The 6th annual installment of the Coney Island Film Festival hits the shores of Coney Friday, October 6th through Sunday, October 8th. This year's festival features eighty-one films from around the world; a stunning array of high and low-brow fare, as diverse as the neighborhood it represents. Subjects range from the profound to the profane, showcasing the independent spirit and irreverent nature of the one and only Coney Island.

This year's centerpiece film is director Stephen Verona's lost classic Boardwalk, starring film legends Ruth Gordon, Janet Leigh, and Actor's Studio founder Lee Strasberg. Unseen since its limited original release, the film is a dramatic look at life during Brighton Beach and Coney Island's dark days of the late 1970s (the same era as The Warriors, which also screens in the festival). Three outstanding documentary features will have their New York premieres at CIFF this year; American Carny: True Tales From The Circus Sideshow, a tour through America's modern sideshows starring Coney's own Todd Robbins; My Life as an Underdog, about Suzanne Muldowney, the fame-hungry dancer and costume designer who through sheer force of will became one of NY's most noted parade fixtures; and Holes In My Shoes, the life story of unsung hero Jack Beers (94) – a true New Yorker’s film! Raised in sheer poverty, Jack was New York City's Stronges t Boy, erected the famous Radio City Music Hall marquee and Empire State Building spire, shortened WWII, was a professional dog trainer, and was in over 200 films...this infectious and inspiring man is still going strong (and performing feats of strength)! [Jack Beers, now 96, will be attending

The Coney Island Film festival also offers a huge variety of shorts, from award-winning experimental films (The Clean Machine), to new shorts from master animators (Signe Baumane's Dentist and Bill Plympton's Guide Dog), and even an educational film highlighting the struggles of day-to-day life as a zombie (Zombie-American, starring The Daily Show's Ed Helms). A cavalcade of shorts (9 to be exact) which use Coney Island as their backdrop, screens at 2pm on Saturday. This program features The Green Flash (1989) which stars Omar Epps (House, The Mod Squad, Major League 2) in his first film role.

The festival will begin with an Opening Night Gala on October 6th. American Carny: True Tales from the Circus Sideshow screens at 7:30pm at Sideshows by the Seashore followed by an opening night party, 9:30 p.m. at The Coney Island Museum. It's an evening of live sideshow performance, music, and burlesque that will kick off the festival with a riotous bang. For the full schedule and a complete list of films and events at the festival visit www.coneyislandfilmfestival.com.

The Coney Island Film Festival is produced by indiefilmpage.com and is presented in partnership with the non-profit arts organization Coney Island USA. The mission of Coney Island USA is to operate a multi-arts center offering affordable museum and theater programming to an audience of all New Yorkers. Through an imaginative approach combining the performing and visual arts rooted in the traditions of P.T. Barnum, vaudeville and Coney Island itself the non-profit seeks to revitalize the community from which it takes its name.