The much-anticipated New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF) kicked off with a bang. The opening night festivities at Crobar attracted over 1,000 filmmakers, artists, actors, distributors and press. Filmmakers promoted and networked and over 100 trailers were played on multiple screens throughout the evening. Guests in attendance included Vinny Vella (The Sopranos, Analyze That), Frank Lucas Jr., former Jerky Boy Kamal Ahmed, actress and model, Tiffani Webb (Guiding Light) and actress Venus Arrow (The Hoax, My Life As An Idiot).

Documentaries dominated the first day of screenings on November 10 at City Cinemas Village East. Noteworthy offerings included Shooting Henry Hill, a crime documentary that rediscovers “Goodfella” Henry Hill in the small town of North Platte, Nebraska. It was exciting to note that Borat was not the only movie that New Yorkers wanted to see. Festival audiences patiently lined up for tickets to Fidel, an experimental Hip-Hop documentary by Ife Olatunji, Mad Bad directed by Jon Keeyes and F8, a thriller featuring Sala Baker (The Lord of the Rings) and Clayne Crawford (Swimfan).

The highlight of the evening was definitely the East Coast premiere of the stellar documentary Out of Ali’s Shadow: The Larry Holmes Story directed by Evan Grant and Executive Produced by Mike Delisa (author of Cinderella Man). Guests were thrilled when Larry Holmes, one of the greatest champions in Heavyweight history arrived at the Village East and graciously posed for photographs. The packed theater enjoyed the documentary, which sheds light on Larry Holmes and his legacy. Later guests were invited by to a beautiful afterparty at Cloisters planned by publicist Valerie Nicholas.


Larry Holmes with Executive Producer of NYIIFVF, Stuart Alson
Photo credit: Bruce Alexander