Editor

Record Box Office Receipts, Strong Attendance
Mean Success for 2003 High Falls Film Festival

The 3rd annual High Falls Film Festival, the premier East Coast festival that celebrates the work of women behind the camera, generated record box office receipts for its four-day, five-night run November 5-9 at the Little Theatres and at the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House.

"We had a 17 percent jump in box office receipts over last year," said
Ruth Cowing, the festival's managing director, "and we doubled our
number of sell-out shows. Quite frankly, we're thrilled. It's clear that
the festival continues to build momentum as a major attraction in the
greater Rochester area." Cowing noted that 2002 box office receipts had
doubled from the festival's inaugural year in 2001.

Strong attendance including sales of more than 3,000 advance tickets at
Wegmans "That's the Ticket" locations throughout New York State, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania filled houses for even the most challenging
films. For example, an audience of more than 260 attendees viewed OSAMA,
the first film to come from Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.

Eight film screenings sold out entirely up from four sold-out shows in
2002 including the opening night film IN AMERICA, which took the
Audience Choice award for Best Feature Film at the festival, selling out
a second screening on the festival's closing night. Other sold-out shows
included ANGELA, MY ARCHITECT (which took the Audience Choice Award for
Best Documentary), MY LIFE WITHOUT ME, BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE
SEAMSTRESS, the documentary BLUEGRASS JOURNEY, and a program of short
films for children.

"This year, to make the best possible use of our limited funding, we
actually had fewer events and films than we did the year before," noted
Catherine Wyler, artistic director for the High Falls Film Festival. "To
see the increase in box office receipts under these circumstances is
very positive for us. We know that Rochester audiences and all of the
visitors from outside Rochester who came here for the festival enjoy the
opportunity to see films that otherwise might never come to this area.
In addition, we know that our audiences want the opportunity to meet the
filmmakers, learn about the creative aspects of the film industry, and
hobnob with directors, producers, cinematographers, writers and
stars all right here in Rochester."

Next year's festival is tentatively scheduled for November 3-7, 2004.