Contact: Kim Brockway For immediate release (212) 854-2419 March 19, 1998Columbia University's Graduate Film Division -- the nation's emerging academic center for independent filmmaking -- will present a week-long festival of screenings and screenplay readings of student work, sponsored by Polo Ralph Lauren. The Polo Ralph Lauren New Works Festival of Columbia University Filmmakers will feature more than 40 films and videos and five screenplays. The festival is becoming one of the most widely-anticipated and attended film school festivals in the nation. Films by previous festival participants have gone on to compete and win prizes in such prestigious festivals as Sundance, Venice, Berlin, Cannes, the New York Film Festival, the Academy Awards, and the Student Academy Awards. Each year, a number of well-known actors, writers, directors and producers -- many of whom are alumni of Columbia's Film Division -- serve as guest hosts for the nightly events. The Polo Ralph Lauren New Works Festival of Columbia University Filmmakers will be held Monday, April 13th - Saturday, April 18th, at the DGA Theatre, 110 W. 57th Street in New York City; Screenwriters Night, April 14th, will be held at The Lighthouse, 111 E. 59th Street, and screenings of videos will be held on April 16th and 18th at Columbia University's Dodge Hall, Broadway and 116th Street. (Daily schedule is attached.) --- Tickets for all DGA events are $12 general admission/$8 students; --- (Screenwriters Night, $8 general admission), and are available in advance by calling the Miller Theatre Box Office (212) 854-7799, or by visiting the Box --- Office, Broadway at 116th Street, from noon - 6 p.m. Dodge Hall events are free. --- Tickets will also be available at the door after 5 p.m. on the day of the event. --- For more information, the public may call (212) 854-1547, or visit www.columbia.edu/cu/arts/film --- Members of the press should call (212) 854-2419 for complimentary tickets. The week-long festival culminates in the awarding of more than $75,000 in prizes, including three major awards from both Polo Ralph Lauren and New Line Cinema. Among these awards are two unique grants which provide funding for two collaborative projects, teaming a writer, director and producer; the films made from these grants are presented at the following year's festival. In addition, audiences will be invited to vote for the Filmmaker Audience Choice award, sponsored by Filmmaker Magazine. "We are delighted to once again sponsor the Polo Ralph Lauren New Works Festival of Columbia University Filmmakers," said Ralph Lauren. "The Festival not only provides a showcase for new filmmakers and a forum for audiences eager to preview the next generation of acclaimed filmmakers; the screenings and screenplay readings celebrate individual imagination, dedicated effort, and collaborative spirit -- qualities we appreciate and applaud." In early May, this year's award-winning films will be screened before an audience of film industry executives in Los Angeles, in an event hosted by Fox 2000. "With a world-class faculty, exceptionally talented students, and active and successful alumni, Columbia's Film Division continues to make its mark in the independent film community," said Robert Fitzpatrick, dean of the Columbia University School of the Arts, where the Film Division is located. "An additional measure of our success is the ongoing and generous support of Polo Ralph Lauren. We are pleased to join with them in presenting another group of outstanding students and their engaging work." Lewis Cole, chairman of the Columbia Film Division, added, "The films and screenplays in this year's festival represent the wide range of styles and interests of our student filmmakers, who come from all over the world. The Division has continued to expand its faculty and strengthen its program, and improvements are reflected in this year's films -- by far the strongest showing of our students." Recent graduates of Columbia's Film Division are increasingly making their mark in the industry. In the last two years alone, fifteen feature films by recent alumni have been or are about to be released, including: --- Mark Christopher's upcoming Studio 54 --- James Mangold's Copland and Heavy, and the upcoming Girl, Interrupted --- Greg Mottola's The Daytrippers --- Nicole Holofcener's Walking and Talking --- Jon Sherman's Breathing Room --- Ben Ross' The Young Poisoner's Handbook --- Alex Sichel's All Over Me --- Mo Ogrodnik's Ripe --- Lisa Cholodenko's High Art, winner of best screenplay, 1998 Sundance film festival --- Alex Zamm's Chairman of the Board --- Stacy Cochran's My New Gun and Boys --- Elise McAdams, screenwriter of Office Killers --- Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman's Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's and the upcoming Esquivel! Columbia's M.F.A. program in Film trains students as screenwriters, directors, producers, and film historians. With a comprehensive collection of workshops, lectures, labs, seminars and individual mentoring, the program integrates theory and practice and provides students with an understanding of the principles of cinematic narrative and a practical introduction to independent production. The School of the Arts is an art-making community in one of the world's great universities, and offers graduate programs in Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, Writing, and Music, in addition to Film. Student artists have access to an extraordinary faculty, as well as to the art and artists of New York. Columbia Film Division and Polo Ralph Lauren Announce New Works Festival April 13-18 in New York
_______________________ Week-long Series Of Screenings Culminates With $75,000 In AwardsThe Polo Ralph Lauren New Works Festival of Columbia University Filmmakers, April 13 - 18, 1998 Industry and alumni guest hosts to be announced Monday, April 13 th 7:30 p.m. Opening Night Ceremony (DGA Theater, 110 W. 57th St.) --- Special awards presentation celebrating the New York independent film community's contribution to film production at Columbia, including presentation of the awards for Best Actor and Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, among others, and screenings of films Tuesday, April 14 th 7:30 p.m. Screenwriters' Night (The Lighthouse, 111 E. 59th St.) --- Tentatively set to be hosted by Peter Stone, Academy Award-winning writer of Sweet Charity and Charade --- 15-minute excerpted readings from outstanding feature-length student scripts Thursday, April 16 th 5 p.m. Documentary Screenings (Dodge Hall, Columbia University, Broadway & 116th) --- Including premiere screening of current student NaRhee Ahn's feature-length documentary The Killer Geishas, about the actresses in Miss Saigon Thursday, April 16 th 7:30 p.m. Open Screenings 1 (DGA Theater, 110 W. 57th St.) --- Screenings of eleven student shorts Friday, April 17 th 7:30 p.m. Open Screenings 2 (DGA Theater, 110 W. 57th St.) --- Screenings of ten student shorts Saturday, April 18 th 5 p.m. Video Screening (Dodge Hall, Columbia University, Broadway & 116th Street) --- Premiere screening of current student John Jackson's feature-length film On the Wings of the People Saturday, April 18 th 7:30 p.m. Awards Night (DGA Theater, 110 W. 57th St.) --- Screenings of "Faculty Selects" Student Work --- More than $75,000 in awards will be presented, and two "Collaborative Projects" will be awarded funding --- Filmmaker Magazine Audience Awards will be presented Tickets for all DGA events are $12 general admission/$8 students; Screenwriters Night, $8 general admission, and are available in advance by calling the Miller Theatre Box Office (212) 854-7799, or by visiting the Box Office, Broadway at 116th Street, between noon - 6 p.m. Tickets will also be available at the door after 5 p.m. on the day of the event. Admission to Dodge Hall events is free. For more information, the public may call (212) 854-1547, or visit www.columbia.edu/cu/arts/film 3.19.98 19,286