NEW YORK, N.Y. – MetroChannels, a division of Rainbow Media Holdings, has just signed an agreement with Angelika Entertainment Corporation to create a new festival dedicated to independent features and shorts made in and about New York. Slated for Spring 2001, New York Stories: The Metro Angelika Film Festival will simultaneously present the select shorts and features over a three-day period on Metro, the first cable network dedicated exclusively to New York culture and entertainment, and at the Anthology Film Archives in lower Manhattan.
Rainbow Media’s MetroChannels are the first and only suite of television networks dedicated to the experience of living in the New York metropolitan. The Spring 2001 film festival will be presented on Metro, the anchor entertainment channel of MetroChannels’ trio of networks, which is seen in more than three million households in the tri-state area. Angelika Entertainment Corporation is a production, distribution and exhibition company headed by Angelika Saleh, who produced such landmark films as Streetwise and Sweet Lorraine and co-founded Manhattan’s Angelika Film Center.
“New York is the center of the independent film community,” states Judith Tolkow, VP of Programming and Development. “With our award-winning weekly series, New York Stories, we have long been dedicated to presenting the best works of local independent documentarians. Partnering with Angelika on this project is a great way to extend this commitment, with a forum that’s vital to new and established indie filmmakers and New Yorkers, who seem to have an endless appetite for quality film about the world they live in.”
New York Stories: The Metro Angelika Film Festival will be coordinated by David Maquiling, Production Manager at Angelika and an up-and-coming independent filmmaker. His first feature, Too Much Sleep, received rave reviews when it opened in New York last fall and was recently listed in the Village Voice as one of Amy Taubin’s “Best Films of 2000.” Too Much Sleep is set to open nationally this spring. In addition to film projects Angelika sponsors the popular NewFilmmakers screening series at Anthology Film Archives and is currently producing the upcoming television series WBway about young people coming to New York.
Barney Oldfield, General Manager of Angelika and Chairman of the Anthology Film Archive Board, noted said “that Cable will undoubtedly replace the Internet as the place to see independent short and feature films. It is an exciting new opportunity for filmmakers and greatly expand the audience for their films.”
The partners are currently seeking shorts and features about New York made by independent filmmakers for this event. Films may be submitted to: Metro/Angelika Film Festival, c/o Angelika Entertainment Corporation, Post Office Box 4956, New York, NY 10185. For more information, see www.AngelikaFilm.com or call 212-996-8215.
Since 1984, Angelika has been the first name in independent Film Production, Distribution, and Exhibition and now on Television, Cable and the Internet with Angelika TV . As the Producer of films that include the Academy Award nominated Streetwise, a searing story of children on the streets of Seattle, and such critically acclaimed films as Sweet Lorraine, the warm recollection of a Catskill resort, Angelika has helped define today’s Independent Film. Currently in Production Angelika has David Maquiling’s Another Deep Breath, the sequel Maniac 2:Like Father, Like Son and the television network series WBway. Recently Angelika created Angelika Classics to distribute its collection of independent films and Angelika Releasing to distribute its new films. Angelika Releasing’s Too Much Sleep by David Maquiling was recently listed in the Village Voice as one of Amy Taubin’s “Best Films of 2000” and will be released national in the Spring.
Rainbow Media’s MetroChannels are the first and only suite of television networks devoted entirely to the experience of living in the New York metropolitan area. MetroChannels Metro consist of Metro, MetroLearning, and Metro Traffic&Weather. Metro showcases what New Yorkers are passionate about by providing regularly scheduled original programs focusing on everything from fine dining to live music and sports, classic New York TV series and documentaries about the people, places and history of New York. MetroLearning provides unfiltered coverage of events unfolding in the many diverse communities throughout this metropolis. Metro Traffic&Weather is the tri-state’s first and only 24-hour local traffic, transit, and weather channel. Since its 1998 launch, MetroChannels has received numerous accolades for its programming — the 1999 & 2000 Community Spirit Award, New York Festivals Awards, Omni Awards and the Communicator Awards. In addition, MetroChannels was among the top 10 networks nominated for the 1999 local New York Emmy Awards.
Anthology Film Archives, the location of the The Metro Angelika Film Festival, is downtown Manhattan’s premier cinematic landmark. Its Film Exhibition Program presents a broad spectrum of classic and contemporary cinema, retrospectives and new works by independent filmmakers, premieres of features and documentary films. Its Film Preservation Program preserves films and videos from the beginning of cinema to the present. Its Reference Library contains the world’s largest collection of written material documenting the history of independent film and video. It Publication Program publishes books on the history and theory of cinema.
Contact:
Patricia Gostyla – Angelika
Entertainment
212-505-0726
Lisa Rogen/MetroChannels
212-324-8552