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Portland International Film Festival Rolls Out Red Carpet

Mary c. Hinckley, Kim DeMent-Smith, Steven Smith joined Northwest Film Center Director, Bill Foster, to toast the evening.

Portland, February 7th, 2013. The Northwest Film Center’s 36th annual showcase of new world cinema is off and running. Mary C. Hinckley, Kim DeMent Smith and Steven Smith joined Northwest Film Center Director, Bill Foster, to toast the evening. The Portland International Film Festival features 135 films—92 features and 43 shorts—from February 7th – 23rd.

The Oregonian’s Shawn Levy, Chelsea Cain, Bill Foster, Marc Mohan, MIke King, Julia Bartholomew-King, Alicia Rose

Drawing an audience of over 35,000, the Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is the biggest film event in Oregon, premiering more than 100 international shorts and feature films to Portland audiences each February. Audiences can experience a variety of parties, visiting artists, and plenty of festival adventure taking in this feast of cinematic fare.

Over 800 film lovers filled the Newmark Theatre on opening night to watch a screening of “Blancanieves,” this year’s Spanish submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is a 1920s, silent-set reworking of the Brothers Grimm fairytale “Snow White.”

Here’s the trailer for this beautiful film which many compare to last year’s Academy Award winner “The Artist.”

Fred Cann, Northwest Film Center Education Director, Ellen Thomas; Educator Paige Battle; Enie Vaisburd whose short film will be screened at the festival; and Kristi Conrad the Membership & Sponsorship Manager at Northwest Film Center

Katherine Frandsen, Mark Frandsen and Bill Foster

Chris Sears, David Keller, Wyatt Pate, Ryan Jacobson, Jon Neighbors

This year’s Festival features the Portland premieres of 21 films submitted for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, including: Clandestine Childhood (Argentina), Lore (Australia), Our Children (Belgium), War Witch (Canada), No (Chile), In the Shadow (Czech Republic), Purge (Finland), Keep Smiling (Georgia), Unfair World (Greece), A Simple Life (Hong Kong), Just the Wind (Hungary), Barfi! (India), Caesar Must Die (Italy), Our Homeland ( Japan), Kon-Tiki (Norway), 80 Million (Poland), Blood of My Blood (Portugal), Beyond the Hills (Romania), White Tiger (Russia), Blancanieves (Spain), and Pieta (South Korea).

Some of the film expected to draw big crowds include: Happy People, a film by Werner Herzog, No, a Chilean film starring Gael Garcia Bernaland Tabu. Art films such as Renoir and The Painting are also expected to attract film lovers.

Here’s a link to the schedule for the Portland International Film Festival.

About the Northwest Film Center:

Established in 1971, the Northwest Film Center is a regional media arts resource and service organization founded to encourage the study, appreciation, and utilization of the moving image arts, foster their artistic and professional excellence, and to help create a climate in which they may flourish. The Center provides a variety of film and video exhibition, education, and information programs primarily directed to the residents of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska.

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.