Port Townsend Film Festival 2008

Images of Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 epic “Battleship Potemkin” impose themselves on a modern tourist visiting Odessa. Print Source: morsed@gvsu.edu

One of the wildest places in North America, Alaska’s Brooks Range is explored through the eyes of the native Nunamiut Eskimo culture and the passion of two conservationists who started a national wilderness protection movement as a result of their inspiration. Narrated by Oscar®-nominee Glenn Close. Print Source: North Shore Productions Email: Jessica@northshorepro.com

A classic stage hit gets a classic Hollywood treatment in the story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a friendly spirit who takes the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey. Only Elwood (and a few privileged others on occasion) can see him. After Elwood’s sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues in which Elwood and Harvey become catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places. —Dale Roloff Universal-International paid $750,000 for the film rights. Harvey opened at the 48th Street Theater, New York on November 1, 1944 running for 1775 performances. Josephine Hull first performed her role in the Broadway version of Harvey. Vaudevillian Frank Fay played the role of Elwood. At the suggestion of James Stewart, the film’s director changed many shots to make them wider so that "Harvey" would be in the frame. Watching this movie is like warm milk at bedtime. It's like sipping hot chocolate just as the marshmallows are beginning to melt. It's sitting in a hot bath with the scent of your favorite bubbles filling the air. It is warm and sweet and, ultimately, extraordinarily satisfying.. --Natasha Theobald, eFilmCritic.com Awards: 1951 Academy Awards® and Golden Globes: Josephine Hull, Best Performance by an Actress in a Support Role Print Source: Universal Picture Email: paul.ginsburg@nbcuni.com

Chronicling the changing fortunes of a unique abandoned lot in Red Hook, Brooklyn, the film explores the complicated issues of development, class and identity facing the city’s most populous borough. Print Source: Skeptical Productions Email: dwy@skepticalproductions.net

The story of a middle-aged closeted man who hides from his life as a straight-laced professional automobile critic by indulging in internet pornography. This works until his eccentric gay boss tries to help. Print Source: Horsepowered Pictures Email: parksmoffett@hotmail.com

"Fast" Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary "Minnesota Fats" to a high-stakes match, but he loses in a heartbreaking marathon. Now broke and without his long-time manager, Felson faces an uphill battle to regain his confidence and his game. It isn't until he hits rock bottom that he agrees to join up with ruthless and cutthroat manager, Bert Gordon. Gordon agrees to take him on the road to learn the ropes. But Felson soon realizes that making it to the top could cost him his soul, and perhaps his girlfriend. Roger Ebert: “(’The Hustler’) is one of the few American movies in which the hero wins by surrendering, by accepting reality instead of his dreams.” Awards: Academy Awards® for best art direction-set decoration, best screenplay; nominations for best picture, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor (Gleason and Scott) BAFTA for best film, best actor; nomination for best actress The film will be followed by an interview of Piper Laurie by Robert Osborne, primetime host of Turner Classic Movies. Print Source: Criterion Pictures Email: cary@criterionpictures.com

This animated and surreal interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” will have viewers watching over their shoulders for “the jaws that snatch!” Print Source: keithlawes@aol.com

A celebration of the coming together of two indigenous cultures – the Coast Salish of British Columbia and the Iatmul of Papua New Guinea, through the shared medium of carving. Print Source: Arthur Holbrook Productions aholbrook@shaw.ca