The seventh annual Big Apple Film Festival gets under way November 2, kicking off five days of screenings of more than one hundred shorts and features, focusing on independent cinema in New York and around the country. The first few days include a diverse range of films, including Marvin Suarez’s ZOMBIE CHRONICLES: THE INFECTED, Aaron Kodz’s DYING LOVE, Adam Reid’s HELLO LONESOME, Jonathan Furmanski’s THE WEIRD WORLD OF BLOWFLY, Adam Blank’s ADAM BLANK GETS A VASECTOMY, and Amy Glazer’s SEDUCING CHARLIE BARKER. Among the more New York–centric flics are Roger Sherman’s THE RESTAURATEUR, about Danny Meyer; Alexandra Schwimmer’s VERTICAL VILLAGE, about the Seward Park Cooperative; Michael Gartland and Robert Weiss’s YANKEELAND: IN THE SHADOW OF THE STADIUM; and Monty Diamond’s WORLD TRADE CENTER IN THE MOVIES. The festival comes to a close Saturday with some all-star programs, beginning with a panel discussion on “DIY Distribution” and concluding with screenings of DG Brock’s MONTANA AMAZON: THE ADVENTURES OF THE DUNDERHEADS, which will be followed by a Q&A with star Haley Joel Osment; Thomas LaSorsa’s CIRCUS MAXIMUS, followed by the presentation of the Golden Apple Award to Kevin Corrigan and the Spirit of New York Award to Mario Cantone; and a twentieth-anniversary celebration of Martin Scorsese’s gangster classic GOODFELLAS, with special guests hosted by Tony Darrow.
