FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact:

Jan Mitchell / Jan Mitchell & Associates

Cell: 954-649-0258, email: janpubpromo@yahoo,com

JULY 2009 CALENDAR OF FILMS AND EVENTS AT

CINEMA PARADISO, FORT LAUDERDALE

Cinema Paradiso, is operated year-round by the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Below is a calendar of events.

Cinema Paradiso Location
503 SE 6 Street in downtown Fort Lauderdale, one block east of Broward County Courthouse on south bank of New River.

Details and Advance Ticket Sales

www.FLIFF.com or 954-525-FILM (3456)

FILM & EVENTS SCHEDULE

Wednesday, July 1

Cinema A La Mode

5:00PM Happy Hour / 6:00PM Cooking Class / 7:00PM Movie

General Admission $9.00 | Seniors and Students $7.00 | FLIFF Members $5.00

With the French Film Festival just weeks away, Cinema Paradiso is kicking off the new monthly series, Cinema A La Mode. The evening starts off with a 2 for 1 Happy Hour followed by a demonstration of how to prepare crepes, by Cinema Paradiso’s own

Chef Michelle. The feature presentation will be the sinfully delicious romance "Chocolat", starring Juliet Binoche, Judy Dench, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin and Johnny Depp.

About Chef Michelle

Michelle’s passion for the culinary arts began at a young age while watching her two grandmothers’ cook. After living in Italy and visiting most of Europe with her diplomatic family, she began cooking upon her return to the U.S. helping with her Aunt’s catering business. Her dream of owning and being the chef of a restaurant came true with “Roma De Noche” in Cancun, Mexico from 1999 -2001. Michelle has been in the culinary arts for 25 years. Recently catering events for Miami Short Film Festival and Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

July 3 - July 8

WHATEVER WORKS – The new Woody Allen film

Friday, July 3, 1:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 8:15 PM, 9:50 PM
Saturday, July 4, 1:00 PM , 5:15 PM & 7:15 PM
Sunday, July 5, 3:15 PM & 7:15 PM
Monday, July 6, 8:00 PM
Tuesday, July 7, 6:00 PM
Wednesday, July 8. 6:00 PM & 8:00 PM

General Admission $9.00 | Seniors and Students $7.00 | FLIFF Members $5.00

From Woody Allen, Whatever Works, is a comedy follows an eccentric New Yorker (Larry David) who abandons his upper class life to lead a more bohemian existence. He meets a young girl from the South and her family and no two people seem to get along in the entanglements that follow. Also starring Evan Rachel and Wood, Ed Begley Jr.

July 3 – 7

JULIA

Friday, July 3, 5:00 PM
Saturday, July 4, 3:00 PM
Sunday, July 5, 1:00 PM & 5:15 PM
Monday, July 6, 5:45 PM
Tuesday, July 7, 8:00 PM

General Admission $9.00 | Seniors and Students $7.00 | FLIFF Members $5.00

Julia, 40, is an alcoholic. She is a manipulative, unreliable, compulsive liar, all strung out beneath her still flamboyant exterior. Between shots of vodka and one-night stands, Julia gets by on nickel-and-dime jobs. Increasingly lonely, the only consideration she receives comes from her friend Mitch, who tries to help her. But she shrugs him off, as her alcohol-induced confusion daily reinforces her sense that life has dealt her a losing hand and that she is not to blame for the mess she has made of it. Glimpsing imminent perdition, and after a chance encounter with Elena, a Mexican woman, Julia convinces herself - as much in panic and despair as for financial gain - to commit a violent act. As the story unfolds, Julia's journey becomes a headlong flight on a collision course, but somehow she makes the choice of life over death.

Starring Tilda Swinton, Saul Rubinek, Kate del Castillo.

Saturday, July 4

10:00 AM - FAB! Films for Kids
Admission: Free

The Spirit of America will be celebrated with the Animated Academy Award nominated "An American Tail". Following the movie, the holiday is kicked off with Hot Dogs and Burgers in the Courtyard. Plus, a prize will be awarded for the kid that shows the best Red, White, and Blue spirit. FAB! Films for Kids is a free monthly event featuring films for families followed by an activity for kids and sponsored by Funding Arts of Broward and presented by the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

July 9 – 12 & 14
EVERY LITTLE STEP

Thursday, July 9, 6:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Friday, July 10, 5:45 PM , 8:00 PM & 9:45 PM
Saturday, July 11, 1:00 PM & 3:00 PM
Sunday, July 12, 1:00 PM & 3:00 PM
Tuesday, July 14, 6:00 PM & 8:00 PM

General Admission $9.00 | Seniors and Students $7.00 | FLIFF Members $5.00

'Every Little Step' explores the incredible journey of 'A Chorus Line,' from ambitious idea to international phenomenon. Through 15 years of continuous performances from the 70's to 90's and a revival beginning last year, 'A Chorus Line' has touched generations around the world with stories so poignant, they could only have come from truth. The film goes behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and footage of the revival's audition process, revealing the dramatic journey of the performers, and unfolding the story of life imitating art. The film compares and contrasts the original musical with the current revival. It investigates the societies in which they've debuted, and why the themes are so timeless and universal.

