Five full days are being added to this year's annual Syracuse International Film Festival to accommodate a variety of cinematic genres.
The film festival held a press conference Thursday to announce the lineup and other details of the 10-day festival, which will take place from April 25 to May 4.
This year, the festival will undergo some changes, including an expansion from a five-day to a 10-day event and a bigger selection in genres.
The film festival will take place at nine venues throughout the city, including Gifford Auditorium in HBC Hall. It is open to the public, with a mix of free and paid events.
"In order to be taken seriously as a film festival you need to be a 10-day festival," said Christine Fawcett-Shapiro, the festival's managing director.
Other factors that sparked the change in length included a desire to highlight Central New York filmmakers - a two-weekend festival enabling the volunteers to dedicate one weekend to Central New York filmmakers and their work and to also have a timeframe large enough to accommodate all of the deserving films submitted to the festival this year, Fawcett-Shapiro said.
Mayor Matthew Driscoll and other local government officials were at the press conference to promote the festival and reveal the films, venues and other special events.
Actor Stephen Baldwin will open the festival, and his new movie "The Flyboys" will premiere on the opening night of the event.
Another significant change in the festival, with this year marking its fifth year running, is a number of films selected are appropriate for families. Now, listing such screenings as "family- friendly" does not necessarily mean they're appropriate for 5 year olds, Fawcett-Shapiro said.
"The films this year that are 'family-friendly' really grew from the opportunity that we had to go to Montreal," Fawcett-Shapiro said. "At the Children's International Film Festival, we saw so many good films during that festival and so many of them we really felt we wanted to bring back and have them be part of what we're doing here in Syracuse."
In addition to family-oriented films, festival-goers will also be able to enjoy a free drive-in movie theater to be constructed in the heart of Armory Square.
"This festival does have an international outreach, and the more this festival is understood and known throughout not only our local area, but also regionally, nationally and internationally, the more effective it's going to be in helping not only all the arts organizations in the community but also the economics and cultural life of the community," Owen said.
dsbortz@syr.edu
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