Having survived its first year because of the unique focus on presenting   first-time film makers from around the world and a retrospective program of the debut films of established   film directors, the First Time Fest will present its second edition from April 3-7 in New in New York City. It will honor Julia Taymor with the John Huston Award for achievement in Cinema. An innovative director Julie Taymor the recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant, excelled in opera productions and directed four feature films generating Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.  For her film FRIEDA she won two Oscars.  Ten first time features compete for the grand prize providing theatrical distribution and representation by the American distributor Cinema Libre Studios and a one week trip to Sweden.

Another unique FTF component is that the audience has a voice by voting for the best film in the competition. Among the prominent directors attending whose debut films will be shown are Albert Maysles, Peter Bogdanovich, Michael Moore and Julie Taymore.  Bogdanovich and Moore will lead a discussion on “Stand alone! Conversations with the Outstanding”. There are several industry panels aimed at the independent sector with one session devoted to Women in Entertainment and Media including Brooke Shields.

If the First Time Fest is as successful as last year’s edition this fest will establish itself as an indispensable part of the New York City film festival circuit.

Claus Mueller

filmexchange@gmail.com