WorldFest-Houston Film Festival Announces our 38th Unspooling!
"Fiercely Independent"

"What's Cooking?!" at 2005 WORLDFEST-HOUSTON - 38 Years of Independent Films - DATES: April 22 through May 1, 2005 - LOCATION: AMC Meyer Park 16 Theatres - The HQ Renaissance Hotel - ALL EVENTS ARE OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Each year WorldFest creates another delectable menu of film-fare from around the world for our local audiences! The 38th annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival will offer an appetizing array of Norwegian films to commemorate Norway's Centennial Year in a special "Tribute to Norway." The main course features 40-50 new International and Independent films as well as an assortment of film industry seminars and a Kodak workshop. WorldFest- Houston will also present 100 award-winning short film subjects as tasty desserts. WorldFest will screen approximately 50 feature films, with an absolute emphasis on American and International Independently made feature films.

A Tasty Film menu at the 38th WorldFest...
Have you tried the unusual Norwegian dish of "Prawns in Beer Jelly with Caviar and Crème Fraiche?" Prawns and beer jelly??? Don't knock it till you've tried it! The "Prawns in Beer Jelly" recipe can be found at - www.norway.org - under the "What's Cooking?" icon. To honor Norway's centennial year in 2005, WorldFest is pleased to join the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in presenting a delightful Commemorative Sidebar of Norwegian films. This list of intriguing Norwegian films includes "United" by Magnus Martens, "Hold My Heart" by Trygve Allister Diesen, "Coastal Life"" by Oyvind Sandberg, and "The Woman of My Life" by Alexander Eik with more Norwegian titles still under consideration. We will also present an assortment of Norwegian short films TBA.
WorldFest-Houston also considers the educational appetite, thus we offer a set of rotational film and video workshops covering Cinematography, Script Writing and Pitching, Distribution, Producing, Directing, Casting, Acting, Special Effects for the Indie Budget and Getting/Started in the Film/Television Industry. As a highlight to the seminar program, WorldFest will include a specialized Kodak workshop on cinematography and lighting for film and video for Indie filmmakers, along with a panel discussion presented by twelve leading directors and producers of independent film. Workshops are open to both professionals, film buffs and students for a fee. The Houston Film Society (the membership and supporting arm of WorldFest-Houston) helps fund scholarships for 200 outstanding students from the media arts, film and television programs of local high schools and colleges to attend the WorldFest Seminars.

Click here to learn more...

WorldFest-Houston Film Festival: A Good Story, Well Told!
For more than three and a half decades, WorldFest has offered cinematic fare to audiences with a taste for international flavor. As one of the oldest film festivals in the world, it was founded in August 1961 as an International Film Society. WorldFest evolved into a competitive International Film Festival in 1968, becoming the third competitive international film festival in North America, following San Francisco and New York. This organization has the distinct honor of having "discovered" film greats like Steven Spielberg, the Coen Brothers, Ang Lee, George Lucas, Ridley Scott plus many others with some of their first cinematic awards. WorldFest continues to present the true independent film and its filmmakers, offering a new venue for directors seeking to present their works without support of the major motion picture distributors. Through local community support, national collaboration, and international marketing, the visionary WorldFest has become a leading source of independent film and educational offerings.

Official Website: http://www.worldfest.org
(Final Jury decisions for all entry categories due in a few weeks!)

For those who desire an international cuisine in cinema, consider what's cooking for this year's WorldFest menu. Besides the delightful Norwegian smorgasborg, we offer an aromatic Asian "Rice Rhapsody", a tasty Czech dumpling named "Smart Philip", a Russian entree titled "Black Snow, Red Sky" and the Palestinian delight of "The Olive Harvest." Still in the mix for final consideration are some tasty German strudels, Japanese sushi, Asian Dim sum and some satisfying Hungarian goulash (titles TBA.) For some "down home" delectables, WorldFest will offer a Houston production that has a dash of Indian saffron, "Dancing in Twilight" with more titles as American as apple pie. "Top of the World," a delightful adventure for the entire family depicting a trek to Nepal and Mt. Everest has just been added to the program. Another intriguing feature for this year's program is "Checking Out," an off-beat comedy about how three adult children (Judge Reinhold, Laura San Giacomo, David Paymer) attempt to deflect their fathers' (Peter Falk) determined intention to kill himself. "Chrystal" is another USA independent film which deals with a tragic automobile accident and how a husband (Billy Bob Thornton) must come to terms with his wife's strange long term effects from it. "Confronting Iraq" is an insightful documentary about the truth of the differing factions in the USA and throughout the globe in regards to the war against terrorism. "Vakuum" is a science-fi feature which explores the near future through the filter of a German post-bionic dystopia. WorldFest is dedicated to using the best, freshest and most natural ingredients available and is a non- profit educational and cultural organization. Our goal is to recognize and honor outstanding creative excellence in film and video, validate brilliant abilities, promote cultural tourism for Houston, develop film production in the region, and add to the rich culture of cinema. All screenings are open to the public, most 35mm features will be screened twice and the festival theater is conveniently located at the AMC 16 Meyer Park Cinema in Southwest Houston just of 610 South Loop and Post Oak at West Bellfort. Festival tickets start at $6.00, 20% discounts available on Festival Passes for current Houston Film Society Members. To become an HFS member and receive sneak preview passes throughout the year, please check our website at www.worldfest.org - Check our website and The Houston Chronicle, too, for the full schedule once the final selections are confirmed. WorldFest hopes to have tantalized you with aromatic hints of these coming Independent cinematic offerings. The jury's final results will determine the final grand buffet of tasty international morsels. Your selections are guaranteed to be satisfying yet completely non-caloric. If something tasty in Independent and International cinema appeals to you, come enjoy the offerings at WorldFest this April 22nd through May 1st. See you at the movies!

Hunhter Todt