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VISIONFEST announces the partial line-up for its 11th annual run featuring

several New York Premieres and an experimental feature about ‘everything'

Fest's own shorts initiative, 5x5 NY State of Mind Digital Project, ready to roll!

New York City, (April 26, 2011) - VISIONFEST 11: The Other Festival (VF11), June 22-26, 2011, at Tribeca Cinemas (corner of Varick and Laight streets), has announced its partial line-up for the 2011 Independent Vision Showcase.  A full list of ‘official selections' will be made public on May 10th, but fest organizers have decided to reveal some titles already garnering buzz to be featured at this year's event.

Following in the footsteps of what has become a festival tradition, the Opening Night Selection will be the New York premiere of a New York-based narrative feature:  FIGHTING FISH by Annette Apitz, which stars Val Emmich (Ugly Betty; 30 Rock), Anna Moore (Criminal Minds; Law & Order: CI), and Halley Feiffer (Mildred Pierce; The Squid and the Whale).  Festival producer, Jana Frindtova, defined the coming of age family drama as a "small indie film, set in a small town, but with a story that has a huge heart."

For the festival's Centerpiece Screening, the VF committee has selected THE CASSEROLE CLUB, by award-winning director, Steve Balderson, who returns to VF for the third time in six years.  CASSEROLE CLUB boasts a cast of familiar faces and iconic names, including former Backstreet Boys crooner, Kevin Scott Richardson, and frequent Balderson star, Susan Traylor (Greenberg).  Ms. Traylor's performance was described as "a perfect gem in an ensemble of diamonds," by VF co-director, Bruno Derlin, who added that "CASSEROLE CLUB is the director's best work to date.  We've bestowed awards on two of his previous films, but Mr. Balderson never ceases to impress and amaze us with his prolific work." 

Official Closing Night Selection is Conrad Jackson's FALLING OVERNIGHT, starring Parker Croft (who also co-wrote the film) and Emilia Zoryan (My Trip To The Dark Side).  The film, which is quickly earning formidable buzz as a film festival circuit favorite, will make its New York Premiere at VF.  Festival co-director, Frank Lewallen, described the bittersweet drama as a "beautiful love story," adding that "programming the film as a closing night entry will ensure that the festival ends on a high note, leaving audiences with something they're certainly not going to forget."

Another narrative feature already slated in a specific time slot is STAGS, by Jamie Greenberg, a comedy about four seasoned New York bachelors facing tragedy, sex, and 'The Thing Before The Thing.'  STAGS will unveil for the first time in New York on June 24th.  In a bold and unprecedented move, VF organizers have reserved a Saturday night slot (June 25th) for a feature length experimental film called ONTOLOGICA! or A Brief Explanation of Absolutely Everything that is Known about Absolutely Everything, by Skylar Gordon, a film that is completely unlike anything that has ever been created before, and whose title is actually its synopsis.

The 2011 5x5 NEW YORK STATE OF MIND DIGITAL PROJECT, which consists of an exclusive VF initiative featuring 5 ‘world premiere' digital shorts to be unspooled on the final evening of the festival, is ready to start rolling on May 14, 2011, when the first short will commence principal photography.  This year's edition has the distinction of being a game changer as, for the first time since its inception in 2003, the selected filmmakers (who are all VF alumni), will be working from original scripts pulled from the "winners" of the festival's first Short Script Competition, sponsored by InkTip.com.  The maiden experiment is designed to showcase the finished, collaborative work of two individuals (writer & director) who don't know one another and have never even met, but are coming together to realize an artistic vision that will immortalize their collective ‘New York State of Mind.'  Here is this year's winning line-up:

EASY PREY by Tara Parian, will be directed by Jeremiah Kipp.

IT'S NOT SATURDAY by Annette Beatrice, will be directed by Martha Pinson.

IT WAS A GIRL by Max King, will be directed by Mickey Pacula.

SANTA'S LITTLE HELPER by Sara Bovolenta, will be directed by Maggie Low.

SO AWKWARD by Matthew Stevens, will be directed by Jef Taylor.

Complete line-up, show times, and ticket info will be available after May 10, 2011, on the festival's Web site at: http://www.visionfest.com/.  Tickets may be purchased in advance at Tribeca Cinemas or online.