While this blog concentrates on film events in New York City proper, the entire region (from northern Connecticut to southern New Jersey) is quite lively with film and media celebrations all season long. One of the most vital and diverse of these launches this evening in the historic city of Danbury, Connecticut.

The Connecticut Film Festival, one of the most dynamic regional showcases of its kind, opens this evening with a fundraising event accompanied by a work-in-progress premiere of the film DISLECKSIA: THE MOVIE. Director Harvey Hubbell takes audiences into the world of a Dyslexic, while he shows clips from his film and introduces a panel of brain scientists from Yale, lawmakers, educators, parents and children with Dyslexia for a discussion with the audience. Tonight's Festival Opener, hosted by Connecticut governor Dannell Patrick Molloy and to be followed by a specially catered cocktail party, will take place in the historic Palace Theater in the heart of downtown Danbury. The Festival, which will feature some 60 films, 15 industry workshops and several groovy parties showcasing live music from local musicians, runs through Sunday, April 10.

Tomorrow evening, in a salute to our fighting men and women, the Festival will present the premiere of LIFTED, the story of a young boy from the South who takes part in a singing competition in the hopes of escaping from a personal world that is falling apart due to pressures surrounding his father's on-going deployment to the battlefield hell of Afghanistan. The financial and psychological stresses on the soldier's wife and children and the lack of meaningful community support makes this powerfully acted film an indictment of our callousness and inabilities to cope with the demands placed on our militiary families. However, the film does have a hopeful angle as the young teenage boy literally finds his voice by participating in his impoverished Alabama school's music program. For filmmaker Lexi Alexander, the film points to a new American indie talent on the horizon.

For more information on all the exciting films and events at this year's Connecticut Film Festival, visit: www.ctfilmfest.com

Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor