Naperville Independent Film Festival attracts international projects

Sept. 21, 2013: Center Stage Theater was bursting with excitement, glitz and glamor as film makers gathered for the Naperville Independent Film Festival awards ceremony on Sept. 21. Don Gingold again served as Master of Ceremonies.

Mrs. Illinois 2013, Stephanie Pillar, joined NIFF founders Edmond Coisson and Glessna Coisson for a quick photo before festivities began.

While attendees were ushered into the theater on the red carpet, NCTV17 and other reporters took turns interviewing Dean Richards of WGN-TV. The NIFF Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Richards for his many contributions to the movie, television, and radio industries of Chicago. Richards has been a member of the WGN-TV staff for over 20 years and is well-known for his film reviews, his interviews with local and national celebrities and for hosting many WGN specials, such as the award-winning “Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics” which he also co-produced.

Dolly McCarthy, WGN and CLTV News anchor, was slated to present the award to Richards.

“It’s been quite a week. We’ve seen film makers we couldn’t have imagined,” said Glessna Coisson, “And we’re waiting for our entertainment to arrive.

“Our special guest is Chris Errera, star and subject of the documentary ‘Composed.’  He’ll perform on the keyboard during our awards ceremony,” she said.

And the NIFF Trophy recipients are…

Congratulations to all the film makers at the festival for the hard work in producing a fine showing of films this year. NIFF encourages you to continue your development as film makers and submit again next year. Thanks to Center Stage Theater for providing the perfect venue for the awards presentation!

 —The 2013 NIFF Committee

Sept. 15, 2013:  See videotaped interviews of this year’s earlier screenings on the updated-daily NIFF website that includes the current day’s schedule.

A brief overview of the 2013 NIFF

The sixth annual Naperville Independent Film Festival (NIFF) is set to take place September 13-21.  Film screenings will be scheduled at Classic Cinemas Ogden 6 Theater and at Smith Hall on the North Central College campus.

This year, 150 filmmakers and 15 screenwriters from all over the globe have entered their projects for a chance to compete for the coveted NIFF trophy that will be presented to winners at the Closing Awards Ceremony, held at Center Stage Theater, on September 21, 2013.

Ninety-two films will be screened, including winning films from the European Independent Film Festival (ECU), which took place in Paris earlier this year.

Forty-nine films and five screenplays have been nominated to compete in 11 “best” categories, including documentary, director, feature film, short film, actor, actress, animation, student-produced, music video, mobile video (newest category 2013), and screenplay.

Oscar potential?

NIFF 2013 marks a special milestone in the festival’s history, with an invitation to apply for accreditation in two film categories (live-action short and animation) by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Organizers and filmmakers are very excited at the prospect,” noted publicist Mary Ellen Fieseler.

For the first time in the festival’s history a pre-opening event has been added for premiere screenings of two locally produced films; the Naperville Premiere of “Composed,” a documentary feature film by Charley Rivkin, and the Midwest Premiere of the documentary feature “Gus: An American Icon,” by Pedro Brenner.

Year-to-year, the festival co-founded by Edmond Coisson, Glessna Coisson, Gary Pradel and Daniel Nigg continues to draw a growing number of local and regional indie-film fans, and all the organizers of the annual event are pleased to see the film festival as a well-established fixture on the busy Naperville events calendar.

For program details, event schedules, brief history of NIFF and more information, visit www.naperfilmfest.com.

Now on with the show!