and a copy of Final Draft version 7 software.

The top three winning screenplays will also be automatically submitted to the Manhattan Short Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition for consideration to be turned into a low-budget film. The RIIFF Screenwriting Competition is the only one in New England to have been chosen for this innovative program.

"The Screenplay Competition is an integral part of the Rhode Island International Film Festival," said Mr. Marshall," It's important to us to work with the screenwriter and to formally recognize the writer at the opening of each year's Festival, giving the respect he or she deserves."

This year's Screenplay Competition also awarded five other prizes to screenplays that exemplified high-quality, powerful storytelling. The winners are as follows:

Grand First Prize
Alderman’s Story
George Csicsery, Oakland, CA

Second Prize
The Gold Men
Arzhang Kamarei, New York, NY

Third Prize
La Primavera
Joseph M. Galligan, West Des Moines, IA

Semi-Finalist
Blue Suede Shoes
Eric Diekhans, Evanston, IL

Honorable Mention
Weeded
Courtney Wagner & Nicole Whelan, Brooklyn, NY

The Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is dedicated to the creation of opportunities for artistic interaction and exchange among independent filmmakers, directors, producers, distributors, backers, and the film-going community. Now heading into its ninth year, the Festival is produced by the Flickers Arts Collaborative, an organization with 24 years of experience presenting major artistic events as well as independent and foreign films to the public. For more information, contact the Festival at PO Box 162, Newport, RI 02840 or call 401/861-4445.

For more information about the Manhattan Short Film Festival, please visit www.Msfilmfest.com or contact Nicholas Mason at (212) 529-8640, nick@Msfilmfest.com.