Source: Oneida Dispatch
HAMILTON — The second annual Hamilton International Film Festival taking place from Aug. 5 through Aug. 8 will be filled with the work of local filmmakers, rising documentary directors and internationally known film stars.“The first year we just wanted to get it off the ground,” said Grant Slater, festival co-founder. “Thankfully, we got tremendous feedback. This year we were able to make it a lot bigger.”
He he and his brothers, Todd and Wade, began the festival began as a way to give back to their hometown.
The festival will kick off on Thursday, Aug. 5 with Hamilton Central School graduate and current Oswego State film student Kenny MacBain’s short film “Crown” at 7 p.m. at the Hamilton Theater. The film chronicles the history of the Hamilton Central School boys’ soccer team, culminating with the 2008 state championship season.
“It is a sampling of what young filmmakers can really do,” said Slater.
Immediately following “Crown” will be a screening of “Groundhog Day” by director Harold Ramis whose body of work includes “Animal House,” “Ghostbusters” and “Caddyshack.” Ramis will be on hand at the festival and will take part in a panel discussion with other film industry experts on Saturday, Aug. 7 at noon at the Colgate Inn.
“This will be a fun way to kick off the festival and a chance for folks to appreciate why we love Harold Ramis’ films,” said Chuck Fox, Hamilton Theater manager in a press release.
Friday’s feature, “Race to Nowhere”, is being shown at 8:30 p.m. at the Hamilton Theater. The award-winning documentary, recently profiled on The Oprah Winfrey Show, is about the pressures on today’s students to be good at everything from academics to sports, the arts and community service. The director Vicki Abeles is scheduled to appear.
ESPN’s Mark Durand will be on hand to present two feature films. The first film, “Guru of Go,” chronicles the story of famed basketball coach Paul Westhead and will be shown on August 7 at 1 p.m. at the Hamilton Theater. The second film, “Keep Eye on Ball: The Hashim Khan Story,” profiles the squash champion and will be screened at 2 p.m. on Aug. 8 at the Hamilton Theater.
Joe Berlinger’s documentary “Crude” will be shown on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theater. The documentary explores a class action lawsuit on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadorans to force Chevron to take responsibility for the ecological catastrophe allegedly left behind when drilling for oil in the Ecuador Amazon rainforest between 1972 and 1990.
Berlinger is scheduled to introduce the film which, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and won Best Documentary at nine international film festivals.
The festival also includes a 2K hunger awareness walk to benefit the Hamilton Food Cupboard. The walk is open to all ages and begins at 8 a.m. on August 7 on the village green. Registration can be done in advance at Crowe’s Drugstore at 19 Lebanon Street in Hamilton and the Hamilton Theater.
Slater said both participants and non-participants in the walk are encouraged to bring canned goods for the food cupboard.
Two more films will be shown on Aug. 8 ,but the closing night party will take place at 9 p.m. on Aug. 7 at the Palace Theater with the Mark McKay Band.