Cindy Abbott Letro interviews Producer/Screenwriter Duece King and Director Amire K Reed ahead of the premiere of their latest feature film “Pure Finesse” at the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda. King and Reed discuss their career paths and the steps that led to their collaboration.
Buffalo, New York – Valkyrie International Film Festival (VIFF), a new annual event spotlighting films directed by women, has announced its first-year Official Selections. Co-founded by Tamar Lamberson and her daughter Kaelin, the festival runs Friday, March 24th – Tuesday, March 28th at the Screening Room Cinema and Arts Café in Amherst, New York. Film categories include short and feature-length documentary, experimental, and narrative films, with domestic, local, and international divisions.
Tamar Lamberson, Festival Co-Founder
“We were surprised by the consistent high quality of the submissions,” says Tamar, who has produced three feature films in Western New York, most recently the action film Guns of Eden. “We only had a few months to get everything together because we want to screen during Women’s History Month. Halfway through our submissions period we had to expand from four days to five to include as many of the films we loved as possible. Rejecting films that you like is the hardest part of this process.”
Among the 63 films selected are 10 created by local artists. While the festival programmers will judge several of the film categories themselves, they enlisted indie film icon Debbie Rochon, who directed the horror-thriller Model Hunger in Buffalo and has acted in almost 300 films, to judge the local films. Julianne Donofrio, New York City based director of the award-winning documentary Pieced Together, will judge U.S. documentary shorts.
Kaelin Lamberson, Festival Co-Founder
Kaelin Lamberson, 16, grew up on the sets of films directed by her father, Gregory Lamberson, and appeared in the Fred Olen Ray TV movies A Mother’s Revenge and A Christmas in Vermont before receiving accolades for her performance opposite Craig Sheffer in Widow’s Point. She has no interest in pursuing a career in film.
“I’m doing this because we want to uplift women,” the teenager says.
On the same day the mother and daughter programmers notified filmmakers of their acceptance, five out-of-town directors immediately announced their intention to attend VIFF.
“We want this to be an event where women can come together, screen their work for each other and an audience, and support each other,” Tamar says. “We’ve traveled to film festivals and know female directors are often under-represented.”
The full list of selected films is available on the VIFF website, and a schedule should be announced in one week’s time. The five-day Pegasus Pass will go on sale for $50 at the Screening Room box office.
VIFF website: https://www.valkyriefilmfest.com/
VIIFF on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valkyriefilmfest
Featured Image at top of page -Official Selection “Mother of Color” Directed by Dawn Jones Redstone – lead actor Ana del Rocio. Trailer:
Cindy Abbott Letro Interviews Director Fred Olen Ray and Illio DiPaolo’s owner Dennis DiPaolo during the filming of a “Royal Christmas Holiday” at Dennis’s Restaurant. Fred and Dennis talk about the importance of practical locations and how the have achieved many different looks using Illio DiPaolo’s.
This Wednesday, February 22, 2023 from 1:00PM to 7:00PM, Buffalo will be hosting the first ever Winter Gear Expo, an exciting new cinema technology exhibition, at 620 Winslow Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14211. For one day, film and video’s leading global manufacturers and service providers will converge in the heart of Western New York’s film industry; one of the fastest emerging and vibrant creative communities in the country. Attendees will have exclusive hands-on access to the industry’s most prominent brands and newest equipment releases, as well as a showcase of some of the region’s most innovative creative companies.
Presented by Expressway Cinema Rentals and co-hosted by Buffalo Camera, this inaugural event will be held at Legacy House, Buffalo’s newest content house and commercial white cyc studio facility. Legacy House provides a valuable resource to the local film community and is the perfect location for an event of this significance. The event will bring access to a unique immersive opportunity for attendees to get their eyes and hands on the latest and greatest creative products in an equally exciting new production facility.
“The creative industries are driven by a diversity of innovative technologies, services and people.” says Expressway Cinema Rentals co-founder, Zac Rubino. “This is why Buffalo is the perfect place to launch this new Gear Expo. Western New York has a diverse creative community and historic roots in film making and technical innovation. We are excited to be a part of that and to help facilitate greater exposure and engagement with the global film community in this event.”
Co-Hosted by Buffalo Camera, an Expressway Cinema Rentals Company, Upstate New York’s full service Camera Rental House and prep facility. Buffalo Camera is committed to building and growing a better creative infrastructure in the region and facilitating growth in the industry by bringing the highest quality of cinema service into Buffalo in a way that is still focused on culture, and community.
“We are excited to welcome notable global vendors into Buffalo, but also to showcase what Buffalo is building and shine a spotlight on our local creative companies,” says Buffalo Camera’s founder and Operations Manager, Ben Mannarino. “Innovative vendors like Buffalo Expendables, MocoLab, and Legacy House are essential infrastructure in our growing film community. Each of these vendors are working to make Buffalo a more creative place to live and work.”
“We are pleased to support Expressway Cinema Rentals’ Winter Gear Expo,” comments Daniel Castle, Commissioner of Environment and Planning at Erie County’s Office of Economic Development. “Our goal s to introduce this region, especially schools and students, to this one-of-a-kind networking event not previously offered in WNY!”
On February 22 from 1:00PM to 7:00PM, join Expressway and Buffalo Camera for the Winter Gear Expo hosted at Legacy House, 620 Winslow Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14211. Come network with leading equipment vendors and companies while gaining hands-on experience with the newest equipment on the market. Prominent camera and lighting vendors include Camera: Arri, Cooke, Angénieux, Core SWX, Sachtler, and O’Connor; and Lighting: Aputure, ACT Lighting, Lightstar, Litegear, Litepanels, and Quasar Science.
RSVP: www.wintergearexpo.com
Contact: marketing@expresswaycine.com
(January 4th, 2023) Pro rally driver Ken Block, the Hoonigan and DC Shoes co-founder who revolutionized action sports marketing and motorsports film-making, died in a snowmobile accident near his home in Utah on Monday. He was 55.
Block brought his Youtube series Gymkhana to Buffalo in 2016 for it’s 9th episode and featured backdrops which included the Central Terminal, The South Park Lift Bridge, and the Buffalo Waterfront and more in it’s footage. As of this week Gymkhana 9 had been seen by over 55 Million people.
GYMKHANA 9 – https://filmbuffaloniagara.com/latest-news/ken-blocks-gymkhana-nine-shot-in-buffalo/
Filmed entirely in Western New York this past September The Crown Prince of Christmas airs this Saturday(12/10) at 8pm ET on the Great American Family Network.
The Crown Prince of Christmas tells the story of Madison(Cindy Busby), an aspiring musician, jokingly tells her overbearing family that she is dating the prince of a small European nation. The joke goes to far as her friend/co-worker Sebastian(Jilon VanOver) is roped into impersonating the prince while visiting her family in New Jersey. Little does Madison know that Sebastian happens to be hiding a royal secret.
Familiar locations used fro Crown Prince of Christmas include the Hotel Lafayette, Illio DiPaolo’s Restaurant, Vidlers, and more.
See Western New York Channel Line-up HERE