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GALA EVENT:
COCKTAIL HOUR, FILMS, CEREMONIES, & AFTER-PARTY
Friday, September 21, 2018
6:00PM - 10:00PM
6:00pm-8:00pm: Red Carpet Gala
8:00pm - 10:00pm: Film Screenings, Rising Stars Ceremony, Filmmaker Q&A
10:30pm - 12:00am: After-Party at "16 Prospect Wine Bar & Bistro"
Don't miss out on our most anticipated night, Friday Night's Gala Event! Do you love movies? Do you love unlimited food and drink? You don't need to be in the film industry to enjoy a film festival! Celebrate with a catered cocktail party with hors d'oeuvres, open bar, an evening of short films, filmmaker Q&A, & after-party!
**Planning on attending multiple days? Save & buy a Saturday All-Access Day-Pass, Sunday All-Access Day-Pass, or VIP Weekend All-Access Pass! **Available for Advanced Sale only, will NOT be sold at the door.
All festival tickets include free admission to the Sunday Awards Ceremony. Come join the fun!
**For helpful information such as tickets, directions, parking, handicap access, and where to eat/stay, please visit our Attend page.
Join us for an evening of films, food and fun! Ticket price includes a preceding Gala Cocktail Hour with catered hors d'oeuvres, dessert, and open bar (beer/wine/champagne).
Guests are free to tour our beautiful venue, The James Ward Mansion of Westfield. Come dressed to impress for photos and interviews on the red carpet! Semi-formal attire is suggested.
RED CARPET GALA
The gala will be followed by the evening’s film screenings. We will also be honoring three up-and-coming TV and Film Stars at our Rising Star Award Ceremony. Myles Clohessy (Blue Bloods), Holly Curran (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Angelo Reyes (The Cell) will be gracing the red carpet at the 6th Annual Westfield International Film Festival.
Learn more abut this year's Rising Stars by clicking below!
RISING STARS
AWARD CEREMONY
After the film screenings and Q&A, this ticket will also include access to the Gala After Party from 10:30pm-12:00am at local restaurant & bar "16 Prospect Wine Bar & Bistro", located only one block away from the venue. There will be live music, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, and a full bar!
GALA AFTER-PARTY
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 15:00
Country: USA
Synopsis: A young Asian American woman in New York City grapples with a love-at-first-sight gone wrong. She struggles to form new romantic connections as her past relationship awakens her awareness of damaging societal perceptions of Asian women in America. Also stars Myles Clohessy, 1 of this year's Rising Star Honorees.
Director/Writer/Actor: Yaine Ellen Dong
Born in Seoul, Korea but raised in the suburbs near DC, Yaine developed an affinity for the cinematic arts at a young age and secretly wanted to be an actor throughout her adolescent years. However, she too often found difficulty expressing her heart's calling as she didn't see how there could be a place in Hollywood for someone who looked like her and saw the world as she did. It was in high school that she developed a strong desire to write and direct her own films, and realized that sharing her own voice and perspectives could not only empower her life as an actor, but also the lives of other Asian American actors, artists and audience members, as well as other young girls and women of color. To this day, she only grows in her conviction, and continues to pave her path to rise as a new unique voice and face of the American narrative. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, and is a recent graduate from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she studied Acting, Filmmaking, and Asian American Identity in Media.
WATCHING YOU WATCHING ME
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 18:37
Country: USA
Synopsis: Maria's story is a familiar one—with a violent and heartbreaking twist. Frustrated with her mother's seemingly overbearing concern, teenage Maria runs to the arms of an older man (Angelo Reyes, 1 of this year's Rising Star Honorees) who pays her attention and promises her love, if she will do just one thing. Maria realizes too late that what she thought was love was a ploy for control until a chance encounter changes everything. Based on true events.
Director/Writer/Actor: Angelo Reyes
Angelo was raised in Naples, Italy and speaks Italian,
Spanish and English. He is of Filipino and Italian descent.
He started his career in production and design while
working for a motor sports magazine in NYC.
In 2002, Angelo began to produce and host a motor sports
TV show. He then went on to co-produce and host, Street
Vision Garage. This experience evolved into Angelo’s
pursuit of a career in acting and his involvement in several
TV shows and movies. Angelo has been featured in various national commercials, since he began his acting career in 2005. He is currently working on several projects and is in the process of writing a feature film. Angelo always had a passion for art and continues to display his artistic interpretations through film and acting.
Producer: Tanya Gould Street
Tanya Street is an international speaker and talk show host. She has served in numerous community outreach organizations such as; New Jersey Women Aids Network as a board member, South Jersey Aids Alliance as an outreach coordinator (award recipient of both organizations), founder of Women Empowering Women (NJ) support group, Administrator of GIRL TALK life spoken ministries (NC), a talk show host for Joy In Our Town shown on WTPC, Virginia Beach, a survivor awareness presenter for various anti‐sex trafficking organizations, Board Member of Love and Justice International, and finally founder of her own non‐profit organization called Identifiable Me. Tanya has her own story of being trafficked when she was ending her senior year in high school and is now telling her story in order to bring awareness and to ultimately eradicate trafficking in our nation and in our day. Passionately, Tanya consistently seeks opportunities to network with communities, inspire change, and share the message of love, hope, and forgiveness.
GROOMED
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 13:22
Country: USA
Synopsis: How close to the abyss would you go to save another person? New mother Becky is awakened at close to midnight by Justine (Holly Curran, 1 of this year's Rising Star Honorees), an alcoholic who is on the brink of self-destruction. In order to reach Justine, Becky must open her own padlocked past and finds the imps inside are harder than she thought to get back in.
Director: Jeremiah Kipp
Jeremiah Kipp's directing credits include the Chinese-American co-production BROKEN BADGES, BLACK WAKE starring Tom Sizemore, PICKUP starring Jim True-Frost ("The Wire"), EDWARD ALBEE: A TRANSFORMATIVE MOMENT starring Mercedes Ruehl, THE SADIST starring Tom Savini, and THE POD starring Larry Fessenden.
Producer: Natasha Straley
Natasha Straley is a writer, director and producer of films. Among her producer credits are GONE (Erin Courtney, writer; Jeremiah Kipp, director), PELICAN (Charles Baran, writer; Jeremiah Kipp, director), SLAPFACE (Jeremiah Kipp, writer/director), DISCOVER THE WONDER (Natasha Straley and Ari Rossen, writers; Jeremiah Kipp, director), PICKUP (Jessica Blank, writer; Jeremiah Kipp, director) and SOUND/VISION - Ari Rossen, writer; Jeremiah Kipp, director).
Writer/Executive Producer: Susannah Nolan
HOW DO YOU TYPE A BROKEN HEART is Susannah Nolan’s first film after 20 years writing plays for independent theater. Her one-act play DON’T PICK UP (Best Play - American Globe Short Play Festival), published by Smith & Kraus, has been performed around the country and is currently being adapted into a film to be directed by Jeremiah Kipp.