Despite intense economic challenges and a precipitous cut in cultural funding, the Palm Beach International Film Festival, one of the best regional festivals on the circuit, is persevering with an exciting program planned for later this month. Longtime Festival honcho Randi Emerman continues to push on for quality and diversity for local audiences in Palm Beach County, an area on Florida's southeast coast that perhaps has the greatest disparity between wealth and poverty in the nation...

  For its distinguished honorees this year, the 15th edition of the Palm Beach International Film Festival pays tribute to a local legend and a star on the rise. This evening at the recently-opened swanky The Omphoy Ocean Resort (www.omphoy.com), the Festival will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to  local Florida legend, actor/director/producer Burt Reynolds.  The Festival's Horizon Award will be given to actor Quinton Aaron, who recently starred opposite Oscar winner Sandra ...

  The Palm Beach International Film Festival, which begins this evening, is going Hawaiian with its Opening Night attraction of PRINCESS KA'IULANI, a historical drama about a real life heroine in the legacy of the Hawaiian Islands. The biopic stars Q'orianka Kilcher (the star of the Terrence Malick historical epic THE NEW WORLD) as a turn-of-the-century princess caught up in the last days of the Hawaiian monarchy. Set in 1888, the Kingdom of Hawaii is divided by a civil war. Prin...

  Do not pity (nor envy) this pale New Yorker as I leave the cool and rainy climes of my native Manhattan for the sunny paradise of Palm Beach, Florida. Late April brings with it the beginnings of steamy Florida weather, with its peekaboo of sun and clouds, where a torrential rainshower can happen one minute and the sun shining the next is not out of the ordinary. In this dramatic clime, the Palm Beach International Film Festival beckons with its film premieres, snazzy special eve...

  It was a true celebration of film as the Palm Beach International Film Festival celebrated announced its winners in the categories of Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Short Film and Best Director. The jury for the 14th PBIFF consisted of:  Academy Award-nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand & Fog, and the upcoming Stoning of Soraya M.) and Debbie Frank, COO of the Frank Theatres, who judged the Feature Films; Director Aaron Wells (whose film Rock and...

SEVERE  SEVERE CLEAR   No matter the size of the Festival, and I am including the biggest ones of the bunch in this statement, the quality of the fiction features is generally a mixed bag, but the documentaries never disappoint. The same can be said for the Palm Beach International Film Festival, where this year's documentary lineup is of consistent quality, appealing to audiences of all stripes and  tastes. Social issues mix with personal concerns in the best of these films. I...

No matter the size of the Festival, and I am including the biggest ones of the bunch in this statement, the quality of the fiction features is generally a mixed bag, but the documentaries never disappoint. The same can be said for the Palm Beach International Film Festival, where this year's documentary lineup is of consistent quality, appealing to audiences of all stripes and tastes. Social issues mix with personal concerns in the best of these films. In THE DAY AFTER PEACE, UK director Jeremy...

  The Palm Beach International Film Festival, which opens tomorrow evening with the US/Scottish film STONE OF DESTINY, will give local film buffs and visiting film professionals a rare look inside the workings of the film industry courteosy of Festival honoree Joel Zwick. Zwick, who was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1942, cut his early teeth as a writer/director/producer for television, directing episodes of such popular television series as Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy,...

The Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF) announced its highly anticipated film line-up for the 14th edition, April 23-27, 2009. Executive Director Randi Emerman announced that more than 110 films will screen at this year’s event, which now spans five days. “We’re a little shorter this year, yet we have added more venues, as well as a second weekend featuring the ‘Best of the Fest,” said Emerman. “The festival takes pride in our determination to bring Palm Beach County on...

THE PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL April 23-27, 2009   Call for Entries Late submission deadline is January 21, 2009 Download the entry form Contact Info Palm Beach International Film Festival 289 Via Naranjas Royal Palm Plaza, Suite #48 Boca Raton, Florida 33432 USA Phone: +1 561-362-0003 Fax: +1 561-362-0035 info@pbifilmfest.org Executive Director: Randi Emerman Festival Coordinator: Laurie Wein Public Relations: Kelley-Grace Communicat...