Sunday, July 12
10:00 AM - CAFE CINEMATHEQUE INTERNATIONAL
General Admission $10 | FLIFF Members $8

A monthly film event starting with Brunch and followed by an independent or foreign film and discussionfacilitated by Shelly Issacs, an instructor of foreign language film appreciation at Florida International University, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Presented this Sunday is, VIVA LALDJERIE, a 2004 film from Algeria. The film tells the story of old and young in Algeria through a mother and daughter hiding out in a hotel from local terrorists.

Monday July 13 & Saturday July 18

I PURITANI -Opera in Cinema

Monday, July 13, 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 18, 2:00 PM

General Admission $20 | FLIFF Members $18

Performed by the Teatro Comunale di Bologna ans part of Italy’s Grand Operas Series, I Puritani is the story of love between Elvira and Arturo amidst the English civil war of the 1640s. Elvira's hand has been promised to Sir Richard Forth, whom she does not love. Instead, she is madly in love with Arturo Talbo. Realizing his niece's sadness, Sir Giorgio convinces her father, Lord Gualtiero, to allow her to marry Arturo. At the wedding celebration, Arturo discovers that Queen Enrichetta is a prisoner in the castle. By covering the queen in a wedding veil, Arturo helps the Queen escape from the castle. Meanwhile, Elvira thinks that she has been abandoned. In the end, Arturo and Elvira are reunited to live in happiness. Conducted by: Paolo Vero | Directed by: Michele Mariotti | Cast: Ugo Guagliardo, Nino Machaidze, Yolanda Auyanet, Juan Diego Florez, Celso Albelo

July 17 - 19
PRAYING IN HER OWN VOICE

Friday, July 17, 6:00 PM
Saturday, July 18, 7:30 PM
Sunday, July 19, 1:00 PM, 5:00 PM

General Admission $9.00 | Seniors and Students $7.00 | FLIFF Members $5.00

This powerful film documents the courageous struggle of a religious women’s group called Women of the Wall, movement for equality, next to the wailing wall - perhaps the holiest place on earth for Jews.

The story of the Women of the Wall is a test case for the deprived status of women in Israeli public life. The film is an outcry protesting religious coercion and the violent silencing of women. It's a film that raises many questions about the battle of the sexes within the religious Jewish world.

Playing with short film - Today You Are A Fountain Pen
Set in 1989, during the historical week in which the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. The film is a poignant story about a unique relationship between a grandfather and his grandson before the boys Bar Mitzvah. The grandfather teaches the boy a small lesson about growing up, while the boy helps the grandfather, a holocaust survivor, open up and tell his story, for the first time. Stars Len Lesser (Uncle Leo) from Seinfeld.

July 17 - 19

AFGHAN STAR

Friday, July 17, 8:00PM
Saturday, July 18, 5:30 PM
Sunday, July 19, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM

General Admission $9.00 | Seniors and Students $7.00 | FLIFF Members $5.00

Winner Audience and Directing Award - 2009 Sundance Film Festival

In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing. After thirty years of war and five devastating years of Taliban rule, pop culture is beginning to return to the country. Since 2005, millions have been tuning in to Tolo TV’s wildly popular American Idol-style series Afghan Star. Like its Western predecessors, people compete for a cash prize and record deal. More surprisingly, the contest is open to everyone across the country despite gender, ethnicity or age. Two thousand people audition, including three extremely brave women. And when viewers vote for their favorites via cell phone, it is, for many, their first encounter with the democratic process.

Winner of the Directing and Audience Awards in Sundance’s 2009 World Documentary competition, Havana Marking’s timely and moving film follows the dramatic stories of four young finalists—two men and two women—as they hazard everything to become the nation’s favorite performer. By observing the Afghani people's relationship to its pop culture, Afghan Star is the perfect window into a country’s tenuous, ongoing struggle for modernity. What Americans consider frivolous entertainment is downright revolutionary—and more human—in this troubled part of the world.

July 21 & 25
STRAVINSKY & THE BALLETS RUSSES (Ballet)
Tuesday, July 21, 7:00pm

Saturday, July 25, 2:00PM

Stravinsky & The Ballets Russes

General Admission $15 / FLIFF Members $10 / Students under 16 $8

An evening of one-act ballets on the music by Igor Stravinsky featuring "The Firebird", "The Rite of Spring", and "The Wedding". As part of the "From Russia With Dance" series, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and Emerging Pictures present the world's most famous ballet company in HD, in the comfort of Cinema Paradiso's plush comfortable seating right here in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Wednesday, July 22
6:30PM - SENSES OF CINEMA Food, Film, Wine, and Discussion

General Admission $15 / FLIFF Members $12

The evening begins at 6:30pm as we celebrate Asia with a sampling of foods from the Far East with a glass of wine. At 7:30pm enjoy the award winning film BLIND SHAFT, introduced by Shelly Isaacs and presented with English subtitles. Following the film, join Shelly for his post screening commentary. BLIND SHAFT, by director Li Yang is a thriller from China, is about two Chinese coal miners who have hit upon the perfect scam: murder one of their fellow mine workers, make the death look like an accident, and extort money from the boss to keep the incident hushed up. For their latest "mark," they choose a naive teenager from a small village, and as they prepare to carry out their newest plan, things start to get complicated.

