MEDIA RELEASE

In a good way, celebrity guests at Big Island Film Festival may stir up scandal and create tremors over Memorial Day Weekend at the Fairmont Orchid Hawaii.

Acclaimed actress and singer Bellamy Young currently stars as “First Lady Mellie Grant” on ABC/Shonda Rhimes’ Peabody Award-winning series, “Scandal,” which Rolling Stone Magazine described as “the most badass first lady in TV history.”

Young’s TV credits include CBS’ long-running series “Criminal Minds,” “CSI: Miami,” “Scrubs,” and the long-running NBC soap opera, “Another World.”

A talented singer, her debut album Far Away So Close is a collection of contemporary covers influenced by her North Carolina roots.

Michael Gross, “Burt Gummer” of the “Tremors” movies will also attend the festival as an honoree. Perhaps most familiar as “Steven Keaton,” Michael J. Fox’s dad on the long-running sitcom “Family Ties,” Gross’ 40-year career spans a remarkable range of characters, including recurring roles on the Drew Cary Show, ER, How I Met Your Mother, USA Network’s Suits, Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, and YTV Canada’s The Stanley Dynamic.

Gross stars in the BIFF Official selection “Last Call at Murray’s,” a new, indie film about an unlikely gathering of folks stranded in a snowbound karaoke bar.

BIFF will honor Young and Gross at a special Salute and Reception in their honor on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Audiences will have a chance to participate in an in-depth interview with the star led by Peter Caranicas of Variety magazine, then join in a sunset cocktail reception with elegant pupus in the Wailana Gardens.

Now in its 11th year, Big Island “Talk Story” Film Festival is a celebration of independent narrative films and filmmaking, taking place May 26-30.

The five‐day schedule includes free Opening Night and family films at The Shops at Mauna Lani, daytime movies and screenings under the stars at Plantation Estate, special events, screenwriting workshops, Awards Brunch and more.

A limited number of ballots will be given to audience members during each screening. Votes are tallied at the end of the festival, to determine the Audience‐choice Feature and Short to be screened at Best of the Fest on Monday, May 30.

An exciting closing night event, Best of the Fest will kick off with a Hawaiian music concert, and two ways to give back: a silent auction for Fisher House at Tripler Army Medical Center, and a portion of each ticket sold donated to Hawaii Island Food Basket.

— Find out more:
www.BigIslandFilmFestival.com

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2016 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

The new, independent shorts and feature‐length films are widely diverse, with something for every movie fan genre from sci fi to all kinds of romance, belly‐laugh comedy, zombie suspense, martial arts action, captivating mysteries, family stories, and a short, “Cosmopenguin,” by a 7‐year-old Austrian filmmaker.

Michael Gross, best known as Steven Keaton, Michael J. Fox’s TV dad in “Family Ties,” stars in the new feature “Last Call at Murray’s,” showing Sunday night. Gross will attend in person, following a salute and reception in his honor.

Bellamy Young, who plays ambitious First Lady on “Scandal,” will also be honored at BIFF, with a salute and reception on Saturday.

Of note are feature films to be screened at the Fairmont Orchid’s Plantation Estate, where no‐ host bar and snacks make movie‐watching even more fun, and beach chairs are welcome.

On Saturday, “Winter’s Dream,” a futuristic sci fi drama pairs with “Planroject Z,” a gripping trip through the zombie apocalypse, with soundtrack by artists like Rhianna, the Black Eyed Peas and more.

Friday’s lineup includes a hilarious defense of family leave, “The Bad Mother,” and a multi‐level love story filmed on our island, “Throuple.”

On Sunday, “The Closer” is an intense drama about super high stakes real estate during the boom and bust of Brooklyn’s subprime meltdown.

“I am so impressed with the quality of films this year,” said Executive Director Leo Sears. “Picking the Official Selections was very difficult. The features are excellent, and the shorts are so good that we added an extra film block so we could show six more. Many of the daytime movies are good enough to be shown in the prime Festival Venue, but we only have so much space. This is a great selection that any movie‐lover will enjoy and we hope everybody will come and support indie films with us.”

The Official Selections for BIFF 2016 are:

A Mighty Nice Man
As You Like It
Bernie and Rebecca
Between the Miles
Beyond Shattered Lenses
Blue Borsalino
Boomerang
Breathe
Catfish Blues
Cosmopenguin
Cuddle Party
Danny Boy
Diablo (Devil)
Dream Land
Ellis
Fade
Frankie (Italian roulette)
God Is A Dog
Green Lake
Hook Man
Indigo
Instance
Jack’s Apocalypse
Jagon
Last Call at Murray’s
Market St.
Monty and the Runaway Furnace
New Generation
Out of the village
Plan Z
Popolo
Prick
Psychoanalysis
Rated
Regression
Reservations For Three?
Ribbons
Romantic Rouse
Speaking of Fairies
Spunkle
Stoked Steves
Superior
The Bad Mother movie
The Bench
The Boy
The Closer
The End aka John Doe
The End of Blessings
The Kidnapping of a Fish
The Light Thief
The Schoolboy
The Surrender Call
Throuple
Water Girl
West of Her
White Lies Blue Dream
Wifey Redux
Winter’s Dream