Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival

Friday, October 31---------The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival has been chosen to be the first film festival in the US to give out a special new award to an emerging filmmaker. The International Film Guide Inspiration Award, presented by Wallflower Press (www.wallflowerpress.co.uk), the largest independent film book publisher in the UK, and the Criterion Collection (www.criterion.com), the leading distributor of classic world cinema, is a unique prize of film books, reference guides and film DVDs designed to provide emerging filmmakers at the start of their careers with inspiration from some of world's most iconic filmmakers, including Federico Fellini, Francois Truffaut, Fritz Lang, Ingmar Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, Jim Jarmusch, Akira Kurosowa, Jean-Luc Godard, Todd Haynes, Terrence Malick, Mike Leigh, Roman Polanski, Chris Marker, Ang Lee, Werner Herzog, David Lynch, Lars von Trier and Lindsay Anderson.

Awards have already been given out at the Vancouver International Film Festival in September and at the Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinema in October. Next up is FLIFF, which will present the prize to an emerging American Independent Filmmaker with a film screening at the Festival, to be determined by the Festival's Programming Committee.

The honoree will be chosen based on the “unique visual style, daring content and expansive execution” of an American indie title screening at the festival. The Award itself will include both the 2008 and 2009 editions of the International Film Guide, a collection of books from various Wallflower Press series and a library of 10 classic DVDs drawn from the Criterion Collection of world cinema masterpieces, with a combined cash value of $2500.

In addition, a profile of the winning Filmmaker and his/her Film will be included in the printed 2009 edition of the International Film Guide and on the sister website (www.internationalfilmguide.com), which will be launching in the next week. Plans are in place to present the Award at nearly a dozen film festival events around the world in 2009.

The International Film Guide Inspiration Award is part of the renaissance of the International Film Guide, a yearbook publication that covers the world of independent and international cinema, which is celebrating its 45th year with a January 2009 publication date. The Guide, a comprehensive 450-page book, offers a world survey of over 125 countries, as well as special focuses on the worlds of film festivals, new media and other topics of interest to film professionals, academics, programmers and cinephiles.

“We've wanted to work with film festivals to recognize new talents for a long time now”, Wallflower Press publisher Yoram Allon explained. “But rather than simply offering a cash prize, we felt it would ultimately be more meaningful to the filmmakers to provide them with a unique award….one that would provide inspiration, insight and helpful tools at the start of their careers. What better mentors to these new filmmakers than the classic directors of world cinema?”

Sandy Mandelberger, FLIFF Dailies Editor