Monday, September 11----With only four days to go until its Gala Opening, the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival will be the place to be to screen quality international films and attend some exciting evening receptions and special events...all in the majestic beauty of early Fall in this New England island gem. For anyone who has been to this fable isle knows that Vineyarders love to party.

The festivities begin this coming Thursday with sunset cocktails at the historic Mansion House in Vineyard Haven, just prior to the Gala Opening screening of Michel Gondry's THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP at the Katherine Cornell Theater, one of the Island's premiere venues for film and theater excellence.

On Friday evening, the Festival celebrates an early Oktoberfest, with tradition German music performed by the Vineyard Classic Brass, a local orchestra. Micro-brewed beers handcrafted especially for the Festival, along with lots of pretzels, will be on hand for revelers at the Offshore Ale Micro Brewery in historic Oak Bluffs.

Saturday is samba night, as Festival audience members, visiting filmmakers and VIP guests party the night away to the Brazilian samba music of Banda Ponto Com. The venue for dancing in the moonlight is The Outerland , right on the tarmac of the Martha's Vineyard Airport.

The Festival closer on Sunday evening will have a Caribbean beat, with live music performed by the Beetlebung Steel Band, and tropical drinks supplied by Boisset America. The celebration will be held in the beautiful Vineyard Haven Marina, a prime spot for viewing the gorgeous sunsets that visitors to Martha's Vineyard don't soon forget.

Festival tickets and passes, as well as special Festival weekend get-a-way packages, are still available. Consult the official Festival website at www.mvfilmfest.com for details. This promises to be one of the most intoxicating mixes of superb cinema, spectacular environment and late nite partying on the Festival circuit.

Sandy Mandelberger
Festivals Editor