Friday, July 24

BACK TO BACK ROCK OPERAS
10:00 PM Repo! The Genetic Opera
11:55 PM Rocky Horror Picture Show
Featuring live shadow cast performers!

Admission: $5 each film.

In the tradition of Cinema Paradiso’s monthly Rocky Horror Pictureshow, Repo! The Genetic Opera features shadow cast Midnight Cinema. This marks first shadow cast performance of Repo! The Gentic Opera in the nation !

REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA takes place In the year 2056 -- the not so distant future -- an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Out of the tragedy, a savior emerges: GeneCo, a biotech company that offers organ transplants... for a price. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous Repo Men. In a world where surgery addicts are hooked on painkilling drugs and murder is sanctioned by law, a sheltered young girl searches for the cure to her own rare disease as well as information about her family's mysterious history. After being sucked into the haunting world of GeneCo, she is unable to turn back, as all of her questions will be answered at the wildly anticipated spectacular event: The Genetic Opera.

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW is a Rock and Roll party with a full bar, a Transvestite floor show and the live cast with all the feathers and sequins you can shake a stick at. "Don't Dream It Be It !" -Alexandra Gronskaya (The Queen)

Saturday, July 25

6:00PM - MIAMI VICE 25TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Admission: Free with donation of hair care products to be donated to the

Broward Partnership for the Homeless

Come dressed in your best 1980's South Florida attire as we celebrate 25 years of Crocket and Tubbs and the rest of the gang that redefined South Florida and Television. Included will be a screening of the original pilot episode, a silent auction of Miami Vice paraphernalia, plus other surprises.

Saturday, July 25

THE AUTEUR EXPLOSION

9:00PM – 2:00AM

Admission: $5

The monthly showcase produced by Underlab Studios, showcases the local creative community and the flavor of the South Florida culture. On July 25, local artists, musicians and filmmakers strut their stuff with a 1980's theme to compliment The Miami Vice 25^th Anniversary Party.

July 30 – August 2 (COMPLETE SCHEDULE ATTACHED)

THE 8^TH ANNUAL PERRIER FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

Thursday, July 30, 6:00PM Soiree, 7:00PM Film

Friday, July 31, 6:00PM & 8:00PM

Saturday, Aug 1, 10:00AM, 1:00PM, 3:00PM. 5:00PM, 7:00PM & 9:00PM

Sunday, Aug 2, 10AM Café Cinematheque, 2:00PM, 4:00PM, 6:00PM, 7:00PM Wrap Party

Admission:

Opening Night Film & Party $25 non-members and $15 for FLIFF members.

Closing Night Film & Wrap Party: $15 General Admission and $10 FLIFF Members

Café Cinetheque and Films Only:

$10 general Admission, $8 Seniors & Students, $5 FLIFF Members

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) takes you to France from the comfort of their plush, stadium style seating at Cinema Paradiso, as the 8^TH Annual Perrier French Film Festival lifts off July 30 – August 2, 2009.

Over 12 French films will be featured over the four-day fest featuring an eclectic array of historical dramas, scenic adventures, and side-splitting comedies. As no one does funny like the French, FLIFF will open and close with a heavy dose of laughter. The fest opener on July 30 is HELLO GOODBYE, starring Gérard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac) and Fanny Ardant (The Secrets) in a romantic comedy about a married Jewish couple that undergo an identity crisis when their only son marries a Catholic girl. They decide to move from their home in Paris to Israel only to face the bureaucratic miseries of relocating to a new country, putting their marriage to the test. Closing the fest on August 2 is A PAIN IN THE ASS(L'emmerdeur), the latest film from France’s master of comedy, writer-director Francis Veber (The Valet, The Closet, The Dinner Game), who again reveals the hapless Francois Pignon (Patrick Timsit) to audiences, this time as a hapless neurotic who’s unlucky in love.

The films in between are just as entertaining including: GROWN UPS, a wistfully charming comedy about a single French father and his shy teenage daughter who each discover romance during a summer holiday. WELCOME a thrilling drama about a swim coach who trains a young refugee to help him swim the English Channel in order to join his lover. And, THE WEDDING SONG - Karin Albou's (Little Jerusalem) sophomore feature confirms her status as a rising star in this taboo-breaking, sensual and political story of a Muslim girl and a Jewish girl who bond intensely during the Nazi occupation.

To give audiences the flavor of being in France, FLIFF will host their popular Opening Night Soiree with a sumptuous buffet of classic French cuisine. French wines and coffee will be featured throughout the four-days and the Closing Night Wrap Party will feature more casual French fare.

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