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HDFEST 2005 World Tour Launches with South Florida Film Festival Event

HDFEST will be launching its 2005 World Tour next month with a film festival event in South Florida September 9th and 10th. HDFEST events include panels, seminars and screenings of new films created using high-definition technology. The HDFEST 2005 World Tour will also be taking place in London, Los Angeles, Helsinki and New York. The upcoming HDFEST South Florida event will be held at the Sunrise Gateway Theatre in Fort Lauderdale and The Digital Media Arts College. HDFEST's "high-definition only" screenings will allow attendees the full experience of what high-definition and digital cinema currently have to offer audiences and will include a special selection of animation, documentaries, features and shorts.

On Friday September 9th in Fort Lauderdale, HDFEST will be presenting from among the best film selections from the 2005 tour. Technical support for the screenings will be provided by Miami's Midtown Video. All HDFEST South Florida screenings will mark Florida Premieres and most will also mark High-Definition Premieres. HDFEST's feature presentation will be "Moving Malcolm" a comedy from Vancouver directed by, written and starring Benjamin Ratner, a series regular on the ABC miniseries, KINGDOM HOSPITAL, written by Stephen King. The film also stars John Neville(SPIDER) and Elizabeth Berkeley (ROGER DODGER, SHOWGIRLS). "Moving Malcolm" focuses on a young man, Gene Maxwell, recently dumped at the alter by his girlfriend, a B-movie actress. Maxwell agrees to his ex's request to move her cantankerous British father, Malcolm, in with him into his new apartment. HDFEST South Florida also will showcase a monumental new documentary "Marry Me: Stories from the San Francisco Weddings." Since the landmark decision to allow same sex marriages in San Francisco, headlines of newspapers and dailies across the country have posed questions about the political aspects of these unions. The angle that has been largely overlooked in the media is the fact that two people in love were finally able to prove that love to each other by making the serious commitment of marriage. This film provides a unique and rare chronicle of the love story behind the historic moment.

Among shorts to be screened at HDFEST South Florida include "Keeper of the Past" a psychological thriller director by Alonso F Mayo adapted from the short story "El Dueno Del Pasado" by Bolivian novelist Edmundo Paz Soldan. It stars Adam Rodriguez (CSI: MIAMI, ROSWELL) and Steven Bauer (SCARFACE, TRAFFIC). This year Director Alonso F Mayo won the Student Academy Award for the Narrative category proving he is definitely an up and coming star in his field. Other short films to be presented include the science fiction "Untitled: 003- Embryo," directed and written by Mike Goedecke. The film stars Orlando Seale (WEST WING, SLEEPY HOLLOW), Ethan Phillips (STAR TREK: VOYAGER, BAD SANTA) and Sean O'Brien (PRINCESS DIARIES, BIG FAT LIAR). The HDFEST shorts also represent the best of HD internationally including "In Heaven as it is on Earth" from Norway, "Canadian Zombie" from Canada, "Waiting for Movement" and "Winner Takes All" from the UK, as well as "'oby" from Germany.

The films to be presented at HDFEST South Florida were also shot on a variety of High-Definition cameras including the Sony Cinealta F-900, Panasonic Varicam and Viper FilmStream. On Saturday September 10th, two HDFEST panel discussions will be held in Boca Raton which will focus on High-Definition technology, animation, and digital filmmaking. The first panel "Using HD Technology to Enhance the Filmmaking Vision" will include discussions with industry experts based in South Florida. This will be followed by a panel presented by the Digital Media Arts College and reception.

HDFEST's next two events will be following shortly after the South Florida event. In late September, HDFEST's New York event will begin. This festival will be held at the Goldcrest Post Screening Room and will include HD screenings and panels. Shortly thereafter on October 3rd and 4th, HDFEST's London event will take place. The London event will be held in conjunction with the Raindance Film Festival which is considered to be Britain's largest and most exciting film festival. The HDFEST 2005 World Tour is sponsored by Dalsa, Dolby, DivX, Midtown Video, Goldcrest Post Production, Production Update Magazine, Film and Video Magazine, Royalty Free HD, Gorilla Software and the Digital Media Arts College.

The upcoming HDFEST event schedule can be found at http://www.hdfest.com/south_florida_05.htm, the festival will take place Friday September 9th at the Sunrise Gateway Theatre, 1820 East Sunrise Blvd, 3pm-7pm. Tickets to screenings are $7 and can be purchased online by visiting www.hdfest.com or by calling 321-206-5343. Tickets will also be available at the door after 2:30pm September 9th at the Sunrise Gateway. Panel discussions Saturday September 10th will take place at Digital Media Arts College, 3785 North Federal Highway from 2pm-4pm. Admission to attend both panel discussions is $10. Tickets to panel discussions is $10 and can also be purchased on HDFEST's website. For more information about HDFEST as well as about other HDFEST events this year, visit www.hdfest.com.